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2013-06-10
W. M. Keck Foundation;
This annual report includes a letter from the chairman, highlights of research directions, strategies and opportunituies presented at the Imaging and Detection of Single Molecules Workshop, details of grantmaking activities, financial statements, and a list of members and boardmembers.
2014-04-17
Pew Research Center;
This report emerges from the Pew Research Center's efforts to understand public attitudes about a variety of scientific and technological changes being discussed today. The time horizons of these technological advances span from today's realities -- for instance, the growing prevalence of drones -- to more speculative matters such as the possibility of human control of the weather.
Part of the motive for doing this work is to explore Americans' comfort levels -- their excitement, interest or wariness -- in the face of a raft of scientific innovations that are emerging or being considered. Since much of the funding for scientific research comes from the government, these attitudes can give key signals to policy makers and the scientific community about where the public stands on crucial funding decisions.
Another motive for doing this work is to test the state of the public's mood about the long-term future. Their relative optimism -- or pessimism -- says something about the current state of American culture. It also says something about the state of the American dream.
2012-01-01
Rockefeller Archive Center;
My project seeks to reconstruct and explain to what extent and how U.S. foundations strove to further democratic values and practices in West German academia. It also assesses the impact of these American initiatives on the consolidation of West German democracy beyond its institutional framework and its constitutional foundation, the Basic Law. In particular, the Rockefeller and Ford foundations attempted to ingrain values that were amenable to a vibrant, pluralist civil society into West Germany's community of scholars. Beyond exploring the relationship between philanthropy and democracy, the project seeks to reassess concepts of "Americanization." This process is to be conceived of as an ensemble of non-linear, multilateral, selective and thus limited appropriations according to the needs of the receiving society. This complex relationship has been underestimated in research, not least by advocates of diffusion theory that highlight the preconditions of transfers, but underestimate "the autonomy of the receiving subject as well as the bilateral character of transatlantic communication."
2015-07-01
European Commission;
This report provides a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the contributions that foundations make to support research and innovation in EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland. Over the last 25 years, the role of foundations as supporters of research and innovation in Europe has grown significantly in scope and scale. However, the landscape is fragmented and, till now, largely uncharted. Little is known about the vast majority of such foundations, their activities or even their number, and information about their real impact on research and innovation in Europe was very limited. A team of national experts in the EU 27 (and Norway and Switzerland), led by VU University Amsterdam, has therefore been commissioned by the European Commission to study foundations' contribution to research and innovation in the EU under the name EUFORI. This study helps fill this knowledge gap by analysing foundations' financial contributions, and provides useful insights into the different ways they operate. It also identifies emerging trends and the potential for exploring synergies and collaboration between foundations, research-funding agencies, businesses and research institutes.
2015-02-01
European Foundation Centre (EFC);
This report summarises a two-day discussion about research excellence from a conference in Warsaw organised by the European Foundation Centre and hosted by the Foundation for Polish Science. It is not a blow-by-blow account. Rather, it seeks to draw out the main strands of discussion, which as noted herein did not always follow strict agenda items. The rapporteur, Peter Wrobel from Science|Business Publishing, takes full responsibility for this work.
2001-10-01
Global Forum for Health Research;
This study aims to provide decisionmakers with an overview of currently available information on resource flows into health research. In this rapidly changing environment of funding flows into health research, it is critical to have access to information and to analyse it on an ongoing basis. The main feature of the study is less to provide an overall figure than to describe the process for arriving at these estimates as a basis for further improvements, and to indicate what to expect from the various data sources and research approaches. In addition, this study presents information on health research funding by developing countries not previously available.
1990-11-01
Policy Research Center of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies;
The goals of federal housing policy are to provide every American family with a decent home in a suitable neighborhood. While substantial progress has been made toward stisfying the goal of a decent home, survey evidence indicates that many Americans, especially those living in central cities, are highly dissatisfied with their neighborhoods. While policymakers are fully aware that too many people have a low opinion of the overall quality of their neighborhood, there is little reliable evidence available on what neighborhood attributes matter most to people and how neighborhood preferences vary among different types of households. As a result, policymakers have little idea how best to allocate scarce public resources to achieve the greatest possible improvement in neighborhood quality.
This paper implements a new methodology with new data in order to reveal the neighborhood preferences of households categorized by race, income level, location, and type of housing occupied. The methodology involes interpreting the ranking that households assign to the overall quality of their neighborhoods on a ten-point scale as an ordinal utility index. This index enables us to observe directly the relationship between neighborhood variables and individuals' utility. To handle the ordinal nature of the dependent variable, N-chotomous multivariate probit is used as the estimating technique.
The results suggest that while many neighborhood variables affect the utility of all households similarly, there are differences in preferences among groups, especially between black and white households.
2009-11-02
Athena Alliance;
As innovative companies struggle to raise funds, intellectual property and intangible assets are providing alternative ways of financing innovation. But greater awareness of them as an asset class is needed. Raising that awareness is the focus of a new report from Athena Alliance, Maximizing Intellectual Property and Intangible Assets: Case Studies in Intangible Asset Finance by Ian Ellis, a former U.S. Department of Commerce official specializing in intellectual property and international trade. The report outlines increasing, but still nascent, means of financing innovation based on these assets in public, private and venture capital markets. As industry has invested capital in research and development to develop new technology and advance other creative activities, intellectual capital has become a valuable asset class, according to the paper. In response, firms specializing in intangible-based financing are springing up, using them to raise capital for the next round of innovation.
The paper details equity, equity-debt, debt, and sale-leaseback transactions, both private and public, that have helped companies raise capital, based on careful, rigorous analysis and conservative underwriting standards. For example, the author notes that in 2000, there were two public deals using royalty securitization, raising $145 million. In 2007-08, $3.3 billion was raised in 19 deals.
Unlike some of the exotic financial vehicles, however, the financial products discussed in this paper are some of the most basic financing mechanisms in business. The innovation is in recognizing the value of intangible assets for corporate finance. These new financial firms are using traditional financial techniques in new ways to help innovative companies.
But more should be done.
One important step would be developing sound, industry-wide, underwriting standards, according to the report. For example, Small Business Administration (SBA) rules permit its loans to be used for acquisition of intangible assets when buying on-going businesses. Rules are unclear on whether those assets can be used as collateral. The paper recommends that SBA work with commercial lenders to develop standards for using intangible assets as collateral.
The report builds on earlier Athena Alliance papers, notably Intangible Asset Monetization: The Promise and the Reality.
2008-12-12
Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy;
It is widely acknowledged that today's students will need to compete in a global economy that requires proficiency in science and technology. In an attempt to ensure that all Massachusetts students reach a minimal level of proficiency in these subjects, the class of 2010 high school students will have to earn a passing score on one MCAS science exam (biology, chemistry, physics, or technology/engineering) in order to receive a diploma. Results of national assessments show that while Massachusetts students score better in science than their peers in other states, there are disturbing gaps in the performance of certain sub-groups of students -- black and Hispanic students, students from low-income homes, English language learners -- who fail to meet proficiency standards at satisfactory rates. Indeed for all students, undeniable gaps exist in students' achievement, knowledge, expectations and comprehension of the needs of the future economy. Given that the state is now holding all students accountable for their performance in science, it is necessary to examine whether or not all students are receiving equitable opportunities to learn and succeed in science. This report seeks to identify concretely what top-performing schools do to support science instruction and to draw out considerations for policymakers at the district and state levels.
Themes across the Schools
The following is a description of greater opportunities to learn science that are present in top-performing schools, compared to low-performing schools:
More science teachers.Well-prepared teachers.More teacher preparation time.Financial resources.Material resources.Options for placement in science courses.Real-world application.Enrichment opportunities in science.Science related partnerships with universities.Peer tutoring.
Policy Considerations
For school and district leaders:
Encourage and support science-related professional development.Provide incentives for highly qualified science teachers to teach in your schools.Structure the school day to enable more teacher preparation time.Develop partnerships with neighboring universities.Institute peer tutoring programs.Institute formal remediation and academic support programs for students struggling in science.Look outside the school for people to lead extracurricular activities.Make well-equipped science classrooms a priority.
For state policymakers:
Providing additional resources and ensuring that all high school students in Massachusetts have opportunities to learn science and to achieve at high levels will require coordinated efforts by both state legislators and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The following are recommendations for consideration by both state legislators and the Department.
Provide incentives for highly qualified science teachers to teach in low-performing schools.Provide incentives for science professionals to enter the teaching profession.Continue to support expanded learning time initiatives.Support enrichment opportunities for low-performing schools.Broaden current state-level science initiatives to encompass all grades from kindergarten through higher education.Provide a supplementary materials budget to under-resourced schools.Provide support for formal remediation and academic support programs for students struggling in science.
2008-06-19
Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy;
Despite widespread media and public attention to the need for U.S. students to be globally competitive in science-related fields, remarkably little emphasis is placed on improving elementary science in U.S. public schools. Yet, it is effective elementary science programs that provide the foundation for a sound K-12 education in science. In a new report, Opportunity to Learn: Elementary Science, the Rennie Center analyzes whether students in high- and low-performing schools receive equitable opportunities to learn in science and, importantly, profiles the promising practices of schools that are beating the odds and succeeding at educating students to high levels in science. This report is the first in a two-part study that the Rennie Center is producing on Massachusetts students' opportunity to learn science. The second report, to be released in late Fall 2008, is being developed in partnership with the Education Development Center and will highlight opportunities to learn science at the high school level (9-12).
The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation and state accountability systems have created external incentives to improve student achievement in science in addition to English language arts (ELA) and math. In 2010, Massachusetts will require all 10th graders to pass one of the science MCAS tests (in biology, physics, chemistry or technology/engineering) in order to receive a diploma. Yet, to date, schools have increasingly placed their emphasis on math and ELA, to the detriment of science. There also exists a substantial racial/ethnic achievement gap in the sciences, just as there is in math and ELA. English language learners, those who are African American or Hispanic, and students from low-income homes are all falling well below the standards for proficiency set by the state. Given that the state holds all students accountable for their performance in science, it is necessary to examine whether all students are receiving equitable opportunities to learn and succeed at science. This report seeks to identify concretely what top-performing schools do to support science instruction and to draw out considerations for policymakers at the district and state levels.
Themes across the Schools
The following is a description of greater opportunities to learn science that are present in top-performing schools, compared to low-performing schools:
More time on science.Teachers who specialize in science.Regularly scheduled support from district science coordinators.Science materials housed at the schools (rather than at the district).Professional development in scienceSchool budgets for science.High levels of parent involvement in and advocacy for science.Accessibility to natural resources.School leadership focused on science.Recommendations
For school and district leaders:
Make science a high priority in schools and across the district. Promote the integration of science with math and literacy. Set and monitor guidelines for time on science. Develop and monitor adherence to science curriculum that is mapped to state frameworks. Support, document, and -- if necessary -- mandate science-related professional development for elementary school teachers. Identify teachers with high levels of interest in science. Solicit engagement of local business and community leaders in science.
For state policymakers:
Providing more resources and ensuring that all elementary students in Massachusetts have opportunities to learn science and to achieve at high levels will require coordinated efforts by both state legislators and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The following are recommendations for consideration by both state legislators and the Department.
Support expanded school day initiatives and encourage more time for subjects like science, especially for low-income and minority students. Provide mentoring and support for elementary teachers to become school-based science resource specialists. Provide broad, fundamental professional development that is aligned with state frameworks in science for elementary teachers, giving preference to low-performing schools that agree to send a critical number of teachers. Provide technical assistance and training on integrating science, literacy and mathematics instruction. Support enrichment opportunities for low-performing schools that lack active parent and community engagement in science. Provide a supplementary materials budget to under-resourced schools.
2008-08-01
Department of Economics in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies;
We consider the estimation of sample selection (type II Tobit) models that exhibit spatial error dependence or spatial autoregressive errors (SAE). The method considered is motivated by a two-step strategy analogous to the popular heckit model. The first step of estimation is based on a spatial probate model following a methodology proposed by Pinkse and Slade (1998) that yields consistent estimates. The consistent estimates of the selection equation are used to estimate the inverse Mills ratio (IMR) to be included as a regressor in the estimation of the outcome equation (second step). Since the appropriate IMR turns out to depend on a parameter from the second step under SAE, we propose to estimate the two steps jointly within a generalized method of moments (GMM) framework. We explore the finite sample properties of the proposed estimator using a Monte Carlo experiment; discuss the importance of the spatial sample selection model in applied work, and illustrate the application of our method by estimating the spatial production within a fishery with data that is censored for reasons of confidentiality. Working Paper 08-31
2005-11-01
Department of Economics in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies;
This paper discusses issues of axiomatic bargaining problems over opportunity assignments. The fair arbitrator uses the principle of "equal opportunity" for all players to make the recommendation on re- source allocations. A framework in such a context is developed and several classical solutions to standard bargaining problems are reformulated and axiomatically characterized. Working Paper 06-48
