A goal of the Foundation during the last few years has been to grow and strengthen the community of scholars interested in industry studies, reaching out beyond those who are at the various Sloan Industry Centers. At the end of 2006, there were over 800 industry studies "Affiliates," the largest number being faculty and other scholars not at Centers. Annual industry studies conferences have evolved to become more like those held by professional academic associations. Formal conference planning and program committees and local arrangements committees handle programming and logistics as conferences are rotated to various locations across the country. Each conference features a large number of concurrent sessions for presentation and discussion of scholarly industry studies papers. For the 2007 conference, two main thematic sessions will focus on globalization, emphasizing developments in China and India, and on innovation, with emphasis on the geography of innovation and industrial development. A poster session is being added. An awards ceremony includes prizes for the year's best book, best dissertation, and best papers published in the prior year. Two pre-conference professional development workshops are planned, one focused on needs of early-career faculty, the other for Industry Center directors and staff on editorial viability, i.e., turning research projects into news stories. This grant supports The Industrial Performance Center at MIT for work to organize and hold the 2007 Industry Studies Annual Conference. Project Director: Professor Richard K. Lester, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering; Director, Industrial Performance Center.

With a January 2003 Foundation grant, the Industry Studies Committee was formed to provide leadership and services to the industry studies community as the effort proceeds to create and strengthen the elements of a professional association of industry studies researchers. The tangible elements of a professional association now in place include annual conferences with published proceedings, regular and frequent communications, special interest groups, publications, newsletters, a website, prizes and awards, professional development opportunities, a directory of members, and officers/leaders of the nascent organization. A small group at the University of Pittsburgh manages the Industry Studies Fellowships program, the Affiliates program, the listserv, the Working Papers series, the newsletter, and the academic workshop program. It oversees small grants for travel, networking, seminars, and book promotion, and identifies and supports the startup and growth of special interest groups, such as a young scholars group and a group focused on Industry Center fundraising and sustainability. It supports the operations of the Industry Studies Committee and has a major organizing and planning role for the annual conferences. The first of these grants provides funds for the infrastructure and labor at the University of Pittsburgh to carry out all these activities for the next three years. The second grant provides funds that will be transferred to other universities for small grants for the following purposes: to host approximately 10 seminars per year on industry studies topics; to promote approximately four new industry studies books per year; to support travel to convene face-to-face meetings of small numbers of industry studies researchers at professional society meetings; and to support travel grants to promote networking among larger groups of industry studies researchers, such as formation of special interest groups focused on a particular industry or topic. The Industry Studies Committee is responsible for receiving and evaluating proposals for these grants and for making awards. The group at the University of Pittsburgh provides all the administrative support needed to implement the Committee's decisions. Project Director: Professor Frank Giarratani, Department of Economics.

The following grants were funded from an appropriation approved by the Board of Trustees to support the Sloan Industry Studies Fellowship program, the Academic Workshop program, and other services in support of the industry studies community.

To support the workshop: "The Global Call Center Research Project." Project Director: Rosemary Batt, Associate Professor of Human Resource Studies, School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

To plan the 2007 Industry Studies Annual Conference. Project Director: Richard Lester, Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering; Director, Industrial Performance Center.

Support for a study of the impact on technical skills due to offshoring in the semiconductor industry. Project Director: Professor Douglas B. Fuller, School of International Service.

Support to continue the Breakfast Bytes program for Congress. Project Director: Bill Bates, Vice President for Government Affairs.

Partial support of a joint project between the Sloan aluminum and automotive industry centers to evaluate the role of aluminum in the automotive industry. Project Director: Frank R. Field, III, Senior Research Associate, Center for Technology, Policy, and Industrial Development, and Senior Lecturer in Engineering Systems.

Support for a small grants project at the Forest Industry Center to encourage industry collaboration with faculty. Project Director: David Brinberg, Professor of Marketing and Psychology.