Americans are working later in life, delaying retirement for a variety of reasons. While some continue working by choice, others needto remain in the workforce for financial reasons. Regardless of their motivation, the result is that people in the United States are working beyond what conventionally is thought of as retirement age. While most studies related to this issue have focused on how individually based factors such as health status, pension plans, and financial incentives influence the decision to retire, relatively little is known about employment patterns, obstacles to employment, or the ensuing economic impact. The Foundation’s Working Longer program began grant making in 2010 to expand and deepen our understanding of aging Americans’ work patterns. The goal is to understand a) employer practices by industry and sector; b) obstacles to continued employment of older Americans; and c) the economic consequences for both individuals and for the federal budget. Program Director: Kathleen Christensen Bio Apply Headlines Health Woes Hurt Workers Two Ways MSNBC For Older Workers, Here is Where the Jobs Will Be Wall Street Journal Boston University School of Medicine wins ACE Award for Faculty Retention Program Boston University The Silver Collar Economy Christian Science Monitor
This program supports research on the structure, behavior, and performance of the U.S. economy with the goal of providing objective and nonpartisan insights that can inform and strengthen critical decisions facing leaders, policymakers, and the public. Grantmaking is divided into four thematic sub-programs. Economic Implications of the Great Recession Projects in this sub-program study markets and governments, specifically with regard to lessons we can draw from the recent financial crisis and Great Recession. Appropriate research topics include systemic stability; international regulatory coordination; risk measurement, capital requirements, and credit ratings; labor market recovery rates and liquidity; dataset and model development concerning labor trends Behavioral Economics and Household Finance Projects in this sub-program study individuals and households, specifically with regard to the quality of their economic decision-making. Appropriate research topics include the annuity paradox; the energy efficiency paradox; insurance markets; risk-taking, savings, and personal bankruptcy; cognitive biases; public understanding of economics and markets for financial advice. Economic Analysis of Science and Technology Projects in this sub-program study universities and groundbreaking industries, specifically regarding human capital development and applications of information technology. Appropriate research topics include labor markets for scientists and engineers; high-skilled immigration; patterns of scientific publication, collaboration, and intellectual property protection; the economics of digitization; and the international distribution of returns on high-tech investments. Empirical Economic Research Enablers Projects in this sub-program study economic researchers, specifically with regard to their needs, opportunities, incentives, and professional practices. Appropriate research topics include legal entity identifiers; data citation standards; identification and tracking systems for scholars; federal statistics; smart disclosure platforms for obfuscated markets; data and metadata management protocols; the replicability of empirical research; and the economics of knowledge contribution and distribution. Click the "APPLY" button, below, for more information about how to submit a Letter of Inquriy for an appropriate research project. Program Director: Daniel Goroff Bio Gail Pesyna Bio Apply Headlines New "Voter Atlas" Shows Where the True Electoral Battlegrounds Are The Seeds that Federal Money Can Plant New York Times Links The Macro Financial Modeling Workgroup
Since our Biosecurity program began in 2000, the Foundation has provided $44.1 million in support. Our original focus was on preparedness, both for individual citizens and for organizations. We have supported a number of important projects, including the development of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Ready.gov initiative. Since 2000, we have underwritten the influential Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, whose mission is to strengthen national security by reducing the risks posed by biological attacks, epidemics, and other destabilizing events, and to improve the nation’s preparedness and response in the face of such events. Our Biosecurity program has also addressed issues surrounding dangerous research and the potential misuse of scientific knowledge, methods and materials in the life sciences. In this arena, we funded a number of significant projects, including the landmark Fink committee report: “Biotechnology Research in an Age of Terrorism,” the U.S. National Academies’ International Biosecurity Project and the World Health Organization’s program to raise awareness of the potential for misuse of biotechnology research. Sloan’s Biosecurity Program has been very successful in bringing attention to the issues and challenges posed by biological threats. When our program began in 2000, the US government funding for strictly biodefense was approximately $50 million. The FY2010 budget is $1.09 billion. Grantmaking in the Biosecurity program concluded in 2010. Program Director: Paula Olsiewski Bio Grants Apply Headlines VIDEO: What You Need to Know About Infectious Disease The National Academies Links Center for Biosecurity Charting the Future of Biosecurity: Ten Years After the Anthrax Attacks REPORT: A Framework for Voluntary Preparedness What is Your Readiness Quotient? Ready.gov Biotechnology Research in an Age of Terrorism (The Fink Report)
Since its founding in 1934, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has been proud to call New York City home. With its Civic Initiatives Program, the Foundation responds to unique opportunities to benefit the New York City metro area with an eye toward advancing the Foundation's other interests in science, technology and economic performance. Ongoing initiatives in the Civic Program include the Sloan Public Service Awards , which recognize outstanding public service to New York City, and the Sloan Awards for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics , which recognize remarkable science and math teaching in New York City's public high schools. Program Director: Paula Olsiewski Bio Grants Apply Links Sloan Public Service Awards Sloan Awards for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics
In this program, the Foundation makes grants to preserve the raw material of history. Foundation efforts support archival projects that will make available to scholars complete collections of the papers, letters, and notes of Charles Darwin, Thomas A. Edison, and Kurt Gödel. Through grants to George Mason University’s Center for History and New Media , the Internet Archive and others, the Foundation has also supported efforts to deploy new technologies to create, access and preserve the historical record of recent major technical and scientific events using the World Wide Web, including recording the ongoing development of the Web itself. The History of Science and Technology program is currently undergoing evaluation to identify possible new directions and funding priorities. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Links The Center for History and New Media The Wayback Machine at the Internet Archive
Grantmaking in this small interdisciplinary program looks for unique opportunities to expand our understanding of the economic, technological, organizational, regulatory, national security, and environmental consequences of energy production and consumption. Past grantmaking in this program has led to the publication of the influential MIT reports, The Future of Nuclear Power (2003), and The Future of Coal (2007) and the Foundation is currently supporting a similar project which focuses on economic, technological, and institutional issues associated with the use of solar energy. Other recent Foundation grants in this area support the exploration of strategies for the safe, responsible expansion of nuclear power around the world, a project to examine the feasibility of extending the life of existing nuclear plants, a project to disseminate safety guidelines for the responsible use of radioactive materials at academic, industrial and medical institutions, a project examining a variety of questions related to energy security, and three projects on natural gas: one examining the economics of state-of-the-art natural gas extraction based on detailed analyses of the geological and economic attributes of five important U.S. shale gas deposits; one examining environmental and regulatory issues surrounding shale gas exploration and extraction; and one examining the politics associated with the development of public policies toward shale gas exploration and development. The Foundations most recent large grant in the energy area provides start-up funds to create a research center to study the impacts of government and utility programs to promote energy efficiency. Due to the significant funding available from both public and private sources for energy and environmental research, the Foundation is very selective in the grants it makes in this area, supporting only projects for which non-partisan funding is not readily available, projects related to other Foundation programs or priorities, or projects where Foundation support could be leveraged to significantly raise the chances of the project’s success. Program Director: Gail Pesyna Bio
The long period required to earn a Ph.D. in much of science, and doubts about the suitability of present graduate training for non-academic jobs suggest that graduate schools might consider a different kind of graduate degree in addition to the Ph.D. In this program, the Foundation made grants that encouraged and promote the development of the Professional Science Master's degree, a two-year degree, heavily oriented toward coursework that provides a sound basis for work outside academia in scientific and technical fields. Active grantmaking in this program ended in 2010. The Foundation is no longer accepting grant proposals in this program. Program Director: Gail Pesyna Bio Grants History Apply Headlines U.S. Pushes for Scientists, But the Jobs Aren't There Washington Post Links ScienceMasters.Com National Professional Science Masters Association New Report on PSM Enrollment and Growth in 2011
Our program to make municipal governments more responsive to their citizens, now ended, had two components. First, we sought to make citizen-informed and citizen-based government performance measurement and reporting widespread, normal and expected. Second, we sought to accelerate the spread of telephone-based or Web-based technologies that enable citizens to make and track direct service requests to their local governments. Grantmaking in this program has concluded. Though work continues on grants made in previous years, no new grants will be made in 2010 or subsequently. Letters of inquiry for grants through this program are no longer accepted. Performance measurement and reporting are citizen-informed under the following conditions: when the government involves the public in developing measures that citizens care about; when the government involves the public in deciding how performance will be reported; and when the government obtains and takes seriously feedback from the public on performance reports. Performance measurement and reporting are citizen-based when done from outside the government, normally by a non-government organization, preferably with the cooperation of the government. Program Director: Gail Pesyna Bio Grants Apply
In its Information about Careers in Science and Technology program, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is working to make available detailed, accurate information about the nature of scientific and technical careers. Foundation efforts have led to the launch, in 2003, of the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center , an ever-expanding online repository of information about careers in more than 150 scientific and technical fields. Containing information on education requirements, salaries, networking, precollege ideas, career planning resources and hundred of interviews with career professionals, Career Cornerstone has become an invaluable resource for students, advisors and guidance counselors seeking information about the prospects and challenges of work in science and technology. Program Director: Gail Pesyna Bio Grants Career Cornerstone Apply
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s Industry Studies program was founded in 1990. Its primary mission is to encourage close interaction between academics and industry in order to stimulate new lines of inquiry and broaden the impact of scholarly research. Industry studies researchers focus on topics related to firms and the markets in which they compete. Their research is characterized by a substantial investment of time to learn first-hand about the markets, firms and institutions in the industries they study. This approach requires interaction with industry practitioners and fieldwork, often including observation and/or primary data collection. The Foundation is no longer accepting research proposals in this program; however, industry studies researchers may apply for grants under other Foundation programs, such as Economic Institutions, Behavior and Performance. Program Director: Gail Pesyna Bio Grants IndustryStudies.org Apply Links What is Industry Studies? Sloan Industry Centers Industry Studies Fellowships Working Papers Awards for Scholarship
