Public Television The Foundation is a major supporter of public television documentaries, docudramas and dramas about science, technology and the lives of the men and women involved in scientific and technological pursuit. Foundation-supported shows highlight the role of engineering and technology in society or broaden our view of the nation’s history and of the central role of science and technology in the country’s narrative. Some programs celebrate scientific and technological breakthroughs and milestones, while others reveal just how little we know, and how far we still have to go. The Foundation has a longtime interest in the underappreciated role of women and minorities in science and technology. The Foundation also supports television programs based on projects it has sponsored in other media, such as books and plays. Commercial Television The Foundation also continues to develop various film projects with cable and broadcast networks. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight Check out American Experience's newest Sloan-supported episode Silicon Valley more Headlines James Cameron Honored by National Geographic for Deepsea Challenger Expedition National Geographic Links Making Sen$e Minds on the Edge NOVA: Hunting the Edge of Space American Experience Program Updates March 2013 June 2013 Public Understanding Sub Programs Books Film Radio Theater New Media
The goal of Sloan’s Synthetic Biology initiative is to identify the risks associated with research in and applications of synthetic biology and to assess the ethical, regulatory, and public policy implications of these risks. Grantmaking aims to educate scientists, policy makers, journalists and the public about synthetic biology, improve biosecurity and biosafety within the field, lay groundwork to address issues in regulation and governance, and help develop a cadre of scholars and practitioners to evaluate the ethical, social, and public policy consequences of synthetic biology research. Recent grantmaking in this program has focused on informing key audiences about synthetic biology. A grant to The Hastings Center aims to engage the ethical community to identify and articulate ethical issues associated with synthetic biology research and provide a basis for informed policy discussion. A Sloan-funded project at the J. Craig Venter Institute is educating the scientific community about societal concerns regarding synthetic biology and educating the policy and journalism communities about the science underlying synthetic biology research. A grant to the Woodrow Wilson International Center aims to identify risks associated with synthetic biology, evaluate the adequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms, and educate policy makers and the public through events and through its website, www.synbioproject.org . The Foundation has been working in synthetic biology since 2005. Initial grants included a Foundation-sponsored report by the J. Craig Venter Institute, “ Synthetic Genomics: Options for Governance ”, as well as support for discussion of the societal implications of synthetic biology at the past three international synthetic biology meetings: S.B 2.0 (UC Berkeley) S.B 3.0 (Zurich) and S.B 4.0 (Hong Kong). This program does not support laboratory research in synthetic biology. Program Director: Paula Olsiewski Bio Spotlight Watch bioethicist and Hastings Center President Thomas H. Murray's testimony to the President's Commission on Bioethics more Spotlight Presidential Commission on Bioethics releases report on the ethics of synthetic biology more Headlines How Synthetic Biology Will Change Us NBC News Book Review: "Regenesis" by Church and Regis Kirkus Reviews Genes in Your Email? Why Not? NBC News Links Read the Presidential Commission on Biothethics Report on the Ethics of Synthetic Biology The Synbio Project at the W. Wilson Center Hastings Center Synthetic Biology Page Venter Institute Paper on Governance Option for Synthetic Bio Wilson Center Launches Scorecard to Help Implement Synthetic Bio Recommendation
Supported Productions at the Manhattan Theatre Club The Explorers Club by Nell Benjamin (2013) The Explorers Club is the world premiere of a comedy by Tony-nominated writer Nell Benjamin ( Legally Blond ), set at a mens-only science club in London which is faced with a crisis as it considers admitting a brilliant female candidate. The Other Place by Sharr White (2013) The Other Place is a contemporary play, starring three-time Emmy winner and Tony nominee Laurie Metcalf, about a successful neurologist whose life suddenly starts to unravel. An Enemy of the People a new version of Henrik Ibsen's play by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (2012) MTC presents a new production of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, a classic drama that grapples with the role and responsibility of the scientist in society. Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones (2003) This award winning play starred Blair Brown and Jared Harris in its North American debut. Proof by David Auburn (2000) MTC and Sloan's first collaboration was a surprise hit that went from Off-Broadway to Broadway and won both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Proof was the longest running non-musical Broadway drama in over 30 years and continues to play at theaters across the U.S. A film version of Proof starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins was released by the Weinstein Company in 2005. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight Isaac's Eye , a play about a young Isaac Newton and his nemesis Robert Hooke, premiered at Ensemble Studio Theatre's Mainstage. more
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) program is expanding our understanding of the evolution and structure of the universe by providing the largest uniform, detailed archive of objects in the skies that has ever existed. In cooperation with the Astrophysical Research Consortium, the Foundation has helped build and operate a specially designed telescope to observe and archive galaxies, quasars and other cosmological phenomena. Data collected through the SDSS is providing an increasingly detailed picture of the universe, including data bearing on the curvature of the universe itself, on the existence of dark energy, and on the features of the Milky Way. Program Director: Gail Pesyna Bio Visit the SDSS Apply Headlines How Astronomical Surveys are Pinpointing Our Place in the Universe PBS NewsHour / Scientific American VIDEO: A Flight Through the Universe, Courtesy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey YouTube
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation recognizes that there are select opportunities outside of science, education and economics in which it can create an important benefit to society. Its National Issues program area looks for unique opportunities where Foundation funds promise to advance a significant national interest. Grants in the Select National Issues program are funding work to increase America's biosecurity and investigate how recent advances in information technology affect the spread of knowledge and the structure of scientific endeavor. Program Director: Paula Olsiewski Bio
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The shift to digitally-mediated forms of scholarship has been characterized by a substantial growth in channels for and diversity of scholarly work. We see this in the flourishing of content in preprint servers and rapid-publication channels like arXiv, PLoS ONE, and the Social Science Research Network alongside unconventional forms of scholarly communication like research blogs and personal websites, all of which enable scholars to put their work out for broad access. Grants in this sub-program aim to ease this transition by supporting the development of new models of filtering and curating online scholarly materials and by engaging the emerging community of stakeholders and practitioners tackling similar issues in widely divergent disciplinary contexts. Program Director: Joshua Greenberg Bio Apply Headlines New "Voter Atlas" Shows Where the True Electoral Battlegrounds Are Seven Pilot Sites Join National Digital Library Project with Knight Foundation Funding Webwire Registration Now Open for the Bring Your Own Data Forum on Nov 14 UMich, Sloan to Enhance Open Access to Research Data University of Michigan
