Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

30th November 2010 Produced by the  Families and Work Institute  for the  Focus on Workplace Flexibility  Conference in Washington, D.C. in November, 2010, this short video tells the story of how changes in the U.S. work force led the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to launch it's Workplace, Work Force and Working Families Program and how research uncovered that workplace flexiblity could both meet the increasingly diverse needs of American families and serve employers as an effective means to help businesses recruit, retain, and increase the productivity of their workers.  

The Foundation occasionally sponsors innovative efforts to reach a broad, cross-cultural audience or to target specific segments of the public.  These efforts may take the form of, but are not limited to, Internet projects, conferences, multimedia events, performances, and science and arts festivals. Program Director: Doron Weber  Bio Apply Spotlight  The Foundation supports innovative efforts like the annual World Science Festival in New York City.  more Links New Funding for the Science Festival Alliance Headlines Brain Scans and the Law: Watch World Science Festival Event Scientific American The Puzzle of Consciousness: Watch Full Video of World Science Festival Panel Scientific American Playwright Nell Benjamin and Explorer Sylvia Earle Set for Talk After MTC's The Explorer's Club Broadway World 30 Years in the Fight Against AIDS Huffington Post Best Things To Do At The World Science Festival Time Out New York Program Updates March 2013 June 2013 Public Understanding Sub Programs Books Film Radio Television Theater

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has no official relationship with any of the hotels listed below.  Hotels are listed solely for their proximity to the Foundation's offices.  We encourage out-of-town guests to make accomodations as far in advance as possible. Club Quarters Midtown 25 West 51st Street (212) 262-3200 Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel 569 Lexington Avenue (800) 836-6471 Hilton New York 1335 Avenue of the Americas (212) 586-7000 Hotel Elysee 60 East 54th Street (212) 753-1066 Marriott Marquis New York 1535 Broadway (800) 843-4898 Omni Berkshire 21 East 52nd Street (212) 753-1066 Warwick Hotel 65 West 54th Street (212) 753-5800 Links Directions to Sloan Security Procedures Visiting for a Seminar? Nearby Hotels Google Map

National Workplace Flexibility Initiative Started in 2003, this collaborative effort is designed to shape workplace flexibility as a compelling national issue - providing an essential step toward the long-term goal of making workplace flexibility the standard way of working in America. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has articulated three complementary strategies: Increase public understanding of workplace flexibility through the news media,while reframing the discussion about flexibility as a strategic business tool rather than as a personal favor or employee accommodation. Increase voluntary private sector efforts to implement workplace flexibility without jeopardy to employees through the use of quality research and a local awards program that is partnered with chambers of commerce. Create a climate in Washington, D.C. whereby members of Congress will assume responsibility for pursuing viable, bipartisan, workplace flexibility policy ideas. To increase voluntary employer efforts,the Foundation has supported research examining the impact of workplace flexibility as a strategic business tool. The results of this research, as well as case studies, are available from: Families & Work Institute Corporate Voices for Working Families Sloan Work and Family Research Network The Sloan National Workplace Flexiblity Initiative is committed to the principle that workplace flexibility must be good for both the employee and the employer. To further communicate the benefits of workplace flexibility to employees, the  Labor Project for Working Families  has released  FLEX PACK , which provides fact sheets on current union practices regarding workplace flexibility. While the national initiative is effectively communicating the value of flexibility within the private sector and among employees, Georgetown University’s  Workplace Flexibility 2010 , in collaboration with the  New America Foundation , is working strategically to create a climate in Washington, D.C. whereby members of Congress will assume responsibility for pursuing viable, bipartisan workplace flexibility policy ideas. Program Director: Kathleen Christensen  Bio Grants History Apply Books & Publications Spotlight View a complete list of the grants in the Workplace, Work Force and Working Families Program   more Spotlight more Headlines Why Are You Reading This Indoors? CBS Moneywatch The Stuff of Families Wall Street Journal New Yorker Reviews New UCLA Research on Childrearing in American Families New Yorker The Work-Family Debate: All Dressed Up Huffington Post Book From UCLA Researchers Sheds Light on the New American Family Phys.org Links Basic Research The Sloan Centers on Working Families Faculty Career Flexibility in the Academy National Workplace Flexibility Initiative Aging and Flexible Work

National Medal of Science Winners The President's National Medal of Science is the highest scientific honor awarded by the United States government, given to deserving individuals in recognition of their outstanding contributions to knowledge in the physical, biological, mathematical, engineering, or social and behavioral sciences. Since the inception of the awards in 1959, 63 Sloan Research Fellows have gone on to receive the honor. Nat'l Medal of Science Awarded Name SRF Awarded Field 1966 John W. Milnor 1955 Mathematics 1967 Paul J. Cohen 1962 Mathematics 1979 Richard Feynman 1955 Physics 1982 Frank Albert Cotton 1960 Chemistry 1983 Roald Hoffmann 1966 Chemistry 1983 Frederick Reines 1959 Physics 1983 Isadore M. Singer 1959 Mathematics 1983 Richard N. Zare 1967 Physics 1986 Harry B. Gray 1964 Chemistry 1986 Peter D. Lax 1959 Mathematics 1986 Yuan-tseh Lee 1969 Chemistry 1987 Raoul H. Bott 1956 Mathematics 1987 Michael H. Freedman 1980 Mathematics 1987 Paul C. Lauterbur 1965 Chemistry 1988 Elias James Corey 1955 Chemistry 1988 Norman Ramsey 2001 Computer Science 1988 Jack Steinberger 1958 Physics 1989 Richard B. Bernstein 1956 Chemistry 1989 Rudolph A. Marcus 1960 Chemistry 1989 Harden M. McConnell 1958 Chemistry 1990 John McCarthy 1957 Mathematics 1991 Ronald C.D. Breslow 1959 Chemistry 1991 Dudley R. Herschbach 1959 Chemistry 1991 Steven Weinberg 1961 Physics 1993 Val L. Fitch 1960 Physics 1994 Frank Press 1956 Physics 1995 Peter Goldreich 1968 Physics 1995 Louis Nirenberg 1958 Mathematics 1996 Wallace S. Broecker 1962 Physics 1996 Stephen Smale 1960 Mathematics 1997 Harold S. Johnston 1955 Chemistry 1997 Shing-Tung Yau 1974 Mathematics 1998 Don L. Anderson 1964 Physics 1998 John N. Bahcall 1967 Physics 1998 George M. Whitesides 1969 Chemistry 1999 Felix E. Browder 1959 Mathematics 1999 Ronald R. Coifman 1970 Mathematics 1999 James W. Cronin 1962 Physics 1999 Leo P. Kadanoff 1963 Physics 1999 Stuart A. Rice 1958 Chemistry 1999 John Ross 1960 Chemistry 2000 John D. Baldeschwieler 1962 Chemistry 2000 Jeremiah P. Ostriker 1970 Physics 2000 John G. Thompson 1961 Mathematics 2000 Karen K. Uhlenbeck 1974 Mathematics 2001 Marvin L. Cohen 1965 Physics 2001 Ernest R. Davidson 1967 Chemistry 2001 Elias M. Stein 1961 Mathematics 2002 John I. Brauman 1968 Chemistry 2004 Robert N. Clayton 1964 Chemistry 2004 Stephen J. Lippard 1968 Chemistry 2005 Tobin J. Marks 1974 Chemistry 2006 Hyman Bass 1965 Mathematics 2006 Peter B. Dervan 1977 Chemistry 2006 Daniel Kleppner 1962 Physics 2007 Mostafa A. El-Sayed 1965 Chemistry 2007 Charles P. Slichter 1955 Physics 2009 James E. Gunn 1972 Physics 2010 Jacqueline Barton 1984 Chemistry 2010 Srinivasa Varadhan 1969 Mathematics 2011 Sandra Faber 1977 Physics 2011 M. Frederick Hawthorne 1963 Chemistry 2011 Barry Mazur 1962 Mathematics Program Director: Daniel Goroff  Bio Past Fellows History Apply

Journal Articles American Academy of Microbiology.  Microbes in Pipes: The Microbiology of Water Distribution Systems. (2012)  Link Corsi, R. L., Kinney, K. A. & Levin, H. Microbiomes of built environments: 2011 symposium highlights and workgroup recommendations.  Indoor Air   22 , 171–172 (2012).  Link Hewitt, K. M., Gerba, C. P., Maxwell, S. L. & Kelley, S. T. Office Space Bacterial Abundance and Diversity in Three Metropolitan Areas.  PLoS ONE   7 , e37849 (2012).  Link . Kembel, S. W. et al. Architectural design influences the diversity and structure of the built environment microbiome.  The ISME Journal  (2012).doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.211  Link Lozupone, C. A., Stombaugh, J. I., Gordon, J. I., Jansson, J. K. & Knight, R. Diversity, stability and resilience of the human gut microbiota. Nature 489 , 220–230 (2012). Link   Qian, J., Hospodsky, D., Yamamoto, N., Nazaroff, W. W. & Peccia, J. Size‐resolved emission rates of airborne bacteria and fungi in an occupied classroom. Indoor Air (2012).doi:10.1111/j.1600-0668.2012.00769.x  Link Schoch, C. L. et al. Nuclear Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) Region as a Universal DNA Barcode Marker for Fungi.  PNAS  109 , 6241–6246 (2012).  Link Program Director: Paula Olsiewski  Bio Apply Spotlight Jessica Green:  Are We Filtering the Wrong Microbes?  more Headlines VIDEO: You Are Your Microbes TED The Microbiology of the Water Distribution System American Academy of Microbiology On A Mission To Sort Out the Trillions of Microbes in the Human Body Chicago Tribune Links MoBE Journal Articles Biology and the Built Environment Center at the U. of Oregon Microbiomes of the Built Environment Data Analysis Core Microbiology of the Built Environment Network Read the microBEnet blog Visualization and Analysis of Microbial Population Structures (VAMPS)

Too often we fail to recognize and pay tribute to the creative spirit .  It is that spirit that creates our jobs …  There has to be this pioneer, the individual who has the courage, the ambition to overcome the obstacles that always develop when one tries to do something worthwhile, especially when it is new and different .  (Alfred P. Sloan Jr., 1941)   The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation makes grants primarily to support original research and broad-based education related to science, technology, economic performance and the quality of American life. The Foundation is unique in its focus on science, technology, and economic institutions—and the scholars and practitioners who work in these fields—as chief drivers of the nation’s health and prosperity. The Foundation has a deep-rooted belief that carefully reasoned systematic understanding of the forces of nature and society, when applied inventively and wisely, can lead to a better world for all. The Foundation’s endowment provides the financial resources to support its activities. The investment strategy for the endowment is to invest prudently in a diversified portfolio of assets with the goal of achieving superior returns. In each of our grants programs, we seek proposals for original projects led by outstanding individuals or teams. We are interested in projects that have a high expected return to society, and for which funding from the private sector, government or other foundations is not yet widely available. The major areas in which the Foundation is currently making new grants can be found on the Foundation’s Web site, along with information about  how to apply for a grant .

People average 23 hours a day indoors where we breathe and come in contact with trillions of microorganisms—tiny life forms invisible to the naked eye. Human beings ourselves are composted of ten times as many microbial cells as human cells and we are constantly shedding, acquiring and indeed sharing microbes. Historically environmental research and policy have focused on natural or urban outdoor environments. Little is known about the complex microbial ecosystems found in the built environment. The goal of the Microbiology of the Built Environment program is to grow a new field of scientific inquiry. Over the next five years, Sloan's objectives are as follows: To push the research frontier including the development of standardized techniques and protocols, and to educate a small leadership cohort through a multidisciplinary university-based Biology and the Built Environment Center at the University of Oregon , led by Jessica Green, Brendan Bohannan, and Charlie Brown. To build a national, multidisciplinary community by establishing a network of scientists, engineers, and architects working on these issues through the Microbiology of the Built Environment Network at the University of California, Davis, led by Jonathan Eisen. To improve the cohesiveness of the community and its ability to communicate internally and externally by developing data visualization and imaging techniques and repositories through a consortium of four institutions: University of Chicago (Folker Meyer), Marine Biological Laboratory(Mitch Sogin), University of Colorado(Rob Knight), and University of California, Riverside(Jason Stajich).   To demonstrate the excitement and value of the field by supporting a small number of research targets of opportunity. Read the RFP for the Postdoctoral Fellowship program. To convince traditional U.S. government funding agencies to include research on the built environment in their research plans by developing a compelling, widely accepted research agenda. For a complete list of Sloan grants in this program area, see  www.microbe.net/grantees . Program Director: Paula Olsiewski  Bio Apply Spotlight These two-year, $120K fellowships support the work of promising postdoctoral researchers and engineers who are studying the microbiology of built environments.   Read the RFP. Headlines Your Skin Can Reveal How Much You Love Dogs Counsel & Heal Q&A: Jessica Green, Biodiversity Scientist, on the Microbial Ecosystems in Our Buildings SmartPlanet Mapping the Great Indoors New York Times Next To You On The Subway New York Times Study: Subway Air Is No Worse Than Crowded Street Air CBS New York Links MoBE Journal Articles Biology and the Built Environment Center at the U. of Oregon Microbiomes of the Built Environment Data Analysis Core Microbiology of the Built Environment Network Read the microBEnet blog Visualization and Analysis of Microbial Population Structures (VAMPS)

CHEMISTRY Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Karen I. Goldberg, University of Washington Scott J. Miller, Yale University COMPUTATIONAL AND EVOLUTIONARY MOLECULAR BIOLOGY Bonnie Berger, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Andrew G. Clark, Cornell University Stephen Mayo, CalTech COMPUTER SCIENCE Jitendra Malik, UC Berkeley Margo I. Seltzer, Harvard University Éva Tardos, Cornell University ECONOMICS Esther Duflo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Jonathan Levin, Stanford University Robert Shimer, University of Chicago MATHEMATICS Tomasz S. Mrowka, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Karl Rubin, University of California, Irvine Margaret H. Wright, New York University NEUROSCIENCE Dora E. Angelaki, Baylor College of Medicine Lynn Landmesser, Case Western Reserve University Leslie B. Vosshall, Rockefeller University OCEAN SCIENCES Barbara Block, Stanford University Nancy Knowlton, UC San Diego Mitchell Sogin, Brown University PHYSICS Andrew G. Cohen, Boston University Evelyn Hu, Harvard University Ethan T. Vishniac, University of Saskatchewan Program Director: Daniel Goroff  Bio Past Fellows History Apply Links Apply Online Interfolio Instructions Nobel Laureates Fields Medalists John Bates Clark Medalists National Medal of Science Winners Members of the Selection Committees FAQ Questions? Download our Brochure Spotlight See the full-page New York Times ad congratulating the 2013 Sloan Research Fellows more