future research centre

Future Regions Research Centre (FRRC)

Federation University’s research aims to transform lives and enhance communities. We are committed to applying our world-class research to real-world challenges and to making a positive impact both regionally and globally.

We aim to create new knowledge and innovative solutions to the grand challenges that impact both our natural and constructed environments.

Research streams

FRRC’s research is organised into five research streams.

Resilient Landscapes and Aquatic Systems

This stream evaluates the health of landscapes and aquatic systems and explores appropriate measures for their remediation.

Stable Landforms and Mine Rehabilitation

This stream aims to stabilise landscapes and mining landforms through soil conditioning and revegetation programs to address further deterioration.

Soil Health, Food and Fibre

This stream explores the contribution of soils to the long-term stability of landforms and their role in capturing carbon and advancing agriculture.

Circular Economy

This stream mobilises environmental engineering, advanced monitoring and modelling expertise to improve how we use and re-use products and waste.

Society and Heritage

This stream explores how changes in society and the natural environment interact and seeks to integrate environmental values within social practices and policy.

Geotechnical and Hydrogeological Engineering Research Group (GHERG)

GHERG combines a wealth of research experience in geomechanics, hydrogeology and soil science for the purposes of open-pit mine research.

Nanya Station

Nanya Station is a magnificent 40,000 hectare property in far western New South Wales and an important resource in our conservation research and education programs.

Horsham Research Hub

The Horsham Research Hub aims to help regional and rural communities achieve innovation and collaboration, with a focus on economic development, effective service delivery and a strong sense of wellbeing.

Research with us

Get involved with FRRC’s research, either as a research student or through a research collaboration.

We bring together a multidisciplinary team of experts to address a variety of environmental challenges.

News and events

Find out about our latest news and upcoming events.

Ask us about our research by getting in touch with us.

• Search this site Search this site Site search
• Faculty and Staff
• Academic Offerings
• Consultations
• Publications

Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies

Each of us has an essential role in the construction of whatever futures do come to pass. Humans have never before had more influence over – and ethical responsibilities towards – the futures of our environment, our biology, and indeed, of all life. Futures studies encourages the contemplation of many possible futures and facilitates dialogue between groups with competing or conflicting visions.

The  Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies  ( Hawaii Futures ) was established by the Hawaii State Legislature in 1971. It is one of the world’s most renowned institutions for futures research, consulting, and education. Located within the  Department of Political Science ,  College of Social Sciences  at the  University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa , it has been instrumental in the education of four decades of futurists, in the development and spread of judicial and educational foresight, and in bringing foresight and futures thinking to organizations, agencies, and businesses around the world.

Activities of Hawaii Futures are overseen by pioneer futurist Jim Dator , who for nearly a half-century has sculpted the very discipline of futures studies. In addition to ongoing teaching, Dator served as Secretary General and then President of the World Futures Studies Federation for a decade produced numerous publications on futures studies and emergent issues, and consulted with governmental, educational, religious, public-interest, military, and business organizations in over 40 countries.

“Man’s mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Any useful statement about the futures should appear to be ridiculous.” – Jim Dator

“The future ain’t what it used to be.” – Yogi Berra

“Future is not a noun, it’s a verb.” – Bruce Sterling

“Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.” – Jonas Salk

“The world is getting better and better, and worse and worse, faster and faster.” – Tom Atlee

About the FFRC

Finland Futures Research Centre (FFRC) is one of the few university departments devoted to futures research in the world. Jointly founded by three universities in Turku in 1992, the FFRC is a department within the Turku School of Economics at the University of Turku, Finland.

The FFRC works with a transdisciplinary approach in an international environment

The cornerstones of its activities are on developing academic futures studies, critical interdisciplinary research, high quality education, strategic and business foresight and insightfully produced futures knowledge.

All of the FFRC’s primary activities are focused on the promotion of a sustainable future, which is understood as being economically efficient, socially secure, fair, and culturally representative of our world society.

With its internationally active and multidisciplinary personnel and through co-creation with its societal partners, the FFRC is expertly able to meet the needs of its partners and customers, which range from academic institutions to public organizations and the business world.

Nationally, the FFRC carries out its special task as a developer and innovator of futures research and foresight in Finland. In addition, it serves as the permanent advisor of the Committee for the Future of the Finnish Parliament. This provides an excellent way to keep in touch with Finnish decision-makers.

The annual Futures Conferences of the FFRC bring together world-renowned futurists and researchers from various fields as well as Finnish citizens and decision-makers.

Member of the AACSB International

Turku School of Economics is an accredited member of the AACSB International, which is a guarantee of continuous development of excellence in education and research.

Founded 1992

Department at the Turku School of Economics, University of Turku

Offices at Turku – Helsinki – Tampere

Personnel 50+, personnel years in 2021 total 41

Masters students 77, Doctoral researchers 26

Projects annually ca. 35–40

Turnover in 2021: 2.74 M€ 

External funding 75%

Relax and watch our presentation in 6 minutes

2025: Futures of Technologies – Shaping Societal Transformation

Next Futures Conference will focus on futures of technologies. The event will be organised during 11-12 June 2025 in Turku, Finland. www.futuresconference2025.com#futuresconference2025

2024: Futures of Natural Resources

Virtual Pre-Conference: 4 June 2024  │ Onsite Days: 13–14 June 2024 in Turku, Finland  │ ‘Futures of Natural Resources’ is the 24th international Futures Conference of Finland Futures Research Centre and Finland Futures Academy, University of Turku. This year we are excited to be able to organise this event together with Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke),…

2023: Empowering Futures – Long-term Governance, Democracy and Futures Research

14−16 June 2023  │ Turku, Finland  │ Online There is an urgent need for long-term futures thinking in order to sustain possibilities for alternative and creative solutions to complex crises and empower futures. For the Futures Conference 2023, we gathered in Turku to discuss about the futures of democracy, trust, power and sustainability, which are tightly…

2022: Planetary Futures of Health and Wellbeing

15–17 June 2022  │  Turku, Finland  │ Hybrid The 22nd Futures Conference was organised on the theme of planetary futures of health and wellbeing. Earth’s systems are undergoing drastic transformations due to climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and other human-caused environmental pressures. These changes are expected to introduce profound challenges for people and the rest…

2021: Learning Futures – Futures of Learning

8–9 June 2021, online and live stream from Turku, Finland As we move further into the 21st century, we need to renew our understanding of what it means to learn, teach, and develop new knowledge. Education systems and learning processes for people of all ages are needed to navigate uncertainty, address known problems, identify new…

2019: Constructing Social Futures – Sustainability, Responsibility and Power

12−13 June 2019, Turku, Finland The 20th Futures Conference was organised under the theme ‘Constructing Social Futures – Sustainability, Responsibility and Power’ during 12−13 of June 2019 in Logomo, Turku, Finland. During the two conference day we hosted about 280 participants from 29 different countries and had the most impressive programme containing: 4 keynote speeches,…

2018: Energizing Futures – Sustainable Development and Energy in Transition

13–14 June 2018 in Tampere, Finland The 19th Futures Conference ‘Energizing Futures – Sustainable Development and Energy in Transition’ emphasized opportunities and challenges related to the need for building and critically evaluating capabilities necessary for sustainable futures. To understand the challenges of the ongoing energy transition process, we need multidisciplinary, multi-level and time-variant analysis of…

2017: Futures of a Complex World

12–13 June 2017 in Turku, Finland To understand the challenges of our time, we need systems thinking to grasp the complexity of our world. At its core is to see the inter-relationships rather than linear cause-and-effect chains, and in seeing processes of change rather than snapshots. All futures studies are ultimately connected to a systems…

2015: Futures Studies Tackling Wicked Problems: Where Futures Research, Education and Action Meet

11−12 June 2015 in Turku, Finland This 17th International Futures Conference was organised by the Finland Futures Research Centre and the Finland Futures Academy in co-operation with World Futures Studies Federation, Otava Folk High School Co-Operative Society, The Finnish Society for Futures Studies and Turku University of Applied Sciences. This conference gathered together 260 participants from 33 different countries. During…

2014: Sustainable Futures in a Changing Climate

11-12 June 2014, Helsinki, Finland How does climate change influence our understanding of the future? How can we contribute to creating desirable but possible futures in the era of climate change? The Finland Futures Research Centre’s 16th Annual International Conference ‘Sustainable Futures in a Changing Climate’ focused on presenting current future-oriented research on different aspects…

Fall 2024 Admissions is officially OPEN.  Sign up for the next live information session here .

the Cambridge Future Scholar Programme

Explore your passions through a research course.

The Future Scholar Programme is an online 2-5 student research-focused programme taught by current teaching faculty members at the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford, MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and select Ivy League universities. 

Each Spring, Summer, and Fall round will be offering 90+ unique research courses in STEM, Business, Social Sciences, and the Humanities.

Programme Outcomes

Admission Deadlines

Research Course Offerings

Watch this video to learn more about the Future Scholar programme.

A Semester's Worth of Teaching

13 weeks of lectures and supervision from Oxbridge or Ivy League faculty mentors and PhD TAs. Curricula mirroring first-year courses at the faculty mentors’ universities.

A Signed Evaluation Report

From your Oxbridge or Ivy faculty mentor, issued by the programme, that highlights each student’s performance throughout the programme.

An Independent Research Project

Complete an original independent research paper, supervised by an Oxbridge or Ivy League faculty mentor, with the aiming of publication at undergraduate or industry level journals..

A Letter of Recommendation

The option to request a tailored letter penned by your Oxbridge or Ivy League faculty mentor.

Download the Fall 2024 Prospectus for:

Oxbridge Level Writing Centre

Our writing centre, staffed by Oxbridge students and alumni, is constantly on call to provide prompt feedback on your writing.

Independent Ethics Review Committee

For research involving human subjects, an ERC review is often required to ensure the experiment adheres to research ethics. CCIR’s independently-run ERC is led by Dr McClelland at the University of Cambridge.

Journal Publication Guidance

Publishing requires know-how. Our expert team will not only help you transition from high school to academic writing, we will also actively assist you in getting your work published. Our academic advisors actively maintain our database of publications so that we know how and where to best showcase your work. We will help you avoid predatory academic forums and support you as you publish your work in legitimate journals and conferences.

CCIR Student Research Symposium at the University of Cambridge, with 10 Nobel Laureates Attending

Every year, a select number of CCIR’s students have the opportunity to present their research findings on the campus of Cambridge, to showcase their work and their achievements (in person or virtually). For 2024, the symposium is open to apply for all current and past CCIR students, who enrolled before June 15, 2024, regardless of the status of their research.

Participants must submit a 200 to 400 word fully polished abstract, or the most recent draft of the paper.

We are beyond excited to announce that 10 Nobel laureates have confirmed to attend and speak with CCIR student researchers at CCIR’s Student Research Symposium on July 30, 2024.

CCIR Student presenters are also invited to the Reception hosted at the hall of King’s College. The Reception is a traditional Oxbridge style high table dinner, with both Nobel laureates and select CCIR professor mentors expected to sit at the high table. For the invited student presenters, there is no cost for presenting at the Symposium and attending the Reception.

Fall 2024 Research Course Overview

98 Unique Research Courses, Designed and Taught by Ivy League/Oxbridge Faculty

Each course is designed and taught by current Oxbridge and Ivy League faculty.

For full professor mentor biographies and course descriptions, please download the latest prospectus.

Harvard (Harvard Medical School) | Department of Cardiology

In this research course, we will talk about the principles of developmental biology and stem cell biology, study organ development (such as the heart), and discuss genome engineering using the CRISPR-Cas9 (a novel genetic modification tool). The objective of the research course is to encourage students to think creatively about how a cell develops an organism, how we can study them experimentally, how we can edit genes, and how we can use animal models to analyse in vivo data.

Brown | BioMed MCB Department

In this research course, each student is tasked to read, digest, and present assigned peer-reviewed research articles in the field of Cell and Developmental Biology, which is the science that investigates how interacting processes generate an organism’s heterogeneous shapes, size, and structural features that arise on the trajectory throughout a life cycle. Topics of interest include asymmetric cell division, cell signalling and metabolism, cellular specification and differentiation, mRNA translation, embryonic development, germ cell and stem cell development, and cancer regulation.

Princeton | Department of Molecular Biology

In this course, students will receive a comprehensive introduction to the fascinating world of protein biochemistry. We will span several decades of technological advancements including the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), recombinant protein expression technologies, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, and advances in optical microscopy approaches. We will combine fundamental concepts in molecular biology and biochemistry with the seminal literature in the field that has led to major scientific breakthroughs and altered the way textbooks are written. Students will explore protein-based machines through independent research projects using basic molecular biology and biochemical techniques (if available) and/or computational AI-based tools.

Oxford | Department of Biochemistry

In this research course, we will explore genetics utilising computational and data scientific techniques. By analysing the vast quantities of data using these cutting-edge techniques, students will learn how to observe and analyze molecular events across the genomes of biological systems.

Cambridge | Department of Genetics

In this research course, students will learn about the role of genetics in understanding and combatting infectious diseases, while developing skills relevant in modern computational analyses, known as bioinformatics, which will open the door for understanding infection mechanisms at the gene and protein levels.

Cambridge | Department of Medicine

In the contemporary landscape of medical science and biology, computational tools have become indispensable, driving advancements in diagnosis, drug discovery, and biotechnology. This interdisciplinary course is designed to bridge the gap between traditional biological sciences and cutting-edge computational techniques. By integrating practical computing, bioinformatics, and machine learning, this research course provides a comprehensive foundation for students aiming to tackle real-world challenges in the medical and biological fields.

Cambridge | Department of Pharmacology

In this course, we will learn the basic principles of cancer biology and how to use different bioinformatics tools to analyse health data. We will discuss the hallmarks of cancer to better understand how we can interpret the results we can discover from the data-mining exercises. We will explore large-scale biological data using different bioinformatics tools and platforms. These findings will allow students to uncover genes that can have a potential role as biomarkers or that have therapeutic applications.

In this course, we will learn the basic principles of genomics and molecular profiling approaches used to analyse an individual’s genetic information. We will also engage in hands-on research by utilising bioinformatics tools to identify biomarkers—specific indicators associated with particular diseases or treatment responses. As precision medicine involves integrating data from various omics sources, such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, we will use bioinformatics tools to explore and integrate multi-dimensional data, offering a more comprehensive view of biological processes. The potential role of artificial intelligence, machine learning and other innovative approaches in shaping the future of precision medicine will also be discussed.

Harvard (Harvard Medical School) | Kanarek Lab, Department of Pathology

In this research course, students will embark on a research journey into the dynamic realm of cancer research, with a particular focus on metabolomics application. As the landscape of cancer investigation continues to evolve, yielding an abundance of new insights, the course offers an exploration of cutting-edge knowledge in cancer research. By conducting their independent research project, students will gain an understanding of the interplay between metabolism and cancer, along with the skills to contribute to the forefront of cancer research.

UC Berkeley | Landry Lab, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

This research course will cover emerging topics in applied biotechnology – from CRISPR to cloning. We will learn the fundamental principles of DNA, RNA, and protein biochemistry and think about how analogous techniques to study and analyse these systems have emerged. Next, we will discuss the development of CRISPR-based genome editing applications. The scope of the research course will allow students to probe the cutting-edge interface of biology with engineering.

Cambridge | Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute

This research course aims to explain how genetic variations in our genome affect our phenotype and how genetic variations lead to single gene and complex diseases such as cancer. Most importantly we will explore modern cancer diagnostics and novel methods for early cancer detection and how clinicians nowadays use patients’ DNA to target and treat cancer — offering a new approach to personalised treatment. 

Harvard | Joslin Diabetes Center

Throughout the research course, students will explore cutting-edge strategies and technologies used in drug discovery with a focus on metabolism-targeting therapeutics. The rapidly advancing field of drug development offers various approaches, including novel drug design, high-throughput screening methods, and precision medicine techniques. By exposing students to these state-of-the-art methodologies, the course aims to equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary to engage in contemporary research efforts and contribute to the development of next-generation drugs aimed at combating metabolic diseases.

Cambridge | Biomineral Research Lab

Biological imaging methods serve as indispensable tools for illuminating the dynamics of biological systems, offering insights into their inner workings at the cellular and molecular levels. This research course acts as a gateway into the realm of bio-image processing techniques, empowering students with the necessary knowledge and skills to dissect, analyse, and interpret biological images with precision and efficacy. The aim of the course is to cultivate both a theoretical and practical understanding of image processing methods meticulously tailored to meet the unique challenges posed by biological data.

Harvard | Massachusetts General Hospital 

Regenerative medicine, using biologically compatible materials (biomaterials) and stem cells, aims to restore the functions of damaged organs or tissues. We will examine the basics of stem cell biology, explore different types of biomaterials, discuss current tissue engineering strategies and commercially available tissue engineering products. Ultimately, students will each conduct a research project in which participants can develop their own hypothetical tissue engineering strategies to restore a type of tissue of their own choosing.

Cambridge | Department of Veterinary Medicine

This course offers an introduction to bacterial genomics within the context of the pressing global concern—antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Students delve into resistance genes, horizontal gene transfer, and cutting-edge DNA sequencing techniques, gaining practical skills in bioinformatics for AMR surveillance. The course goes beyond theoretical understanding, exploring strategies to combat AMR, including responsible antibiotic use, alternative therapies, and global initiatives. Emphasis is placed on hands-on exercises, discussions, and collaborative projects that empower students to analyse real-world genomic data and propose solutions to address AMR challenges.

Cambridge | Department of Engineering 

Our brain controls how we perceive our surroundings and how we interact with them, how we feel, and who we are. In this research course, we will explore how the brain and nervous system function with a particular attention to its core building block – the neuron. We will also explore how technology can be utilised to better understand and treat the brain.

Cambridge/Johns Hopkins | Bioelectronics Laboratory

The objective of this research course is to invite students to study neuroscience and neuroanatomy, and to understand the state-of-the-art technology being used to interface with the nervous system. In particular, we will learn the physiological basis of electrical and chemical signalling in the nervous system, including the brain and the sensory systems (visual, auditory, olfactory and taste, and hearing), and understand how electronic systems can be used to artificially substitute them when damaged (e.g. recovery of hearing in deaf people).

University of Toronto, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Sciences | St Michael’s Hospital

This research course offers an engaging introduction to psychology’s fundamental concepts and principles. Students will be provided with an overview of the scientific study of human behaviour and thought by exploring topics such as perception, attention, memory, motivation, and decision-making. Particular focus is placed on the emotions. We will discuss the evolutionary origins of distinct emotions, as well as the impact of emotions on our cognitive processes and social relationships. Students will also be trained to discuss and present on research data and clinical experiences to enhance their understanding.

Oxford | Department of Experimental Psychology

This research course will examine the building blocks of human intelligence through the lenses of cognitive psychology. We will explore the fundamental cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and learning. We will then examine how these core abilities give rise to more complex processes such as decision making, problem solving and abstract thinking, and ultimately to what we consider intelligent behaviour. The overall aim of the course is to provide students with a thorough understanding of the key topics in cognitive psychology, to provide a space to integrate theoretical and experimental knowledge, and equip students with a thorough understanding of the tools and approaches used to study cognition.

Harvard (Harvard Medical School) | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston

The blood-brain barrier is a major field in neuroscience, because it protects the brain from harmful substances in the blood while allowing essential nutrients to pass through. In this research course, we will grasp the essential concepts in cellular and molecular medicine, neuroscience, and genetics, specifically focusing on the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and its critical role in brain function.

Our visual sense is one of the most important means of gathering information about the surrounding physical world. In this research course, we will examine the core topics in visual perception, which form a major part in experimental psychology, cognitive science, and optometry. Students will obtain a foundational understanding of the principles, theories, and processes involved in visual perception, spanning from the basic functions of the eye to the complexities of visual cognition.

Cambridge | Department of Clinical Neurosciences

Many of us will be personally affected by dementia by either getting dementia ourselves or caring for someone with dementia. The research course will introduce students to dementia and dementia research. We will cover different types of dementias, including Alzheimer’s, Vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson’s, and HIV-associated brain injury, and more. Through them we will gain an understanding of how brain diseases influence cognition, emotion, and behaviour. We will also study dementia prevention, in which we will look at evidences of how our own lifestyle choice could affect getting dementia.

Dartmouth | Computational and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

In this research course, we will examine decision making from both behavioural and neurobiological points of view. Specifically, we will learn about different methods used in psychology and neuroscience to study decision making at various levels, from mental and cognitive processes to underpinning neural activity and mechanisms. Ultimately, this research course will alter students’ perspectives on decision-making by imparting knowledge of brain function.

Neuroeconomics is a new emerging field in which a combination of methods from neuroscience, psychology, and economics is used to better understand how we make decisions. Neuroeconomics uses various cutting edge techniques to study how the brain integrates information from various sources. In this research course, we learn about economic and psychological theories that are used to investigate and understand choice behaviour, as well as mental and neural processes that underlie decision-making.

This research course delves into the fascinating realm of how the human brain supports learning and decision-making processes, drawing insights from computational neuroscience. Throughout the course, we will explore fundamental concepts such as reinforcement learning and Bayesian decision theory, unravelling the intricate mechanisms that underlie our cognitive abilities. By synthesising insights from neuroscience, psychology, and computer science, students will develop a holistic understanding of human learning and decision-making processes. In summary, this course offers a multidisciplinary perspective that will deepen students’ understanding of the complex interplay between the brain, behaviour, and computational principles.

Cambridge | Department of Psychology 

Motivation and emotion are critical functions of the brain, allowing individuals to enhance their likelihood of survival and passing on their genes. In this research course, we will aim to provide a foundation of research, theory and practical skills acting as a primer for the student interested in the psychological and neural basis of emotion, motivated behaviours and the mechanisms of abnormal emotion and motivation.

Cambridge | Department of Psychology 

In this research course, we will explore foundational research, theory and practical skills related to molecular and systems pharmacology of central nervous system disorders. The course will provide the students with a solid background in cellular and molecular neuroscience, neuropharmacology and behavioural neuroscience that will then be used to discuss the neuropsychopharmacology of neuropsychiatric disorders. The aim of this research course is to provide an understanding of the chemical pathology of the major central nervous system diseases/disorders, and how these conditions are treated with drugs.

Harvard (Harvard Medical School) | Dettmer Lab, Department of Neurology

In this research course, students will deepen their under- standing of brain anatomy, brain biology and the degeneration that occurs in Parkinson’s disease and causes the hallmarks of PD. Potential intervention strategies will be evaluated. The importance of biomarkers for diagnosis and drug development will be discussed, and potential biomarker strategies will be highlighted. The goal is to outline novel strategies towards (early) diagnosis and treatment of PD, and this may include the combination of different approaches.

Harvard, Center for Astrophysics | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

In this research course, students will generate a scientific exploration case, develop the mission concept, as well as design and investigate custom subsystems of a spacecraft, such as structures, thermal, power, attitude and orbit and propulsion. Students will study celestial mechanics/astrodynamics in order to determine the most suitable orbits in space and how this affects key engineering considerations. This course is well suited to students with an interest across space research, astronomy, aerospace engineering, and mechanical engineering.

Oxford, Department of Physics | University College London 

DNA molecules have particular chemical and physical properties that can be applied to solve tasks that go beyond the scope of their function in nature. In this research course, we will explore first DNA’s functional characteristics and how can they be used to produce complex architectures at the nanoscale that can then perform customised tasks for a wide range of applications – from biomedicine to the manufacturing industry, including data storage and complex chemical production.

UCL | Department of Computer Science

Biorobotics is a cutting-edge interdisciplinary science at the intersection of biology, biomedical engineering, computer science and robotics. It studies ways to improve the intelligence, locomotion, and other performances of robotic systems inspired by nature. In this research course, students will be introduced to novel bio-inspired ideas that have revolutionised modern day robotics, particularly in the field of soft-robotics. The course delves into the principles and methods behind the design of physically compliant robots. Students will learn the programming language MATLAB and develop their independent research projects on bio-inspired robotics.

UCL | Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering

Soft robotics is a rising branch of robotics that aims to develop delicate, flexible and safe robotic devices which interact with humans using soft actuators that mimic biological behaviour, which state of the art rigid robots cannot accomplish otherwise. In practice, they can perform tasks that would be impossible or dangerous for humans to do. This research course will introduce students to this nascent branch of robotics and have a deeper insight into soft robots’ concept, development, and control. With this, the students will develop a full awareness of the topics, which will allow them to work on their independent research projects.

Oxford | Department of Physics

This is an interdisciplinary research course at the interface of microengineering, analytical chemistry, and robotics, designed to explore the innovative applications of miniaturized analytical systems and automated chemical processes. Students will learn cutting-edge techniques in microfluidics and robotics and apply them to real-world problems in analytical chemistry and biomedical engineering.

UC Berkeley | College of Engineering 

This research course provides preparation for the conceptual design and prototyping of mechanical systems that use microprocessors to control machine activities, acquire and analyse data, and interact with operators. Students will perform laboratory exercises that lead through studies of different levels of software. Software coverage includes C and Matlab. Students will have the opportunity to work with an Infineon PSOC6 microcontroller.

Oxford | Department of Engineering

In this research course, we will explore the fundamental principles of mechanics in this comprehensive course that covers the essential and advanced concepts of statics and dynamics. Throughout the research course, hands-on exercises, problem-solving sessions, and interactive simulations will allow students to apply theoretical concepts to practical situations. By the end of this course, students will possess a solid understanding of basic mechanics, enabling them to analyse static equilibrium, assess structural members, and predict the behaviour of particles and rigid bodies in dynamic situations.

In this research course, we will explore the fundamental principles of mechanics in this comprehensive course that covers the essential and advanced concepts of statics and dynamics. We then delve in genetic design and molecular biology techniques required in synthetic biology. Finally, we will look at examples of synthetic biology frameworks such as projects in the IGEM competition that pushed the boundaries in various fields of science. We can assemble so many machines from our DNA Lego bits with the right knowledge.

Cambridge | Department of Medicine / Department of Engineering

Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that draws from physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. It is a rapidly evolving field that offers novel solutions for many industrial challenges. In this research course, students will learn about various aspects of nanotechnology and nanomaterials, and how they are applied to create devices such as solar cells, superconductors, and medical sensors.

This research course covers the entire process of sensor data science: data collection, pre-processing, feature extraction, and machine learning modelling. Mobile and wearable sensors will be mainly used, and the types of sensor data covered include motion (e.g. vibration/acceleration, GPS), physiological signals (e.g. heart rate, skin temperature), and interaction data (e.g. app usage). Students will learn the basic digital signal processing and feature extraction techniques. Basic machine learning techniques will be reviewed, and students will master these techniques with a final mini-project to solve real-world sensor data science problems.

MIT | Department of Mathematics

Geometry, the study of shapes, is a fundamental aspect of both mathematics and our understanding of the world around us. In this advanced research course, we will embark on an exploration of the beautiful and intricate structures that define our universe. By the end of the course, students will have developed a strong foundation in modern differential geometry and be guided to write a paper proving a geometric theorem on their own, providing them with a taste of conducting research in pure mathematics.

Cambridge | Faculty of Philosophy 

This research course will delve into the intricate relationship between mathematics and philosophy. Students will explore topics such as mathematical logic, set theory, and computability theory. The aim of this course is to inspire students to engage in independent research projects focusing on fundamental questions in mathematics, logic, and philosophy. Through this exploration, students will gain a fresh perspective on mathematics and its connection to broader philosophical inquiries.

Cambridge | Department of Computer Science and Technology

For millennia, humanity has pondered the nature of reasoning and whether it can be governed by clear rules. The quest for these “simple enough” rules, rooted in basic principles yet powerful enough to encompass various processes, spurred the development of mathematical logic and theoretical models of computation. This research course explores this historical journey, from Euclid’s axioms to the works of Frege, Peano, Russell, Gödel, and Turing, delving into formal systems, Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, and computational models like recursive functions and Turing machines. Bridging theory and practice, students explore automated reasoning and interactive theorem proving, gaining insight into the potential and limitations of formal systems, thus equipping them with tools for their development and application.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) | National Cancer Institute

Machine learning has emerged as a powerful tool across various industries, revolutionising how we approach complex problems. At its core, machine learning relies heavily on mathematical principles and techniques to make sense of data and make informed decisions. In this research course, students will be introduced to many concepts in advanced mathematics, from linear algebra, to derivatives, gradients, optimisation theory and information theory. By the end of the research course, students will gain a solid understanding of the mathematical principles that drive machine learning algorithms, equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to tackle complex problems in the field.

In this research course, we will cover the fundamentals of machine learning as well as study how to develop code that can be applied to engineering system design. This research course will allow students to hone their coding skills, predominantly using Python, in order to perform linear regressions, data analytics, Bayesian optimizations, and multi-parameter analyses for engineering design cases. Having the ability to program and code in Python is an increasingly vital skill for all engineers. This course will be of interest to students interested in bioengineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, with a specific focus on using machine learning and computer vision tools.

Cambridge | Language Technology Lab 

In this research course, we will explore key concepts in Deep Learning and Natural Language Processing. Hands-on components will let the students build and train deep learning models, fine-tune advanced language models like GPTs. This research course offers a transformative experience, gearing the students up for future academic and professional pursuits in AI.

Oxford | Department of Biomedical Engineering 

The focus of this research course is learning end-to-end models for these tasks, particularly image classification and segmentation, using machine learning architectures. During this course, students will gain a detailed understanding of cutting-edge research in the fields of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and artificial neural networks. Additionally, the final assignment will allow them to apply their hands-on knowledge to real-world vision problems.

Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPTs are changing the world we live in. This course will offer an engaging journey through the evolution of language modelling, from basic statistical methods to cutting-edge Large Language Models. Designed for high school students with an interest in computer science, linguistics, or artificial intelligence, the course provides a solid foundation in the principles and applications of language modelling. 

Oxford | Department of Biomedical Engineering 

This research course introduces students to large-scale language models like GPT, exploring how machines comprehend and generate human-like text. It blends theory with practical exercises in natural language processing, aiming to demystify AI and inspire further study and careers in technology. Beginning with intensive introductions to machine learning and neural networks, the course progresses to independent research projects supervised by faculty. Students delve into advanced NLP techniques and are prompted to consider the ethical implications and boundaries of AI.

Imperial College London | Department of Computing

This research course delves into the realm of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, which have revolutionised various domains but are prone to errors with significant implications. It aims to equip students with NLP tools to analyse, understand, and mitigate LLM errors. Beginning with NLP basics, the course explores LLM principles, architecture, and training methods, fostering hands-on experience with state-of-the-art tools for error analysis. Students engage in ethical discussions on AI deployment and decision-making, emphasising accountability and fairness. Through independent research projects, students investigate LLM errors, developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills essential for responsible AI development.

This research course provides an introduction to Machine Learning, aiming to demystify its concepts and practical applications. Students will gain intuition and skills in applying Machine Learning to real-world tasks, particularly focusing on text and image-related problems. Through hands-on projects, they’ll learn problem identification, dataset selection, data preprocessing, model selection, evaluation, and improvement techniques. By the course’s end, students will be equipped to navigate the field of Machine Learning confidently, with practical research experience and the ability to critically assess advancements in the field.

This research course is an in-depth exploration of the realm of social networks, arguably the most important platform for collaboration and communication among the global population. We will explore the widespread adoption of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc., which enable users to share diverse content like opinions, experiences, perspectives, and various media formats. Additionally, students will be taught cutting-edge methodologies for analysing and visualising data pertaining to social network structures and dynamics.

Oxford | Department of Engineering Science 

In this research course, students will gain an understanding of how AI-based technologies are revolutionising healthcare. Students will be introduced to biomedical sensors and wearable systems and gain knowledge on the underlying physiological phenomena. They will also learn to programme in Python/MATLAB and implement their own AI pipeline on healthcare data, from scratch.

This research course explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping medical imaging, from improving diagnostic accuracy to enhancing patient outcomes. Students gain theoretical knowledge and practical experience in applying AI to various medical imaging modalities, learning about machine learning and deep learning techniques. Specific AI applications like computer-aided diagnosis systems and image reconstruction are examined, highlighting their potential to streamline healthcare workflows and benefit patients. Through independent research projects, students gain a deeper understanding of AI’s transformative impact on medical imaging and healthcare delivery.

Cambridge | Department of Engineering

Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) hold immense potential and represent the future of technology. They find applications in training simulations, gaming, healthcare therapies, architectural visualisation, manufacturing, and design. In this research course, students will be introduced to these cutting-edge technologies and learn how to unlock their potential through their research projects. During the research project, students will have the opportunity to choose from a variety of related topics, ranging from VR simulations to the development of tactile interfaces and psychophysical studies.

Oxford | Oxford Robotics Institute

This research course offers students a comprehensive understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in the context of robotics. It delves into advanced concepts and cutting-edge applications, catering to those interested in the intersection of AI and robotics. Students gain a strong foundation in AI/ML before exploring the intricacies of robotics, including its challenges and transformative potential across industries. Equipped with this knowledge, they are prepared to pursue careers in robotics, automation engineering, or AI research, ready to contribute meaningfully to this dynamic field.

Harvard | The Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS)

This research course equips students with advanced statistical, machine learning, and AI methods to address complex social science issues such as political polarisation, gerrymandering, and criminal justice. It aims to demystify these methods and provide practical guidance on their evaluation and application. Through hands-on experience with real-world datasets, students learn to use tools like GitHub and cloud computing for analysis. The course covers a range of methods including Ordinary Least Squares, Bayesian statistics, Large Language Models, and survey methods, preparing students to communicate results effectively to policymakers and the public.

Cambridge | Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics

This research course will provide an introduction to quantum processes. We will begin by expounding the principles of quantum mechanics in our setting (and Dirac notation) and then immediately make connections to information (quantum states viewed as information carriers, quantum teleportation) and computation (notion of qubits and quantum gates). At the same time, we will discuss quantum cryptography (quantum key distribution), and quantum computing, culminating in an exposition of principal quantum algorithms, such as the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm. While no previous knowledge of quantum physics is required for this course, a relatively strong background in mathematics or physics would be beneficial.

Princeton | Department of Chemistry

This research course focuses on classic light-matter interactions, delving into the realm of physical chemistry, with a special emphasis on photoluminescence. Throughout the course, students will grasp the fundamental principles of light-matter interactions, including basic quantum mechanics to extend their understanding from classical to quantum physics. Through hands-on experimentation, they will cultivate a deeper understanding of the dynamic processes that govern the interplay of light and matter.

Cambridge | Centre for Quantum Information and Foundations

Quantum physics is confirmed with overwhelming experimental evidence at the microscopic scales (e.g., at the atomic scale), producing many technological applications. This research course will address the foundational issues of quantum physics as it relates to quantum measurement and general relativity. Students with a relatively strong background in mathematics or physics would excel in this research course.

MIT | Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research 

Astronomy is entering an unprecedented era of big data, as new facilities are observing more phenomena than humans can possibly visually examine. Dealing with millions of astronomical objects and producing terabytes of data every day requires machine learning and statistical methods to classify, model, and characterise the data influx. In this research course, we will learn cutting-edge machine-learning methods and apply them to real astronomical datasets to discover, model, and further our understanding of the universe

Oxford | Department of Physics 

White dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes are compact objects forming at the final stages of the evolution of massive stars. In this research course, we will learn the nature of compact objects and see their place in the history of the universe. During the research course, we will touch on many topics from high energy astrophysics and talk about the recent progress in the detection of gravitational waves. Finally, we will discuss open issues standing in front of the scientific community and try to figure out how further steps in the investigation of black holes, neutron stars, and white dwarfs will help in probes of fundamental physics under extreme conditions.

This research course deals with the structure and evolution of isolated stars and starts in binary systems.Through a blend of theoretical concepts, observational data, and computational models, student will gain an understanding of the physical phenomena governing stars’ evolution. Throughout the research course, students will engage in hands-on activities, computer simulations, and observational projects to reinforce theoretical concepts and gain practical skills in data analysis.

Oxford | Beecroft Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology

Our standard model of cosmology posits that around 85% of the matter in the universe is “dark matter”: an elusive, invisible, hypothetical substance that interacts noticeably with ordinary matter only through gravity. A key challenge in astrophysics is mapping out dark matter using subtle observations that give us clues to its gravitational influence, such as the arrangement of billions of galaxies photographed by telescopes and the bending of light by dark matter’s gravity. We will gain hands-on experience with advanced statistical techniques and machine learning methods, utilizing the same tools used by leading academic researchers in the field that allows us to unravel its secrets.

Cambridge | Faculty of Economics 

Networks are all around us. From the architecture of financial systems, trade between companies and across countries, to the complex transportation system linking cities. This research course will explore how the events within the network interact and influence one another, and how can we represent, describe, or predict the events. We will emphasise a computational approach to social and economic network applications. Students will learn how to use Python to set and simulate network models; they will become familiar with the most recent research and techniques in network science and will develop excellent research skills. 

Oxford | Center for Experimental Social Sciences

Combining insights from economics, psychology and philosophy, this research course teaches students how experiments have advanced economic theory to better reflect the world we live in. Departing from standard theory which assumes humans are coldly rational and always make decisions that offer the greatest personal benefit, students will learn how experiments have shown us that behaviour consistently differs in predictable ways. As students develop their understanding of the common biases we all exhibit, they will be encouraged to apply the lessons they’ve learned to their own experiences.

Oxford | Department of Primary Care Sciences

This research-intensive course serves as an exploration into the relationship between economics, mental health, addiction and substance use. We will discuss addiction and substance use through an economic lens, and students will be introduced to cutting-edge theories and models. Students will develop their research skills within health economics, particularly focusing on economic evaluations. With a spotlight on methodologies employed to assess the cost-effectiveness of healthcare interventions, students will engage in rigorous examination and measurement of health outcomes and cost valuation. They will also learn how to apply economic evaluations alongside clinical trials and employ decision-modelling techniques crucial for comprehensive research projects in mental health economics.

Columbia | Department of Economics 

To improve our understanding of the economic impact of the pandemic, this research course will introduce students to surveys of several contemporary policy issues in economic literature. Notably, we will discuss current economic and financial matters arising through and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harvard University | The Center for Labor and a Just Economy (CLJE)

This research course delves into the multidisciplinary study of skilled immigration, combining economics, policy analysis, and case studies.This research course offers a comprehensive exploration of skilled immigration economics, bridging the gap between research and policy. By completion, participants will be equipped with a solid foundation in the field, enabling them to critically analyse and actively contribute to ongoing discussions regarding skilled immigration and its economic impact.

Brown | Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Center for Environmental Studies

Oceans define our borders, but also enable the global exchange of goods, services and ideas. In fact, the World Economic Forum estimates that the ocean will be the eighth largest economy in the world based on direct economic activity and the resources and services it provides to us on an annual basis. The goal of this research course is to understand how human activities in the world’s oceans are governed currently, and to explore international, regional and state efforts to develop a more equitable and sustainable Blue Economy.

KU Leuven (US News World Top 50) | Department of Economics

This research course explores Game Theory, an interdisciplinary field that delves into strategic decision-making across different domains. Game Theory uncovers hidden strategies and dynamics behind decision-making in diverse situations, influencing individuals, organisations, nations, and animals. By the end of the course, interactive discussions, case studies, and real-world examples will have enriched the students’ understanding of game theory concepts, fostering a solid foundation in strategic thinking across diverse contexts.

This research course offers an immersive exploration into how economic decisions shape the trajectory of our planet’s future. Students will delve into a rich array of topics, including the management of non-renewable resources such as oil and gas, the harnessing of renewable resources like solar and wind energy, and the critical analysis of cost-benefit implications associated with green policies and sustainable development initiatives.

Cambridge | Department of Sociology 

Issues relating to ‘race’ and ethnicity, whether #blacklivesmatter or COVID-19, today lie at the forefront of public debate. In this course, students will critically analyze the concepts and processes of ‘race’ and ethnicity, understand as social constructions, looking at the UK, the US, and beyond.

Cambridge | Department of Sociology

This research course aims to cultivate critical thinking and provide a comprehensive understanding of contemporary global development issues. Topics we will discuss include, Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals, development traps, pandemic and post-pandemic challenges, urbanisation and gentrification, development theory, international and regional co‑operation for development, bottom-up perspective, decolonial studies, development and intersectionality, and corruption, among others. 

Columbia | Department of Sociology

For decades, international declarations such as the Sustainable Development Goals have advocated for educational reform to tackle pressing global challenges including sustainability issues and climate change. Despite these calls for transformative education toward sustainability, progress remains limited. But why is that? What actions are countries and education systems taking? How are they implementing these changes? And who else is shaping the agenda to educate for more sustainable and just societies? Through this research course, we will explore public policy process theories to understand the politics of policymaking in education.

Bodies are central to the human experience. We move, function in society, and make sense of our existence and relatedness through our bodies. However, within our societies, not all bodies are treated equally. Based on social rules and norms, some bodies are deemed deviant, incomplete, marginalised, or less than, compared to others. This research course invites students to critically explore the relationship between intersectionality and the body. Through engaging with thought-provoking literature, this course will open up discussions about how bodies are disciplined, moulded, surveyed, and the hierarchies formed around bodies.

Oxford | Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS)

This research course offers a comprehensive exploration of contemporary migration. The course equips students with critical thinking skills to assess and engage with public debates and policies surrounding migration. By combining theory, case studies, and interdisciplinary perspectives, students gain a holistic understanding of the multifaceted nature of contemporary migration and its significance in shaping societies and the world at large.

Oxford, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies | University of Toronto, Department of Sociology

This research course delves into violence, exploring its meaning, origins, and manifestations. It examines debates on defining and documenting violence, focusing on distinguishing interpersonal from state-sanctioned violence. The course analyses societal, cultural, and individual factors influencing violent behaviour, including legal frameworks and power dynamics. It scrutinises colonial legacies’ impact on violence and how racial and gender dynamics intersect with it. Overall, the course aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of violence as a complex social phenomenon shaped by historical influences, power dynamics, and cultural contexts.

Oxford | Faculty of Classics 

Why are languages so different – and thus so hard to learn? We will explore the social relevance of language and the results of language contact. Students will conduct independent research by constructing linguistic data, analysing big data and performing context-oriented keyword analysis. Students will investigate how language develops, interacts, and how to what extent we can manipulate our patterns of language usage for specific purposes.

Columbia | Department of Architecture

This research course explores the intersection of architecture with social, political, and environmental concerns, prompting critical inquiry into the discipline’s role in addressing contemporary challenges. Students examine debates and arguments surrounding architecture’s engagement with societal issues and its environmental impact. Through case studies spanning recent decades, topics such as aesthetics, sustainability, spatial organisation, and cultural contexts are explored. Emphasis is placed on developing a nuanced understanding of architecture’s role in addressing pressing issues while maintaining fidelity to its unique principles. The course fosters critical thinking and encourages students to navigate the complexities of architectural discourse within broader societal contexts.

Columbia, School of Business | Geico, Head of Marketing

In today’s ultra-competitive business world, effective Marketing Management and Brand Strategy are key components for any business to achieve success. However, these are not easy tasks, especially given that modern-day consumers are constantly overwhelmed with information. This research course introduces the principles of brand management and advertising as practised by industry leaders today. This research course is relevant for students interested in driving consumer demand regardless of career path.

Cambridge | Judge Business School 

Why do some start-ups receive a valuation of several billion dollars, while others cannot even raise the amount to get by and survive? Why do only a handful of start-ups go public? The research course will focus on entrepreneurial finance, i.e. venture capital investment. This research course exposes students to the core theories, concepts, and tools used to screen high-potential start-ups and maximize the return on investment. Students will learn key theoretical concepts, tools, and approaches to entrepreneurial finance and their application in valuation and investment in new businesses. 

Australian National University | Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis (CAMA)

What drives stock prices? This research course covers the basics of stock market dynamics. Students will grasp fundamental concepts in finance and economics, and specifically, learn to forecast economic and financial data using statistics and economic models. Real-world case studies, simulations, and practical exercises will be integrated to provide hands-on experience in applying modelling techniques and investment strategies to actual financial data. By the end of this research course, students will be equipped to make informed investment decisions and manage financial risk adeptly in today’s dynamic financial markets.

Cambridge | Cambridge Judge Business School

Investments, securities, markets, bonds, trading…This is a dynamic and engaging research course designed to explore the fascinating world of finance. It will provide students with a solid foundation in financial markets, trading, and the principles that drive stock prices, making it perfect for those interested in pursuing careers in business, economics, or investing, simply wanting to understand how financial markets operate.

LSE | Department of Management

In this research course, students learn to question and apply sociological or psychological theories to understand inequalities in organisations. The course particularly helps students to understand why women don’t progress at the same pace as men at work. The course specifically looks at gender and stereotypes attached to the gender within a society and how this transpires to the workplaces. It also extends to other identities that might equally explain the reasons for inequalities within workplaces. By studying this course and working on their independent research projects, students will develop hands-on research skills and also understand the interdisciplinary process of applying theories from different fields in solving complex problems.

This research course focuses on organisational behaviour, aiming to understand how individuals’ actions impact organisational success. Through case studies and discussions, students explore the dynamics that shape behaviour within startups, social enterprises, and other organisations. The course delves into psychological and sociological perspectives, examining how cultural factors influence decision-making and behaviour, particularly in global contexts. Students conduct independent research projects to gain insights into real-world scenarios and develop a comprehensive understanding of organisational dynamics and effectiveness.

Cambridge | Department of Politics and International Studies 

The key question of this research course is: ‘How to maintain stability and order in a world that seems to be changing at an ever increasing pace?’ Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of Europe post-World War II order, the foundations of post-1991 US hegemony, the rise and growing integration of China in the global economy, aspects of revisionism by Russia, and the geostrategic challenges of growing multipolarity.

Cambridge | Department of Politics and International Studies

Students will be introduced into key texts on the causes of war, including material from psychology, evolutionary biology, archaeology, history, social anthropology, and international relations. The course will furthermore draw on a selected range of cases from mythology, history, and current instances of warfare in order to illustrate some of the most cogent hypotheses. It will also explore the purpose and rationality of warfare, be it for territorial expansion, economic gain, for religious faith, or for collective identity. Last not least, the course aims to assess possibilities of preventing, containing, or regulating war as a system of organised violence by means of legal and ethical norms as well as strategies of conflict-resolution.

Oxford | European Studies Centre

Is democracy under siege? This research course focuses on understanding the challenges facing democracy today, including the rise of autocratic regimes and the erosion of democratic norms. Students explore the factors contributing to democratic decline through scholarly literature, case studies, and empirical data analysis. They engage in original research projects using diverse methodologies to investigate the root causes and consequences of democratic erosion. By cultivating analytical skills and interdisciplinary dialogue, students aim to contribute to the study of democratic governance and political theory. The course culminates in research papers offering insights and recommendations for safeguarding democratic principles in the global landscape.

UCLA | Department of Sociology

Students will be able to analyse the world in ways that transcend binaries between nature (natural sciences) and society (social sciences), particularly in relation to real-world issues like climate, environmental sustainability, transitions, health inequality, and environmental justice. Engaged students will obtain a nuanced and diverse set of analytical tools to assist in understanding how “the environment” and environmental matters cannot be understood outside of and apart from the social world, and how the social world is deeply intertwined and embedded within “the environment.”

Making one’s voice heard in public was a sought-after skill for those at the heart of the Athenian democracy, the Roman republic and later the Roman empire. The skilful use of language was a critical tool and a powerful weapon. We will focus from the orators of the Athenian democracy to the politicians of the Roman republic. Students will develop an independent research project on political rhetoric, ancient history or relevant areas in the context of its time and discourse.

University of Chicago | Booth School of Business

There is a significant contemporary debate on how the state should interact with the individual, especially in the context of respecting the individual’s concepts of norms, privacy, and history. Students will conduct their independent research project throughout the research course, which will enable them to explore and delve into the central questions surrounding law, economics, and political philosophy.

Dartmouth | Department of Philosophy

This research course delves into the concept of personal identity and self-transformation, exploring questions about what defines an individual’s identity. Topics include whether the self is constituted by narratives, if it persists over time, and the role of embodied cognition. Students also examine how social factors such as culture, religion, and identification with social groups influence personal identity. Ethical considerations regarding self-transformation, including changes in values and authenticity, are also explored. The course draws from philosophy, psychology, biology, and social sciences to address these complex issues.

Oxford | Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies

This research course will allow students to investigate different feminisms that have been employed by feminists across East Asia in the 20th Century and up until the present day. The course will broadly focus on constructions of femininity, masculinity, non-binary, and other identities in Japan, Korea, and China. AdditionallyHowever, it will allow students flexibility to explore other areas in the region and take a transnational approach to historical work. We will also look at how these identities and the disparities between them contributed to the emergence of many transformed into many different feminist movements across and between places in this region. These feminisms will include formal protest movements, literary movements, grassroots organisations, and more subtle cultural critiques of gender normativity.

Harvard | Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute

Was colonialism good for the world, or did it make life worse for people who lived under it? This is a live debate among people who are still trying to come to terms with their colonial pasts. This research course probes such questions by examining the British Empire during the 19th and 20th centuries, its means of expansion, economic incentives, and its racial assumptions. The course explores special topics relating to the imperial legacy. These include trade in cotton, opium and tea; colonial wars fought in Afghanistan and China, and anti-colonial movements, such as the one led by Gandhi, in the twentieth century. We also discuss violence, the drawing of borders, emigration, and refugees. The case studies of Israel-Palestine and India-Pakistan will factor prominently.

Cambridge/Brandeis/NYU | Center for Middle East Studies

Since the global financial crisis of 2008, understanding the history of capitalism has become more crucial than ever, sparking a surge of interest and discourse. In this research course, we delve into the complexities of capitalism beyond face-value narratives. We will develop a comprehensive and critical understanding of capitalism, including its historical evolution and transformation, and its profound and far-reaching impact on our society and the world. Students will understand the importance of a global perspective in comprehending capitalism’s development and impact across various regions and cultures.

Cambridge / Brandeis / NYU | Center for Middle East Studies

Does anyone deserve to be unfree? What does captivity tell us about freedom? This research course tracks the history of captivity, prison, and incarceration. We examine laws and literatures of captivity in ancient Rome and the mediaeval Islamic world through to humanitarian debates around slavery and modern prisons and the political economy of successive wars on Crime, Poverty, Drugs, and Terror in the Americas. Our protagonists range from anti-colonial nationalists in Kenya and Chinese indentured labourers, to prisoners of the Russo-Ottoman wars and convict labourers in Australia.

MIT | Department of Literature 

This research course will explore key topics and texts in Black, Latinx, and Indigenous literature. Students will learn how to read closely different literary forms as well as how to perform the kind of interdisciplinary research that analysing texts from a racial justice lens requires. Some of the authors we will read include James Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Audre Lorde, Gloria Anzaldua, Valeria Luiselli, and Tommy Orange. In addition to analysing literary works, students will also explore key concepts from Black, Latinx, and Indigenous studies such as double-consciousness, the borderland, decoloniality, Afrofuturism, and critical fabulation.

U Chicago | Department of History

The aim of this course is to introduce a history of contemporary art from China since the 1970s. The course begins with a brief overview of modern art activities in China during the early 20th century along with art production under Mao. The course will then focus on contemporary avant-garde movements during the 1970s and 1980s, the response to urbanisation in art at the onset of the new millennium, the influence of globalisation since 2000, and a new generation of young artists from China as well as Chinese diasporic artists working transnationally.

Princeton | Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies

This research course explores the dynamic relationship between art and colonialism in the Mediterranean, from antiquity to the modern day. It offers a comprehensive examination of how diverse colonial powers have influenced and shaped the rich tapestry of cultural production within the region. Employing a multidisciplinary approach, the course blends art history, cultural studies, and historical analysis to unravel the nuanced complexities of artistic expression within the intricate web of colonisation.

Course Structure

Each 13-week research course is divided into two parts

Lecture Weeks (1 - 7)

Build up your foundation of knowledge

With support from your mentor and TAs, you will first gain a grounding in your field of research. In addition to 1 hour of lecture a week from your mentor, you will also receive 1 hour of seminar discussion from your TA, and an 30 minute office hour on request.

Research Weeks (8 - 13)

Plan and execute your own research project

Beginning with a research and methodology session, you will then transition into self-directed work. During this research phase of the course, your lecture sessions will become research workshops and your TA sessions will become writing sessions.

Programme Details

weekly session with faculty mentor

weekly session with PhD TA

weekly 1-on-1 Office Hour on request

correspondence and guidance from faculty mentor and CCIR Academics Team

admitted students per course

average faculty to student ratio

Overall Acceptance Rate

How to Apply

Step 1: Read Future Scholar Prospectus

Download the programme prospectus, explore the courses on offer, and carefully review the admissions process page.

Step 2: Register for CCIR Admissions Portal and Submit Application

Start drafting the required application form and documentation on the Admissions Portal.

Step 3: Interview

Successful applicants will be invited to an interview with either the research course’s faculty mentor, the Teaching Assistant, or a CCIR Academic Advisor.

During the 15 to 30 minute interview, we’ll assess your background, interests, and your ability to think through problems in your field.

Admission Deadlines & Start Dates (2024)

Pre-Application Opens

Official Admission Opens ( Pre-Application Deadline)

Early Admission Deadline

Regular Admission Deadline

Programme Start Date

Late Mar/ Early Apr

Late Oct/ Early Nov

Admission decisions will be made on a rolling basis.

Frequently Asked Questions

Our students come from all around the world and we have become extremely good at coordinating schedules that work for everyone. At the start of every course, we will hammer out the logistics to make sure that we can find a time that works perfectly for everyone involved.

Every video conferencing session will be hosted by a CCIR operations team member. You are welcome to raise the issue through chat at any time. You can also send an email to [email protected], which is monitored at all times during active sessions.

Yes. Every session will be recorded and made available after class. You can access them via an unlisted playlist on YouTube or your Learning Management System.

The only requirements are the Internet (Zoom or compatible browser), front-facing camera, and microphone. Some courses may require specific softwares to be installed. Your mentor and TA will do their best to help you install those softwares.

A number of things differentiate CCIR Academy from other programmes:

IVY-LEAGUE / OXBRIDGE FACULTY AND TEAM

We only partner with current teaching faculty members at top-tier US/UK universities, including Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Cornell, UPenn, Yale, Dartmouth, and Princeton.

We are also an organisation currently run by Oxbridge students and alumni. Throughout the admission process, every single point of contact an applicant interacts with will be either a current Oxbridge student (PhD or above) or an Oxbridge alumni.

A FOCUS ON PUBLICATION

The goal of CCIR Academy is to push every student to publish their independent research paper to at least an undergraduate or industry level journal or conference. We do not recommend students to publish at predatory pay-for-publish journals or high school level journals. Each student can enjoy the vast research and publication resource that CCIR has to offer, which includes free access to academic database and targeted publication support. As a result, we have great success in having high school students to publish at some undergraduate or even industry level journals and conferences.

SMALL GROUP TEACHING/INTIMATE MENTORSHIP

At the heart of our programmes is the relationship between students and their mentors. For our Cambridge Future Scholar programme, our class is limited to no more than 5 students. The small classes ensure ample interaction and thought provoking discussions always take place at each session.

RESEARCH-ORIENTED LEARNING

Unlike lecture-only programmes, where students learn passively, our programmes emphasize on hand-on research. This kind of project based learning allows students to really dive into the subject and learn in an independent and autonomous manner.

HIGH ACADEMIC STANDARDS

Our commitment to maintaining the highest academic standards is reflected in our admissions, our courses, and in the expectations we have on our students. All our programmes are meant to be genuinely challenging and enriching academic experiences for our students.

Most importantly, by the end of your time at a CCIR programme, you will have completed a substantive independent research project. In certain cases, under the guidance of the mentors and our team, your research project will also be published in academic journals or presented at conferences. All our CCIR programmes award graduation certificates and in-depth evaluation reports. Finally, you will have fostered a close personal relationship with a Oxbridge faculty member from whom you can request a letter of recommendation.

Because of the academic rigor and the small size of our programmes, we are able to deliver an experience for our students that is at once fun and academically enriching. Over the course of the programme, as students work with one another and with the faculty, they will develop relationships that will push them both personally and intellectually.

All our students have the option of requesting letters of recommendation from their mentors. While we cannot guarantee letters of recommendation, we can say that in the past, because our admitted students are all capable and passion at, not a single student who has requested a letter of recommendation has had their request denied.

Attending CCIR may improve your chances in college/graduate admissions in a number of ways. Most importantly, CCIR offers you a great opportunity to produce and possibly even publish a genuinely impressive piece of academic work. In addition, since you will be interacting intimately with your Oxbridge mentor over a long period of time, your mentor will also likely become an excellent referee for you in the admissions process.

Generally speaking, our programmes consist of roughly 1-2 hours of face-to-face interaction hours per week. In addition to the class time, students will be expected to do readings and write essays. On average, including interaction hours, students are expected to devote a total of roughly 4 hours a week for their programme.

All CCIR Academy programmes are conducted online with the support of multiple platforms — video conferencing, learning management systems, etc.

Detailed tuition information, including merit scholarship opportunities, can be found in our programme prospectus.

Most importantly, your tuition covers supervisions, lectures, and additional weekly one-on-one office hours (30 minutes), if requested. Additionally, your tuition covers your access to Cambridge or Oxford’s academic database (via mentor), Data collection guidance (by the mentor), academic journal submission guidance (by the mentor and CCIR Academic Team), and academic support both during the course of the programme and in the follow up (when you need to request letters and evaluations).

To get more information about our programmes, the best way is to download our prospectus through the “Download Prospectus” button on bottom right. If you have more specific questions, please contact our Admissions Team at [email protected]. If you’re a counselor or a teacher interested in collaborating with our programme, contact Oliver, our Director of Outreach at [email protected].

CCIR is looking for students who are not just academically strong but who are genuinely passionate about the subject matter for which they are applying. This means you have to demonstrate academic strength in your GPA and your other test scores (if applicable) and show us that you are someone who possesses a genuine passion for learning.

CCIR’s Future Scholar Programme and Future Entrepreneur Programme is designed for sixth form (11th and 12th grade in the US) students. The programme’s curriculum mirrors first-year teaching material at Oxbridge. However, we often receive applications of, and admitted, talented students attending lower levels.

The 1-on-1 Mentorship Programme, on the other hand, is much more flexible. In the past, we have both offered mentorships for younger students who were especially talented and mentorships for undergraduate students.

We are standardized test optional in our admissions. As long as we can see your school transcripts, you’ll be fine.

For the 1-on-1 programmes, our applications are rolling all year round.

For the Future Scholar Programme, applications for these course are all rolling once opened, until the each class is filled at maximum number of five. The Early Admission deadline for Spring 2022 programme is 1 March 2022.

All applicants are automatically considered for the merited scholarships. If you face economic hardship and seek financial aid, please inform our Academic Coordinator at [email protected] and we can make arrangements to best accommodate your situation.

We definitely don’t want you to stress over the interview. While there is an evaluative dimension to our interviews, the primary purpose of these interviews is to get a sense of what you have already known about the subject and what your academic passions are. The interviews are all very casual and conversational in style—so just be prepared to come in prepared to chat about your academic interests.

In a word: quite. We are hoping to push you academically and intellectually. However, be assured that you will be closely guided and thoroughly supported throughout this challenging process. And in terms of time commitment, we understand that you are busy so our mentors will ensure that you will not be overloaded with work.

Depending on your project, this may take a number of forms. Survey-based research is a definite possibility, for instance, in the social sciences. In other cases, we instead rely on existing data sets that are either open-source or that are requested from other researchers.

In the age of big data, a growing amount of research in the sciences is actually conducted outside of the lab context. Large amounts of data already exist and what is needed is for researchers to mine that data for insights. Our mentors will teach you the skills and tools needed for scientific computing and data analysis.

Our programmes ultimately all adopt a project-based learning methodology. However, the project-based methodology is supplemented by more traditional methods of lecturing and supervision wherever necessary. Worth highlighting is the supervision format of our teaching: this small group teaching style, based on critical peer-to-mentor and peer-to-peer interaction, is a Oxbridge hallmark and one that we have made central to our pedagogical methods.

Download Programme Prospectus

• Programme structure
• Research course catalogue
• Professor biographies
• Tuition and Scholarship

Start Your Application

Cambridge Future Scholar (Fall 24)

Admission is OPEN.

Early Admissions Deadline: 1 Oct

Regular Admissions Deadline: 15 Oct

Rolling Admissions.

1-on-1 Research Mentorship Admission is open all year.

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Published: 27 January 2022

The future of human behaviour research

• Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier 1 ,
• Jean Burgess 2 , 3 ,
• Maurizio Corbetta 4 , 5 ,
• Kate Crawford 6 , 7 , 8 ,
• Esther Duflo 9 ,
• Laurel Fogarty 10 ,
• Alison Gopnik 11 ,
• Sari Hanafi 12 ,
• Mario Herrero 13 ,
• Ying-yi Hong 14 ,
• Yasuko Kameyama 15 ,
• Tatia M. C. Lee 16 ,
• Gabriel M. Leung 17 , 18 ,
• Daniel S. Nagin 19 ,
• Anna C. Nobre 20 , 21 ,
• Merete Nordentoft 22 , 23 ,
• Aysu Okbay 24 ,
• Andrew Perfors 25 ,
• Laura M. Rival 26 ,
• Cassidy R. Sugimoto 27 ,
• Bertil Tungodden 28 &
• Claudia Wagner 29 , 30 , 31  

Nature Human Behaviour volume  6 ,  pages 15–24 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

64k Accesses

33 Citations

185 Altmetric

Metrics details

Human behaviour is complex and multifaceted, and is studied by a broad range of disciplines across the social and natural sciences. To mark our 5th anniversary, we asked leading scientists in some of the key disciplines that we cover to share their vision of the future of research in their disciplines. Our contributors underscore how important it is to broaden the scope of their disciplines to increase ecological validity and diversity of representation, in order to address pressing societal challenges that range from new technologies, modes of interaction and sociopolitical upheaval to disease, poverty, hunger, inequality and climate change. Taken together, these contributions highlight how achieving progress in each discipline will require incorporating insights and methods from others, breaking down disciplinary silos.

Genuine progress in understanding human behaviour can only be achieved through a multidisciplinary community effort. Five years after the launch of Nature Human Behaviour , twenty-two leading experts in some of the core disciplines within the journal’s scope share their views on pressing open questions and new directions in their disciplines. Their visions provide rich insight into the future of research on human behaviour.

Artificial intelligence

Kate Crawford

Much has changed in artificial intelligence since a small group of mathematicians and scientists gathered at Dartmouth in 1956 to brainstorm how machines could simulate cognition. Many of the domains that those men discussed — such as neural networks and natural language processing — remain core elements of the field today. But what they did not address was the far-reaching social, political, legal and ecological effects of building these systems into everyday life: it was outside their disciplinary view.

Since the mid-2000s, artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly expanded as a field in academia and as an industry, and now a handful of powerful technology corporations deploy these systems at a planetary scale. There have been extraordinary technical innovations, from real-time language translation to predicting the 3D structures of proteins 1 , 2 . But the biggest challenges remain fundamentally social and political: how AI is widening power asymmetries and wealth inequality, and creating forms of harm that need to be prioritized, remedied and regulated.

The most urgent work facing the field today is to research and remediate the costs and consequences of AI. This requires a deeper sociotechnical approach that can contend with the complex effect of AI on societies and ecologies. Although there has been important work done on algorithmic fairness in recent years 3 , 4 , not enough has been done to address how training data fundamentally skew how AI models interpret the world from the outset. Second, we need to address the human costs of AI, which range from discrimination and misinformation to the widespread reliance on underpaid labourers (such as the crowd-workers who train AI systems for as little as US $2 per hour) 5 . Third, there must be a commitment to reversing the environmental costs of AI, including the exceptionally high energy consumption of the current large computational models, and the carbon footprint of building and operating modern tensor processing hardware 6 . Finally, we need strong regulatory and policy frameworks, expanding on the EU’s draft AI Act of 2021.

By building a more interdisciplinary and inclusive AI field, and developing a more rigorous account of the full impacts of AI, we give engineers and regulators alike the tools that they need to make these systems more sustainable, equitable and just.

Kate Crawford is Research Professor at the Annenberg School, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research New York, New York, NY, USA; and the Inaugural Visiting Chair of AI and Justice at the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.

Anthropology

Laura M. Rival

The field of anthropology faces fundamental questions about its capacity to intervene more effectively in political debates. How can we use the knowledge that we already have to heal the imagined whole while keeping people in synchrony with each other and with the world they aspire to create for themselves and others?

The economic systems that sustain modern life have produced pernicious waste cultures. Globalization has accelerated planetary degradation and global warming through the continuous release of toxic waste. Every day, like millions of others, I dutifully clean and prepare my waste for recycling. I know it is no more than a transitory measure geared to grant manufacturers time to adjust and adapt. Reports that most waste will not be recycled, but dumped or burned, upset me deeply. How can anthropology remain a critical project in the face of such orchestrated cynicism, bad faith and indifference? How should anthropologists deploy their skills and bring a sense of shared responsibility to the task of replenishing the collective will?

To help to find answers to these questions, anthropologists need to radically rethink the ways in which we describe the processes and relations that tie communities to their environments. The extinction of experience (loss of direct contact with nature) that humankind currently suffers is massive, but not irreversible. New forms of storytelling have successfully challenged modernist myths, particularly their homophonic promises 7 . But there remain persistent challenges, such as the seductive and rampant power of one-size-fits-all progress, and the actions of elites, who thrive on emulation, and in doing so fuel run-away consumerism.

To combat these challenges, I simply reassert that ‘nature’ is far from having outlasted its historical utility. Anthropologists must join forces and reanimate their common exploration of the immense possibilities contained in human bodies and minds. No matter how overlooked or marginalized, these natural potentials hold the key to what keeps life going.

Laura M. Rival is Professor of Anthropology of Nature, Society and Development, ODID and SAME, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK .

Communication and media studies

Jean Burgess

The communication and media studies field has historically been animated by technological change. In the process, it has needed to navigate fundamental tensions: communication can be understood as both transmission (of information), and as (social) ritual 8 ; relatedly, media can be understood as both technology and as culture 9 .

The most important technological change over the past decade has been the ‘platformization’ 10 of the media environment. Large digital platforms owned by the world’s most powerful technology companies have come to have an outsized and transformative role in the transmission (distribution) of information, and in mediating social practices (whether major events or intimate daily routines). In response, digital methods have transformed the field. For example, advances in computational techniques enabled researchers to study patterns of communication on social media, leading to disciplinary trends such as the quantitative description of ‘hashtag publics’ in the mid-2010s 11 .

Platforms’ uses of data, algorithms and automation for personalization, content moderation and governance constitute a further major shift, giving rise to new methods (such as algorithmic audits) that go well beyond quantitative description 12 . But platform companies have had a patchy — at times hostile — relationship to independent research into their societal role, leading to data lockouts and even public attacks on researchers. It is important in the interests of public oversight and open science that we coordinate responses to such attempts to suppress research 13 , 14 .

As these processes of digital transformation continue, new connections between the humanities and technical disciplines will be necessary, giving rise to a new wave of methodological innovation. This next phase will also require more hybrid (qualitative and quantitative; computational and critical) methods 15 , not only to get around platform lockouts but also to ensure more careful attention is paid to how the new media technologies are used and experienced in everyday life. Here, innovative approaches such as the use of data donations can both aid the ‘platform observability’ 16 that is essential to accountability, and ensure that our research involves the perspectives of diverse audiences.

Jean Burgess is Professor of Digital Media at the School of Communication and Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland Australia; and Associate Director at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia .

Computational social science

Claudia Wagner

Computational social science has emerged as a discipline that leverages computational methods and new technologies to collect, model and analyse digital behavioural data in natural environments or in large-scale designed experiments, and combine them with other data sources (such as survey data).

While the community made critical progress in enhancing our understanding about empirical phenomena such as the spread of misinformation 17 and the role of algorithms in curating misinformation 18 , it has focused less on questions about the quality and accessibility of data, the validity, reliability and reusability of measurements, the potential consequences of measurements and the connection between data, measurement and theory.

I see the following opportunities to address these issues.

First, we need to establish privacy-preserving, shared data infrastructures that collect and triangulate survey data with scientifically motivated organic or designed observational data from diverse populations 19 . For example, longitudinal online panels in which participants allow researchers to track their web browsing behaviour and link these traces to their survey answers will not only facilitate substantive research on societal questions but also enable methodological research (for example, on the quality of different data sources and measurement models), and contribute to the reproducibility of computational social science research.

Second, best practices and scientific infrastructures are needed for supporting the development, evaluation and re-use of measurements and the critical reflection on potentially harmful consequences of measurements 20 . Social scientists have developed such best practices and infrastructural support for survey measurements to avoid using instruments for which the validity is unclear or even questionable, and to support the re-usability of survey scales. I believe that practices from survey methodology and other domains, such as the medical industry, can inform our thinking here.

Finally, the fusion of algorithmic and human behaviour invites us to rethink the various ways in which data, measurements and social theories can be connected 20 . For example, product recommendations that users receive are based on measurements of users’ interests and needs: however, users and measurements are not only influenced by those recommendations, but also influence them in turn. As a community we need to develop research designs and environments that help us to systematically enhance our understanding of those feedback loops.

Claudia Wagner is Head of Computational Social Science Department at GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Köln, Germany; Professor for Applied Computational Social Sciences at RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; and External Faculty Member of the Complexity Science Hub, Vienna, Austria .

Criminology

Daniel S. Nagin

Disciplinary silos in path-breaking science are disappearing. Criminology has had a longstanding tradition of interdisciplinarity, but mostly in the form of an uneasy truce of research from different disciplines appearing side-by-side in leading journals — a scholarly form of parallel play. In the future, this must change because the big unsolved challenges in criminology will require cooperation among all of the social and behavioural sciences.

These challenges include formally merging the macro-level themes emphasized by sociologists with the micro-, individual-level themes emphasized by psychologists and economists. Initial steps have been made by economists who apply game theory to model crime-relevant social interactions, but much remains to be done in building models that explain the formation and destruction of social trust, collective efficacy and norms, as they relate to legal definitions of criminal behaviour.

A second opportunity concerns the longstanding focus of criminology on crimes involving the physical taking of property and interpersonal physical violence. These crimes are still with us, but — as the daily news regularly reports — the internet has opened up broad new frontiers for crime that allow for thefts of property and identities at a distance, forms of extortion and human trafficking at a massive scale (often involving untraceable transactions using financial vehicles such as bitcoin) and interpersonal violence without physical contact. This is a new and largely unexplored frontier for criminological research that criminologists should dive into in collaboration with computer scientists who already are beginning to troll these virgin scholarly waters.

The final opportunity I will note also involves drawing from computer science, the primary home of what has come to be called machine learning. It is important that new generations of criminologists become proficient with machine learning methods and also collaborate with its creators. Machine learning and related statistical methods have wide applicability in both the traditional domains of criminological research and new frontiers. These include the use of prediction tools in criminal justice decision-making, which can aid in crime detection, and the prevention and measuring of crime both online and offline, but also have important implications for equity and fairness due to their consequential nature.

Daniel S. Nagin is Teresa and H. John Heinz III University Professor of Public Policy and Statistics at the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA .

Behavioural economics

Bertil Tungodden

Behavioural and experimental economics have transformed the field of economics by integrating irrationality and nonselfish motivation in the study of human behaviour and social interaction. A richer foundation of human behaviour has opened many new exciting research avenues, and I here highlight three that I find particularly promising.

Economists have typically assumed that preferences are fixed and stable, but a growing literature, combining field and laboratory experimental approaches, has provided novel evidence on how the social environment shapes our moral and selfish preferences. It has been shown that prosocial role models make people less selfish 21 , that early-childhood education affects the fairness views of children 22 and that grit can be fostered in the correct classroom environment 23 . Such insights are important for understanding how exposure to different institutions and socialization processes influence the intergenerational transmission of preferences, but much more work is needed to gain systematic and robust evidence on the malleability of the many dimensions that shape human behaviour.

The moral mind is an important determinant of human behaviour, but our understanding of the complexity of moral motivation is still in its infancy. A growing literature, using an impartial spectator design in which study participants make consequential choices for others, has shown that people often disagree on what is morally acceptable. An important example is how people differ in their view of what is a fair inequality, ranging from the libertarian fairness view to the strict egalitarian fairness view 24 , 25 . An exciting question for future research is whether such moral differences reflect a concern for other moral values, such as freedom, or irrational considerations.

A third exciting development in behavioural and experimental economics is the growing set of global studies on the foundations of human behaviour 26 , 27 . It speaks to the major concern in the social sciences that our evidence is unrepresentative and largely based on studies with samples from Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic societies 28 . The increased availability of infrastructure for implementing large-scale experimental data collections and methodological advances carry promise that behavioural and experimental economic research will broaden our understanding of the foundations of human behaviour in the coming years.

Bertil Tungodden is Professor and Scientific Director of the Centre of Excellence FAIR at NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, Norway .

Development economics

Esther Duflo

The past three decades have been a wonderful time for development economics. The number of scholars, the number of publications and the visibility of the work has dramatically increased. Development economists think about education, health, firm growth, mental health, climate, democratic rules and much more. No topic seems off limits!

This progress is intimately connected with the explosion of the use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and, more generally, with the embrace of careful causal identification. RCTs have markedly transformed development economics and made it the field that it is today.

The past three decades (until the COVID-19 crisis) have also been very good for improving the circumstances of low-income people around the world: poverty rates have fallen; school enrolment has increased; and maternal and infant mortality has been halved. Although I would not dare imply that the two trends are causally related, one of the reasons for these improvements in the quality of life — even in countries where economic growth has been slow — is the greater focus on pragmatic solutions to the fundamental problems faced by people with few resources. In many countries, development economics researchers (particularly those working with RCTs) have been closely involved with policy-makers, helping them to develop, implement and test these solutions. In turn, this involvement has been a fertile ground for new questions, which have enriched the field.

I imagine future change will, once again, come from an unexpected place. One possible driver of innovation will come from this meeting between the requirements of policy and the intellectual ambition of researchers. This means that the new challenges of our planet must (and will) become the new challenges of development economics. Those challenges are, I believe, quite clear: rethinking social protection to be better prepared to face risks such as the COVID-19 pandemic; mitigating, but unfortunately also adapting to, climate changes; curbing pollution; and addressing gender, racial and ethnic inequality.

To address these critical issues, I believe the field will continue to rely on RCTs, but also start using more creatively (descriptively or in combination with RCTs) the huge amount of data that is increasingly available as governments, even in poor countries, digitize their operations. I cannot wait to be surprised by what comes next.

Esther Duflo is The Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA, USA; and cofounder and codirector of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) .

Political science

Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier

Political science remains one of the most pluralistic disciplines and we are on the move towards engaged pluralism. This takes us beyond mere tolerance to true, sincere engagement across methods, methodologies, theories and even disciplinary boundaries. Engaged pluralism means doing the hard work of understanding our own research from the multiple perspectives of others.

More data are being collected on human behaviour than ever before and our advances in methods better address the inherent interdependencies of the data across time, space and context. There are new ways to measure human behaviour via text, image and video. Data creation can even go back in time. All these advancements bode well for the potential to better understand and predict behaviour. This ‘data century’ and ‘golden age of methods’ also hold the promise to bridge, not divide, political science, provided that there is engaged methodological pluralism. Qualitative methods provide unique insights and perspectives when joined with quantitative methods, as does a broader conception of the methodologies underlying and launching our research.

I remain a strong proponent of leveraging dynamics and focusing on heterogeneity in our research questions to advance our disciplines. Doing so brings in an explicit perspective of comparison around similarity and difference. Our questions, hypotheses and theories are often made more compelling when considering the dynamics and heterogeneity that emerges when thinking about time and change.

Striving for a better understanding of gender, race and ethnicity is driving deeper and fuller understandings of central questions in the social sciences. The diversity of the research teams themselves across gender, sex, race, ethnicity, first-generation status, religion, ideology, partisanship and cultures also pushes advancement. One area that we need to better support is career diversity. Supporting careers in government, non-profit organizations and industry, as well as academia, for graduate students will enhance our disciplines and accelerate the production of knowledge that changes the world.

Engaged pluralism remains a foundational key to advancement in political science. Engaged pluralism supports critical diversity, equity and inclusion work, strengthens political scientists’ commitment to democratic principles, and encourages civic engagement more broadly. It is an exciting time to be a social scientist.

Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier is Vernal Riffe Professor of Political Science, Professor of Sociology (courtesy) and Distinguished University Professor at the Department of Political Science, Ohio State University, Columbus OH, USA; and immediate past President of the American Political Science Association .

Cognitive psychology

Andrew Perfors

Cognitive psychology excels at understanding questions whose problem-space is well-defined, with precisely specified theories that transparently map onto thoroughly explored experimental paradigms. That means there is a vast gulf between the current state of the art and the richness and complexity of cognition in the real world. The most exciting open questions are about how to bridge that gap without sacrificing rigour and precision. This requires at least three changes.

First, we must move beyond typical experiments. Stimuli must become less artificial, with a naturalistic structure and distribution. Similarly, tasks must become more ecologically valid: less isolated, with more uncertainty, embedded in natural situations and over different time-scales.

Second, we must move beyond considering individuals in isolation. We live in a rich social world and an environment that is heavily shaped by other humans. How we think, learn and act is deeply affected by how other people think and interact with us; cognitive science needs to engage with this more.

Third, we must move beyond the metaphor of humans as computers. Our cognition is deeply intertwined with our emotions, motivations and senses. These are more than just parameters in our minds; they have a complexity and logic of their own, and interact in nontrivial ways with each other and more typical cognitive domains such as learning, reasoning and acting.

How do we make progress on these steps? We need reliable real-world data that are comparable across people and situations, reflect the cognitive processes involved and are not changed by measurement. Technology may help us with this, but challenges surrounding privacy and data quality are huge. Our models and analytic approaches must also grow in complexity — commensurate with the growth in problem and data complexity — without becoming intractable or losing their explanatory power.

Success in this endeavour calls for a different kind of science that is not centred around individual laboratories or small stand-alone projects. The biggest advances will be achieved on the basis of large, rich, real-world datasets from different populations, created and analysed in collaborative teams that span multiple domains, fields and approaches. This requires incentive structures that reward team-focused, slower science and prioritize the systematic construction of reliable knowledge over splashy findings.

Andrew Perfors is Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the Complex Human Data Hub, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia .

Cultural and social psychology

Ying-yi Hong

I am writing this at an exceptional moment in human history. For two years, the world has faced the COVID-19 pandemic and there is no end in sight. Cultural and social psychology are uniquely equipped to understand the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically examining how people, communities and countries are dealing with this extreme global crisis — especially at a time when many parts of the world are already experiencing geopolitical upheaval.

During the pandemic, and across different nations and regions, a diverse set of strategies (and subsequent levels of effectiveness) were used to curb the spread of the disease. In the first year of the pandemic, research revealed that some cultural worldviews — such as collectivism (versus individualism) and tight (versus loose) norms — were positively associated with compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures as well as with fewer infections and deaths 29 , 30 . These worldview differences arguably stem from different perspectives on abiding to social norms and prioritizing the collective welfare over an individual’s autonomy and liberty. Although in the short term it seems that a collectivist or tight worldview has been advantageous, it is unclear whether this will remain the case in the long term. Cultural worldviews are ‘tools’ that individuals use to decipher the meaning of their environment, and are dynamic rather than static 31 . Future research can examine how cultural worldviews and global threats co-evolve.

The pandemic has also amplified the demarcation of national, political and other major social categories. On the one hand, identification with some groups (for example, national identity) was found to increase in-group care and thus a greater willingness to sacrifice personal autonomy to comply with COVID-19 measures 32 . On the other hand, identification with other groups (for example, political parties) widened the ideological divide between groups and drove opposing behaviours towards COVID-19 measures and health outcomes 33 . As we are facing climate change and other pressing global challenges, understanding the role of social identities and how they affect worldviews, cognition and behaviour will be vital. How can we foster more inclusive (versus exclusive) identities that can unite rather than divide people and nations?

Ying-yi Hong is Choh-Ming Li Professor of Management and Associate Dean (Research) at the Department of Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China .

Developmental psychology

Alison Gopnik

Developmental psychology is similar to the kind of book or band that, paradoxically, everyone agrees is underrated. On the one hand, children and the people who care for them are often undervalued and overlooked. On the other, since Piaget, developmental research has tackled some of the most profound philosophical questions about every kind of human behaviour. This will only continue into the future.

Psychologists increasingly recognize that the minds of children are not just a waystation or an incomplete version of adult minds. Instead, childhood is a distinct evolutionarily adaptive phase of an organism, with its own characteristic cognitions, emotions and motivations. These characteristics of childhood reflect a different agenda than those of the adult mind — a drive to explore rather than exploit. This drive comes with motivations such as curiosity, emotions such as wonder and surprise and remarkable cognitive learning capacities. A new flood of research on curiosity, for example, shows that children actively seek out the information that will help them to learn the most.

The example of curiosity also reflects the exciting prospects for interdisciplinary developmental science. Machine learning is increasingly using children’s learning as a model, and developmental psychologists are developing more precise models as a result. Curiosity-based AI can illuminate both human and machine intelligence. Collaborations with biology are also exciting: for example, in work on evolutionary ‘life history’ explanations of the effects of adverse experiences on later life, and new research on plasticity and sensitive periods in neuroscience. Finally, children are at the cutting edge of culture, and developmental psychologists increasingly conduct a much wider range of cross-cultural studies.

But perhaps the most important development is that policy-makers are finally starting to realize just how crucial children are to important social issues. Developmental science has shown that providing children with the care that they need can decrease poverty, inequality, disease and violence. But that care has been largely invisible to policy-makers and politicians. Understanding scientifically how caregiving works and how to support it more effectively will be the most important challenge for developmental psychology in the next century.

Alison Gopnik is Professor of Psychology and Affiliate Professor of Philosophy at the Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA .

Science of science

Cassidy R. Sugimoto

Why study science? The goal of science is to advance knowledge to improve the human condition. It is, therefore, essential that we understand how science operates to maximize efficiency and social good. The metasciences are fields that are devoted to understanding the scientific enterprise. These fields are distinguished by differing epistemologies embedded in their names: the philosophy, history and sociology of science represent canonical metasciences that use theories and methods from their mother disciplines. The ‘science of science’ uses empirical approaches to understand the mechanisms of science. As mid-twentieth-century science historian Derek de Solla Price observed, science of science allows us to “turn the tools of science on science itself” 34 .

Contemporary questions in the science of science investigate, inter alia, catalysts of discovery and innovation, consequences of increased access to scientific information, role of teams in knowledge creation and the implications of social stratification on the scientific enterprise. Investigation of these issues require triangulation of data and integration across the metasciences, to generate robust theories, model on valid assumptions and interpret results appropriately. Community-owned infrastructure and collective venues for communication are essential to achieve these goals. The construction of large-scale science observatories, for example, would provide an opportunity to capture the rapidly expanding dataverse, collaborate and share data, and provide nimble translations of data into information for policy-makers and the scientific community.

The topical foci of the field are also undergoing rapid transformation. The expansion of datasets enables researchers to analyse a fuller population, rather than a narrow sample that favours particular communities. The field has moved from an elitist focus on ‘success’ and ‘impact’ to a more-inclusive and prosopographical perspective. Conversations have shifted from citations, impact factors and h -indices towards responsible indicators, diversity and broader impacts. Instead of asking ‘how can we predict the next Nobel prize winner?’, we can ask ‘what are the consequences of attrition in the scientific workforce?’. The turn towards contextualized measurements that use more inclusive datasets to understand the entire system of science places the science of science in a ripe position to inform policy and propel us towards a more innovative and equitable future.

Cassidy R. Sugimoto is Professor and Tom and Marie Patton School Chair, School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA .

Sari Hanafi

In the past few years, we have been living through times in which reasonable debate has become impossible. Demagogical times are driven by the vertiginous rise of populism and authoritarianism, which we saw in the triumph of Donald Trump in the USA and numerous other populist or authoritarian leaders in many places around the globe. There are some pressing tasks for sociology that can be, in brief, reduced to three.

First, fostering democracy and the democratization process requires disentangling the constitutive values that compose the liberal political project (personal liberty, equality, moral autonomy and multiculturalism) to address the question of social justice and to accommodate the surge in people’s religiosity in many parts in the globe.

Second, the struggle for the environment is inseparable from our choice of political economy, and from the nature of our desired economic system — and these connections between human beings and nature have never been as intimate as they are now. Past decades saw rapid growth that was based on assumptions of the long-term stability of the fixed costs of raw materials and energy. But this is no longer the case. More recently, financial speculation intensified and profits shrunk, generating distributional conflicts between workers, management, owners and tax authorities. The nature of our economic system is now in acute crisis.

The answer lies in a consciously slow-growing new economy that incorporates the biophysical foundations of economics into its functioning mechanisms. Society and nature cannot continue to be perceived each as differentiated into separate compartments. The spheres of nature, culture, politics, social, economy and religion are indeed traversed by common logics that allow a given society to be encompassed in its totality, exactly as Marcel Mauss 35 did. The logic of power and interests embodied in ‘ Homo economicus ’ prevents us from being able to see the potentiality of human beings to cultivate gift-giving practices as an anthropological foundation innate within social relationships.

Third, there are serious social effects of digitalized forms of labour and the trend of replacing labour with an automaton. Even if digital labour partially reduces the unemployment rate, the lack of social protection for digital labourers would have tremendous effects on future generations.

In brief, it is time to connect sociology to moral and political philosophy to address fundamentally post-COVID-19 challenges.

Sari Hanafi is Professor of Sociology at the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon; and President of the International Sociological Association .

Environmental studies (climate change)

Yasuko Kameyama

Climate change has been discussed for more than 40 years as a multilateral issue that poses a great threat to humankind and ecosystems. Unfortunately, we are still talking about the same issue today. Why can’t we solve this problem, even though scientists pointed out its importance and urgency so many years ago?

These past years have been spent trying to prove the causal relationship between an increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, global temperature rise and various extreme weather events, as well as developing and disseminating technologies needed to reduce emissions. All of these tasks have been handled by experts in the field. At the same time, the general public invested little time in this movement, probably expecting that the problem would be solved by experts and policy-makers. But that has not been the case. No matter how much scientists have emphasized the crisis of climate change or how many clean energy technologies engineers have developed, society has resisted making the necessary changes. Now, the chances of keeping the temperature rise within 1.5 °C of pre-industrial levels — the goal necessary to minimize the effects of climate change — are diminishing.

We seem to finally be realizing the importance of social scientific knowledge. People need to take scientific information seriously for clean technology to be quickly diffused. Companies are more interested in investing in newer technology and product development when they know that their products will sell. Because environmental problems are caused by human activity, research on human behaviour is indispensable in solving these problems.

Reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have not devoted many pages to the areas of human awareness and behaviour ( https://www.ipcc.ch/ ). The IPCC’s Third Working Group, which deals with mitigation measures, has partially spotlighted research on institutions, as well as on concepts such as fairness. People’s perception of climate change and the relationship between perception and behavioural change differ depending on the country, societal structure and culture. Additional studies in these areas are required and, for that purpose, more studies from regions such as Asia, Africa and South America, which are underrepresented in terms of the number of academic publications, are particularly needed.

Yasuko Kameyama is Director, Social Systems Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan .

Sustainability (food systems)

Mario Herrero

The food system is in dire straits. Food demand is unprecedented, while malnutrition in all its forms (obesity, undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies) is rampant. Environmental degradation is pervasive and increasing, and if it continues, the comfort zone for humanity and ecosystems to thrive will be seriously compromised. From bruises and shapes to sell-by dates, we tend to find many reasons to exclude perfectly edible food from our plates, whereas in other cases not enough food reaches hungry mouths owing to farming methods, pests and lack of adequate storage. These types of inequalities are common and — together with inherent perverse incentives that maintain the status quo of how we produce, consume and waste increasingly cheap and processed food — they are launching us towards a disaster.

We are banking on a substantial transformation of the food system to solve this conundrum. Modifying food consumption and waste patterns are central to the plan for achieving healthier diets, while increasing the sustainability of our food system. This is also an attractive policy proposition, as it could lead to gains in several sectors. Noncommunicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease could decline, while reducing the effects of climate change, deforestation, excessive water withdrawals and biodiversity loss, and their enormous associated — and largely unaccounted — costs.

Modifying our food consumption and waste patterns is very hard, and unfortunately we know very little about how to change them at scale. Yes, many pilots and small examples exist on pricing, procurement, food environments and others, but the evidence is scarce, and the magnitude of the change required demands an unprecedented transdisciplinary research agenda. The problem is at the centre of human agency and behaviour, embodying culture, habits, values, social status, economics and all aspects of agri-food systems. Certainly, one of the big research areas for the next decade if we are to reach the Sustainable Development Goals leaving no one behind.

Mario Herrero is Professor, Cornell Atkinson scholar and Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences at the Department of Global Development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA .

Cultural evolution

Laurel Fogarty

Humans are the ultimate ‘cultural animals’. We are innovative, pass our cultures to one another across generations and build vast self-constructed environments that reflect our cultural biases. We achieve things using our cultural capacities that are unimaginable for any other species on earth. And yet we have only begun to understand the dynamics of cultural change, the drivers of cultural complexity or the ways that we adapt culturally to changing environments. Scholars — anthropologists, archaeologists and sociologists — have long studied culture, aiming to describe and understand its staggering diversity. The relatively new field of cultural evolution has different aims, one of the most important of which is to understand the mechanics in the background — what general principles, if any, govern human cultural change?

Although the analogy of culture as an evolutionary process has been made since at least the time of Darwin 36 , 37 , cultural evolution as a robust field of study is much younger. From its beginnings with the pioneering work of Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman 38 , 39 , 40 and Boyd & Richerson 41 , 42 , the field of cultural evolution has been heavily theoretical. It has drawn on models from genetic evolution 40 , 43 , 44 , 45 , ecology 46 , 47 and epidemiology 40 , 48 , extending and adapting them to account for unique and important aspects of cultural transmission. Indeed, in its short life, the field of cultural evolution has largely been dominated by a growing body of theory that ensured that the fledgling field started out on solid foundations. Because it underpins and makes possible novel applications of cultural evolutionary ideas, theoretical cultural evolution’s continued development is not only crucial to the field’s growth but also represents some of its most exciting future work.

One of the most urgent tasks for cultural evolution researchers in the next five years is to develop, alongside its theoretical foundations, robust principles of application 49 , 50 , 51 . In other words, it is vital to develop our understanding of what we can — and, crucially, cannot — infer from different types of cultural data. Where do we draw those boundaries and how can we apply cultural evolutionary theory to cultural datasets in a principled way? The tandem development of robust theory and principled application has the potential to strengthen cultural evolution as a robust, useful and ground-breaking inferential science of human behaviour.

Laurel Fogarty is Senior Scientist at the Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany .

Over the past decade, research using molecular genetic data has confirmed one of the main conclusions of twin studies: all human behaviour is partly heritable 52 , 53 . Attempts at examining the link between genetics and behaviour have been met with concerns that the findings can be abused to justify discrimination — and there are good historical grounds for these concerns. However, these findings also show that ignoring the contribution of genes to variation in human behaviour could be detrimental to a complete understanding of social phenomena, given the complex ways that genes and environment interact.

Uncovering these complex pathways has become feasible only recently thanks to rapid technological progress reducing the costs of genotyping. Sample sizes in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have risen from tens of thousands to millions in the past decade, reporting thousands of genetic variants associated with different behaviours 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 . New ways to use GWAS results have emerged, the most important one arguably being a method to aggregate the additive effects of many genetic variants into a ‘polygenic index’ (PGI) (also known as a ‘polygenic score’) that summarizes an individual’s genetic propensity towards a trait or behaviour 58 , 59 . Being aggregate measures, PGIs capture a much larger share of the variance in the trait of interest compared to individual genetic variants 60 . Thus, they have paved the way for follow-up studies with smaller sample sizes but deeper phenotyping compared to the original GWAS, allowing researchers to, for example, analyse the channels through which genes operate 61 , 62 , how they interact with the environment 63 , 64 , and account for confounding bias and boost statistical power by controlling for genetic effects 65 , 66 .

Useful as they are, PGIs and the GWAS that they are based on can suffer from confounding due to environmental factors that correlate with genotypes, such as population stratification, indirect effect from relatives or assortative mating 67 . Now that the availability of genetic data enables large-scale within-family GWAS, the next big thing in behaviour genetic research will be disentangling these sources 68 . While carrying the progress further, it is important that the field prioritizes moving away from its currently predominant Eurocentric bias by extending data collection and analyses to individuals of non-European ancestries, as the exclusion of non-European ancestries from genetic research has the potential to exacerbate health disparities 69 . Researchers should also be careful to communicate their findings clearly and responsibly to the public and guard against their misappropriation by attempts to fuel discriminatory action and discourse 70 .

Aysu Okbay is Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands .

Cognitive neuroscience

Anna C. Nobre

Since the ‘decade of the brain’ in the 1990s, ingenuity in cognitive neuroscience has focused on measuring and analysing brain signals. Adapting tools from statistics, engineering, computer science, physics and other disciplines, we studied activity, states, connectivity, interactions, time courses and dynamics in brain regions and networks. Unexpected findings about the brain yielded important insights about the mind.

Now is a propitious time to upgrade the brain–mind duumvirate to a brain–mind–behaviour triumvirate. Brain and mind are embodied, and their workings are expressed through various effectors. Yet, experimental tasks typically use simple responses to capture complex psychological functions. Often, a button press — with its limited dimensions of latency and accuracy — measures anticipating, focusing, evaluating, choosing, reflecting or remembering. Researchers venturing beyond such simple responses are uncovering how the contents of mind can be studied using various continuous measures, such as pupil diameter, gaze shifts and movement trajectories.

Most tasks also restrict participants’ movements to ensure experimental control. However, we are learning that principles of cognition derived in artificial laboratory contexts can fail to generalize to natural behaviour. Virtual reality should prove a powerful methodology. Participants can behave naturally, and experimenters can control stimulation and obtain quality measures of gaze, hand and body movements. Noninvasive neurophysiology methods are becoming increasingly portable. Exciting immersive brain–mind–behaviour studies are just ahead.

The next necessary step is out of the academic bubble. Today the richest data on human behaviour belong to the information and technology industries. In our routines, we contribute data streams through telephones, keyboards, watches, vehicles and countless smart devices in the internet of things. These expose properties such as processing speed, fluency, attention, dexterity, navigation and social context. We supplement these by broadcasting feelings, attitudes and opinions through social media and other forums. The richness and scale of the resulting big data offer unprecedented opportunities for deriving predictive patterns that are relevant to understanding human cognition (and its disorders). The outcomes can then guide further hypothesis-driven experimentation. Cognitive neuroscience is intrinsically collaborative, combining a broad spectrum of disciplines to study the mind. Its challenge now is to move from a multidisciplinary to a multi-enterprise science.

Anna C. Nobre is Chair in Translational Cognitive Neuroscience at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK; and Director of Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK .

Social and affective neuroscience

Tatia M. C. Lee

Social and affective neuroscience is a relatively new, but rapidly developing, field of neuroscience. Social and affective neuroscience research takes a multilevel approach to make sense of socioaffective processes, focusing on macro- (for example, social environments and structures), meso- (for example, social interactions) and micro (for example, socio-affective neural processes and perceptions)-level interactions. Because the products of these interactions are person-specific, the conventional application of group-averaged mechanisms to understand the brain in a socioemotional context has been reconsidered. Researchers turn to ecologically valid stimuli (for example, dynamic and virtual reality instead of static stimuli) and experimental settings (for example, real-time social interaction) 71 to address interindividual differences in social and affective responses. At the neural level, there has been a shift of research focus from local neural activations to large-scale synchronized interactions across neural networks. Network science contributes to the understanding of dynamic changes of neural processes that reflect the interactions and interconnection of neural structures that underpin social and affective processes.

We are living in an ever-changing socioaffective world, full of unexpected challenges. The ageing population and an increasing prevalence of depression are social phenomena on a global scale. Social isolation and loneliness caused by measures to tackle the current pandemic affect physical and psychological well-being of people from all walks of life. These global issues require timely research efforts to generate potential solutions. In this regard, social and affective neuroscience research using computational modelling, longitudinal research designs and multimodal data integration will create knowledge about the basis of adaptive and maladaptive social and affective neurobehavioural processes and responses 72 , 73 , 74 . Such knowledge offers important insights into the precise delineation of brain–symptom relationships, and hence the development of prediction models of cognitive and socioaffective functioning (for example, refs. 75 , 76 ). Therefore, screening tools for identifying potential vulnerabilities can be developed, and timely and precise interventions can be tailored to meet individual situations and needs. The translational application of social and affective neuroscience research to precision medicine (and policy) is experiencing unprecedented demand, and such demand is met with unprecedented clinical and research capabilities.

Tatia M. C. Lee is Chair Professor of Psychology at the State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Human Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China .

Maurizio Corbetta

Focal brain disorders, including stroke, trauma and epilepsy, are the main causes of disability and loss of productivity in the world, and carry a cumulative cost in Europe of about € 500 billion per year 77 . The disease process affects a specific circuit in the brain by turning it off (as in stroke) or pathologically turning it on (as in epilepsy). The cause of the disabling symptoms is typically local circuit damage. However, there is now overwhelming evidence that symptoms reflect not only local pathology but also widespread (network) functional abnormalities. For instance, in stroke, an average lesion — the size of a golf ball — typically alters the activity of on average 25% of all brain connections. Furthermore, normalization of these abnormalities correlates with optimal recovery of function 78 , 79 .

One exciting treatment opportunity is ‘circuit-based’ stimulation: an ensemble of methods (optogenetic, photoacoustic, electrochemical, magnetic and electrical) that have the potential to normalize activity. Presently, this type of therapy is limited by numerous factors, including a lack of knowledge about the circuits, the difficulty of mapping these circuits in single patients and, most importantly, a principled understanding of where and how to stimulate to produce functional recovery.

A possible solution lies in a strategy (developed with G. Deco, M. Massimini and M. Sanchez-Vivez) that starts with an in-depth assessment of behaviour and physiological studies of brain activity to characterize the affected circuits and associated patterns of functional abnormalities. Such a multi-dimensional physiological map of a lesioned brain can be then fed to biologically realistic in silico models 80 . A model of a lesioned brain affords the opportunity to explore, in an exhaustive way, different kinds of stimulation to normalize faulty activity. Once a suitable protocol is found it can be exported first to animal models, and then to humans. Stimulation alone will not be enough. Pairing with behavioural training (rehabilitation) will stabilize learning and normalize connections.

The ability to interface therapy (stimulation, rehabilitation and drugs) with brain signals or other kinds of behavioural sensor offers another exciting opportunity, to open the ‘brain’s black box’. Most current treatments in neuroscience are given with no regard to their effect on the underlying brain signals or behaviour. Giving patients conscious access to their own brain signals may substantially enhance recovery, as the brain is now in the position to use its own powerful connections and learning mechanisms to cure itself.

Maurizio Corbetta is Professor and Chair of Neurology at the Department of Neuroscience and Director of the Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padova, Italy; and Principal Investigator at the Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM), Padova, Italy .

Merete Nordentoft

Schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders are among the costliest and most debilitating disorders in terms of personal sufferings for those affected, for relatives and for society 81 . These disorders often require long-term treatment and, for a substantial proportion of the patients, the outcomes are poor. This has motivated efforts to prevent long-lasting illness by early intervention. The time around the onset of psychotic disorders is associated with an increased risk of suicide, of loss of affiliation with the labour market, and social isolation and exclusion. Therefore, prevention and treatment of first-episode psychosis will be a key challenge for the future.

There is now solid evidence proving that early intervention services can improve clinical outcomes 82 . This was first demonstrated in the large Danish OPUS trial, in which OPUS treatment — consisting of assertive outreach, case management and family involvement, provided by multidisciplinary teams over a two-year period — was shown to improve clinical outcomes 83 . Moreover, it was also cost-effective 84 . Although the positive effects on clinical outcomes were not sustainable after five and ten years, there was a long-lasting effect on use of supported housing facilities (indicating improved ability to live independently) 85 . Later trials proved that it is possible to maintain the positive clinical outcomes by extending the services to five years or by offering a stepped care model with continued intensive care for the patients who are most impaired 86 . However, even though both clinical and functional outcomes (such as labour market affiliation) can be improved by evidence-based treatments 82 , a large group of patients with first-episode psychosis still have psychotic symptoms after ten years. Thus, there is still an urgent need for identification of new and better options for treatment.

Most probably, some of the disease processes start long before first onset of a psychotic disorder. Thus, identifying disease mechanisms and possibilities for intervention before onset of psychosis will be extremely valuable. Evidence for effective preventive interventions is very limited, and the most burning question — of how to prevent psychosis — is still open.

The early intervention approach is also promising also for other disorders, including bipolar affective disorder, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, personality disorders, autism and attention-deficient hyperactivity disorder.

Merete Nordentoft is Clinical Professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; and Principal Investigator, CORE - Copenhagen Research Centre for Mental Health, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark .

Epidemiology

Gabriel M. Leung

In a widely anthologized article from the business field of marketing, Levitt 87 pointed out that often industries failed to grow because they suffered from a limited market view. For example, Kodak went bust because it narrowly defined itself as a film camera company for still photography rather than one that should have been about imaging writ large. If it had had that strategic insight, it would have exploited and invested in digital technologies aggressively and perhaps gone down the rather more successful path of Fujifilm — or even developed into territory now cornered by Netflix.

The raison d’être of epidemiology has been to provide a set of robust scientific methods that underpin public health practice. In turn, the field of public health has expanded to fulfil the much-wider and more-intensive demands of protecting, maintaining and promoting the health of local and global populations, intergenerationally. At its broadest, the mission of public health should be to advance social justice towards a complete state of health.

Therefore, epidemiologists should continue to recruit and embrace relevant methodology sets that could answer public health questions, better and more efficiently. For instance, Davey Smith and Ebrahim 88 described how epidemiology adapted instrumental variable analysis that had been widely deployed in econometrics to fundamentally improve causal inference in observational epidemiology. Conversely, economists have not been shy in adopting the randomized controlled trial design to answer questions of development, and have recognized it with a Nobel prize 89 . COVID-19 has brought mathematical epidemiology or modelling to the fore. The foundations of the field borrowed heavily from population dynamics and ecological theory.

In future, classical epidemiology, which has mostly focused on studying how the exposome associates with the phenome, needs to take into simultaneous account the other layers of the multiomics universe — from the genome to the metabolome to the microbiome 90 . Another area requiring innovative thinking concerns how to harness big data to better understand human behaviour 91 . Finally, we must consider key questions that are amenable to epidemiologic investigation arising from the major global health challenges: climate change, harmful addictions and mental wellness. What new methodological tools do we need to answer these questions?

Epidemiologists must keep trying on new lenses that correct our own siloed myopia.

Gabriel M. Leung is Helen and Francis Zimmern Professor in Population Health at WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Chief Scientific Officer at Laboratory of Data Discovery for Health, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park; and Dean of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China .

Bahdanau, D., Cho, K. & Bengio, Y. Neural machine translation by jointly learning to align and translate. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/1409.0473 (2014).

Jumper, J. et al. Nature 596 , 583–589 (2021).

Article   CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Dwork, C., Hardt, M., Pitassi, T., Reingold, O. & Zemel, R. Fairness through awareness. In Proc. 3rd Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference , 214–226 (Association for Computing Machinery, 2012).

Chouldechova, A. & Roth, A. Commun. ACM 63 , 82–89 (2020).

Article   Google Scholar  

Hara, K. et al. A data-driven analysis of workers’ earnings on Amazon Mechanical Turk. In Proc. 2018 CHI Conf. on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 1–14 (Association for Computing Machinery, 2018).

Strubell, E., Ganesh, A. & McCallum, A. Energy and policy considerations for deep learning in NLP. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.02243 (2019).

Rival, L. Anthropol. Today 37 , 9–12 (2021).

Carey, J. W. Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society (Unwin Hyman, 1985).

Williams, R. Television: Technology and Cultural Form (Fontana, 1974).

Helmond, A. Soc. Media Soc . 1 , https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305115603080 (2015).

Rambukkana, N. (Ed.). Hashtag Publics: The Power and Politics of Discursive Networks (Peter Lang, 2015).

Burrell, J. Big Data Soc. 3 , 1–12 (2016).

Bruns, A. et al. Facebook shuts the gate after the horse has bolted, and hurts real research in the process. Internet Policy Review , https://go.nature.com/3IP2xYr (25 April 2018).

Article 19. EU: Stop platforms from suppressing public interest research. article.19.org , https://go.nature.com/3DTWgXT (13 September 2021).

Burgess, J. et al. Critical simulation as hybrid digital method for exploring the data operations and vernacular cultures of visual social media platforms. Preprint at https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/2cwsu (2021).

Rieder, B. & Hofmann, J. Internet Policy Review 9 , 1–28 (2020).

Vosoughi, S., Roy, D. & Aral, S. Science 359 , 1146–1151 (2018).

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Hussein, E., Juneja, P. & Mitra, T. Measuring misinformation in video search platforms: an audit study on YouTube. In Proc. of the ACM on Human–Computer Interaction 4 (CSCW1) (eds. Lampe C. et al.) 1–27 (Association for Computing Machinery, 2020).

Lazer, D. M. J. et al. Science 369 , 1060–1062 (2020).

Wagner, C. et al. Nature 595 , 197–204 (2021).

Kosse, F., Deckers, T., Pinger, P., Schildberg-Hörisch, H. & Falk, A. J. Polit. Econ. 128 , 434–467 (2020).

Cappelen, A., List, J., Samek, A. & Tungodden, B. J. Polit. Econ. 128 , 2739–2758 (2020).

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Alan, S., Boneva, T. & Ertac, S. Q. J. Econ. 134 , 1121–1162 (2019).

Google Scholar  

Almås, I., Cappelen, A. & Tungodden, B. J. Polit. Econ. 128 , 1753–1788 (2020).

Müller, D. & Renes, S. Soc. Choice Welfare 56 , 679–711 (2021).

Falk, A. et al. Q. J. Econ. 133 , 1645–1692 (2018).

Almås, I., Cappelen, A., Sørensen, E. Ø. & Tungodden, B. Global evidence on the selfish rich inequality hypothesis. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA (in the press).

Henrich, J., Root, H. & Henrich, J. The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Propserous (Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 2020).

Gelfand, M. J. et al. Lancet Planet. Health 5 , e135–e144 (2021).

Lu, J. G., Jin, P. & English, A. S. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118 , e2021793118 (2021).

Hong, Y. Y., Morris, M. W., Chiu, C. Y. & Benet-Martínez, V. Am. Psychol. 55 , 709–720 (2000).

Chan, H.-W. et al. Polit. Psychol. 42 , 767–793 (2021).

Gollwitzer, A. et al. Nat. Hum. Behav. 4 , 1186–1197 (2020).

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

de Solla Price, D. Little Science, Big Science (Columbia Univ. Press, 1963).

Mauss, M. 1925. in Sociologie et Anthropologie (Réédition 1978) 143–275 (Presses Universitaires de France).

Darwin, C. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (Penguin 2004) (reprint of 2nd edn, 1879).

Mesoudi, A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 114 , 7853–7860 (2017).

Cavalli-Sforza, L. & Feldman, M. W. Theor. Popul. Biol. 4 , 42–55 (1973).

Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. & Feldman, M. W. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 25 , 618–637 (1973).

CAS   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. & Feldman, M. W. Cultural Transmission and Evolution (Princeton Univ. Press, 1981).

Richerson, P. J. & Boyd, R. J. Social Biological Syst. 1 , 127–154 (1978).

Boyd, R. & Richerson, P. J. Culture and the Evolutionary Process (Chicago Univ. Press, 1985).

Shennan, S. J. Camb. Archaeol. J. 11 , 5–16 (2001).

Strimling, P., Sjöstrand, J., Enquist, M. & Eriksson, K. Theor. Popul. Biol. 76 , 77–83 (2009).

Aoki, K., Lehmann, L. & Feldman, M. W. Theor. Popul. Biol. 79 , 192–202 (2011).

Kandler, A. & Laland, K. N. Theor. Popul. Biol. 76 , 59–67 (2009).

Laland, K. N. & O’Brien, M. J. Biol. Theory 6 , 191–202 (2011).

Richerson, P. J. & Boyd, R. Not By Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution (Univ. Chicago Press, 2005).

Kandler, A. & Powell, A. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 373 , 20170056 (2018).

Kandler, A., Wilder, B. & Fortunato, L. R. Soc. Open Sci. 4 , 170949 (2017).

McElreath, R. et al. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 363 , 3515–3528 (2008).

Turkheimer, E. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 9 , 160–164 (2000).

Polderman, T. J. C. C. et al. Genet. 47 , 702–709 (2015).

CAS   Google Scholar  

Visscher, P. M. et al. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 101 , 5–22 (2017).

Karlsson Linnér, R. et al. Nat. Genet. 51 , 245–257 (2019).

Article   PubMed   CAS   Google Scholar  

Lee, J. J. et al. Nat. Genet. 50 , 1112–1121 (2018).

Liu, M. et al. Nat. Genet. 51 , 237–244 (2019).

Wray, N. R., Goddard, M. E. & Visscher, P. M. Genome Res. 17 , 1520–1528 (2007).

The International Schizophrenia Consortium. Nature 460 , 748–752 (2009).

Article   CAS   Google Scholar  

Becker, J. et al. Nat. Hum. Behav . (2021).

Belsky, D. W. et al. Psychol. Sci. 27 , 957–972 (2016).

Young, A. I., Benonisdottir, S., Przeworski, M. & Kong, A. Science 365 , 1396–1400 (2019).

Barcellos, S. H., Carvalho, L. S. & Turley, P. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 115 , E9765–E9772 (2018).

Papageorge, N. W. & Thom, K. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 18 , 1351–1399 (2020).

DiPrete, T. A., Burik, C. A. P. & Koellinger, P. D. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 115 , E4970–E4979 (2018).

Rietveld, C. A. et al. Science 340 , 1467–1471 (2013).

Kong, A., Benonisdottir, S. & Young, A. I. Family analysis with Mendelian imputations. Preprint at https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.02.185181 (2020).

Howe, L. J. et al. Within-sibship GWAS improve estimates of direct genetic effects. Preprint at https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.05.433935 (2021).

Martin, A. R. et al. Nat. Genet. 51 , 584–591 (2019).

Nuffield Council on Bioethics. Genetics and Human Behaviour: The Ethical Context (Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 2002).

Redcay, E. & Schilbach, L. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 20 , 495–505 (2019).

Roeckner, A. R., Oliver, K. I., Lebois, L. A. M., van Rooij, S. J. H. & Stevens, J. S. Transl. Psychiatry 11 , 508 (2021).

Sevgi, M., Diaconescu, A. O., Henco, L., Tittgemeyer, M. & Schilbach, L. Biol. Psychiatry 87 , 185–193 (2020).

Wittmann, M. K. et al. Neuron 91 , 482–493 (2016).

Gao, M. et al. Neuroimage 223 , 117290 (2020).

Lee, K. M., Ferreira-Santos, F. & Satpute, A. B. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 131 , 211–228 (2021).

Olesen, J., Gustavsson, A., Svensson, M., Wittchen, H. U. & Jönsson, B. Eur. J. Neurol. 19 , 155–162 (2012).

Corbetta, M., Siegel, J. S. & Shulman, G. L. Cortex 107 , 229–237 (2018).

Griffis, J. C., Metcalf, N. V., Corbetta, M. & Shulman, G. L. Cell Rep. 28 , 2527–2540 (2019).

Deco, G. et al. J. Neurosci. 33 , 11239–11252 (2013).

Patel, V. et al. Lancet 392 , 1553–1598 (2018).

Correll, C. U. et al. JAMA Psychiatry 75 , 555–565 (2018).

Petersen, L. et al. Br. Med. J. 331 , 602 (2005).

Hastrup, L. H. et al. Br. J. Psychiatry 202 , 35–41 (2013).

Secher, R. G. et al. Schizophr. Bull. 41 , 617–626 (2015).

Albert, N. et al. Br. Med. J. 356 , i6681 (2017).

Levitt, T. Harv. Bus. Rev. 38 , 45–56 (1960).

Davey Smith, G. & Ebrahim, S. Int. J. Epidemiol. 32 , 1–22 (2003).

Callaway, E. ‘Randomistas’ who used controlled trials to fight poverty win economics Nobel. Nature, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03125-y (14 October 2019).

Topol, E. J. Cell 157 , 241–253 (2014).

Subrahmanian, V. S. & Kumar, S. Science 355 , 489 (2017).

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Political Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

School of Communication and Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Department of Neuroscience and Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padova, Padova, Italy

Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM), Padova, Italy

Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Microsoft Research New York, New York, NY, USA

École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany

Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

Department of Global Development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

Department of Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

Center for Social and Environmental Systems Research, Social Systems Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan

State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Human Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

Laboratory of Data Discovery for Health, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

CORE - Copenhagen Research Centre for Mental Health, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Department of Economics, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Complex Human Data Hub, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

ODID and SAME, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

Centre of Excellence FAIR, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, Norway

GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Köln, Germany

RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Vienna, Austria

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier , Jean Burgess , Maurizio Corbetta , Kate Crawford , Esther Duflo , Laurel Fogarty , Alison Gopnik , Sari Hanafi , Mario Herrero , Ying-yi Hong , Yasuko Kameyama , Tatia M. C. Lee , Gabriel M. Leung , Daniel S. Nagin , Anna C. Nobre , Merete Nordentoft , Aysu Okbay , Andrew Perfors , Laura M. Rival , Cassidy R. Sugimoto , Bertil Tungodden or Claudia Wagner .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Box-Steffensmeier, J.M., Burgess, J., Corbetta, M. et al. The future of human behaviour research. Nat Hum Behav 6 , 15–24 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01275-6

Download citation

Published : 27 January 2022

Issue Date : January 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01275-6

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

This article is cited by

Corporate social responsibility and individual behaviour.

• Herman Aguinis
• Deborah E. Rupp
• Ante Glavas

Nature Human Behaviour (2024)

Sustainable dietary choices improved by reflection before a nudge in an online experiment

• Sanchayan Banerjee
• Matteo M. Galizzi
• Susana Mourato

Nature Sustainability (2023)

Spatially Small-scale Approach-avoidance Behaviors Allow Learning-free Machine Inference of Object Preferences in Human Minds

• Tsung-Ren Huang
• Tzu-Chun Chen

International Journal of Social Robotics (2023)

Nature Human Behaviour turns five

Nature Human Behaviour (2022)

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

• Signals & Insights
• Future of Sustainability 2023
• Future of Sustainability 2021
• Future of Sustainability 2020

Live Research

Welcome to the futures centre.

An open, participatory futures community, tracking signals of change to create a more just and regenerative future.

Explore, track and share signals of change to help make sense of the world.

Access futures-focused insights and resources to help create a more sustainable future.

Join us in building a global community working together on key challenges to drive positive change.

Philanthropy is adopting a new tool for impact: Futures thinking

Toolkit for tomorrow: Anticipating Civil Society Futures

The ‘not so easy task’ of re-imagining power to enable the energy transition  

Recommended read(s).

What to know about women in Secret Service as critics claim ‘DEI’ for Trump’s chooting

Systems that are too Complex Create Accountability Sinks

Snowless mountain caps paint a grave image for global food security

Business-driven solutions to transforming consumption 

What if… the world succeeds in transforming the way we live and work? A vision of a just and regenerative 2050

Focusing on the Future: Why going big on futures is critical

Unlocking systemic innovation.

Live Research projects are designed to focus conversation on a specific challenge or question, engaging the platform’s global community and others in sharing thoughts, insights and perspectives on the issues that matter most.

The New Decade Times | REI Summit 2034

Long term imagination for impact: Creative futuring for civil society and philanthropy

Right-sizing Our Thinking: How Can We Re-think Value, Growth, and Scale for resilient futures? 

Blending datacenters into Wieringermeer nature with biomimicry

Ocado starts trial selling everyday products in refillable packaging

Algae: a source of renewable energy

Access the content that matters most to you

Set up personalised notifications and newsletters based on your interests and needs, and bookmark the content you want for quick access. Create the experience you need from the platform.

Get involved in deeper discussion and collaboration

Join online conversations dedicated to sharing insights and collaborating with a global community to tackle shared sustainability challenges.

Build your own profile

All of your submitted signals, attributed to your profile.

Join a growing global community of change makers

Sign up to receive the latest from the futures centre.

A monthly update straight to your inbox, covering new futures insights and the latest signals of change.

• Climate change
• Agriculture
• Food & nutrition
• Governance & politics

Our use of cookies

We use necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set optional analytics cookies to help us improve it. We won't set optional cookies unless you enable them. Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookies page .

Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Analytics cookies

We'd like to set Google Analytics cookies to help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone. For more information on how these cookies work, please see our 'Cookies page'.

Our vision is to create a world class research centre

Our vision is to create a world class research centre to deliver innovations and solutions to support and enable sustainable living, smarter cities and healthier communities.

Creating a Smart Future for all to enjoy

Smart Energy

Optimising the renewable energy sector to become the core source of energy production to deliver more affordable, reliable and sustainable supply.

Smart Water

Enhancing the quality, production, storage and usage of water to support regional towns and cities adapt to changing climatic conditions.

Improving the production, quality and transportation of Australian agriculture to deliver sustainable increases for domestic and international markets.

Smart Living

Development of IoT enabled devices to mitigate the impacts of disease, improve treatments and promote healthy lifestyles.

Integrating social, environmental and economic activities and trends to optimise the planning and operations of cities.

Latest News & Events

Investing in a brighter tomorrow.

Our Research

Advisory Board

Centre Management Team

News & Events

1300 123 456

Level 12, UTS Central Building 15 Broadway Road, Ultimo NSW 2007

© 2020 Smart Future Research Centre.

Suggestions or feedback?

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Machine learning
• Sustainability
• Black holes
• Classes and programs

Departments

• Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Architecture
• Political Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Centers, Labs, & Programs

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
• Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
• Lincoln Laboratory
• School of Architecture + Planning
• School of Engineering
• School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
• Sloan School of Management
• School of Science
• MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

MIT School of Science launches Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy

Press contact :.

Previous image Next image

The MIT School of Science is launching a center to advance knowledge and computational capabilities in the field of sustainability science, and support decision-makers in government, industry, and civil society to achieve sustainable development goals. Aligned with  the Climate Project at MIT , researchers at the MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy will develop and apply expertise from across the Institute to improve understanding of sustainability challenges, and thereby provide actionable knowledge and insight to inform strategies for improving human well-being for current and future generations.

Noelle Selin , professor at MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems and Society and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, will serve as the center’s inaugural faculty director.  C. Adam Schlosser and  Sergey Paltsev , senior research scientists at MIT, will serve as deputy directors, with  Anne Slinn  as executive director.

Incorporating and succeeding both the  Center for Global Change Science and  Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change while adding new capabilities, the center aims to produce leading-edge research to help guide societal transitions toward a more sustainable future. Drawing on the long history of MIT’s efforts to address global change and its integrated environmental and human dimensions, the center is well-positioned to lead burgeoning global efforts to advance the field of sustainability science, which seeks to understand nature-society systems in their full complexity. This understanding is designed to be relevant and actionable for decision-makers in government, industry, and civil society in their efforts to develop viable pathways to improve quality of life for multiple stakeholders.

“As critical challenges such as climate, health, energy, and food security increasingly affect people’s lives around the world, decision-makers need a better understanding of the earth in its full complexity — and that includes people, technologies, and institutions as well as environmental processes,” says Selin. “Better knowledge of these systems and how they interact can lead to more effective strategies that avoid unintended consequences and ensure an improved quality of life for all.”    

Advancing knowledge, computational capability, and decision support

To produce more precise and comprehensive knowledge of sustainability challenges and guide decision-makers to formulate more effective strategies, the center has set the following goals:

• Advance fundamental understanding of the complex interconnected physical and socio-economic systems that affect human well-being. As new policies and technologies are developed amid climate and other global changes, they interact with environmental processes and institutions in ways that can alter the earth’s critical life-support systems. Fundamental mechanisms that determine many of these systems’ behaviors, including those related to interacting climate, water, food, and socio-economic systems, remain largely unknown and poorly quantified. Better understanding can help society mitigate the risks of abrupt changes and “tipping points” in these systems.
• Develop, establish and disseminate new computational tools toward better understanding earth systems , including both environmental and human dimensions. The center’s work will integrate modeling and data analysis across disciplines in an era of increasing volumes of observational data. MIT multi-system models and data products will provide robust information to inform decision-making and shape the next generation of sustainability science and strategy.
• Produce actionable science that supports equity and justice within and across generations . The center’s research will be designed to inform action associated with measurable outcomes aligned with supporting human well-being across generations. This requires engaging a broad range of stakeholders, including not only nations and companies, but also nongovernmental organizations and communities that take action to promote sustainable development — with special attention to those who have historically borne the brunt of environmental injustice.

“The center’s work will advance fundamental understanding in sustainability science, leverage leading-edge computing and data, and promote engagement and impact,” says Selin. “Our researchers will help lead scientists and strategists across the globe who share MIT’s commitment to mobilizing knowledge to inform action toward a more sustainable world.”

Building a better world at MIT

Building on existing MIT capabilities in sustainability science and strategy, the center aims to: 

• focus research, education, and outreach under a theme that reflects a comprehensive state of the field and international research directions, fostering a dynamic community of students, researchers, and faculty;
• raise the visibility of sustainability science at MIT, emphasizing links between science and action, in the context of existing Institute goals and other efforts on climate and sustainability, and in a way that reflects the vital contributions of a range of natural and social science disciplines to understanding human-environment systems; and
• re-emphasize MIT’s long-standing expertise in integrated systems modeling while leveraging the Institute’s concurrent leading-edge strengths in data and computing, establishing leadership that harnesses recent innovations, including those in machine learning and artificial intelligence, toward addressing the science challenges of global change and sustainability.

“The Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy will provide the necessary synergy for our MIT researchers to develop, deploy, and scale up serious solutions to climate change and other critical sustainability challenges,” says Nergis Mavalvala, the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics and dean of the MIT School of Science. “With Professor Selin at its helm, the center will also ensure that these solutions are created in concert with the people who are directly affected now and in the future.”

The center builds on more than three decades of achievements by the Center for Global Change Science and the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, both of which were directed or co-directed by professor of atmospheric science Ronald Prinn .

Share this news article on:

Related links.

• Noelle Selin
• Center for Global Change Science
• Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change

Related Topics

• Climate change
• Technology and policy
• Cleaner industry

Related Articles

Mission directors announced for the Climate Project at MIT

New major crosses disciplines to address climate change

Making the clean energy transition work for everyone

Letter to the MIT community: Announcing the Climate Project at MIT

Forging climate connections across the Institute

Previous item Next item

More MIT News

When the lights turned on in the universe

Read full story →

Lincoln Laboratory and National Strategic Research Institute launch student research program to tackle biothreats to national security

Christine Ortiz named director of MIT Technology and Policy Program

MIT engineers design tiny batteries for powering cell-sized robots

New open-source tool helps to detangle the brain

LLMs develop their own understanding of reality as their language abilities improve

• More news on MIT News homepage →

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA

• Map (opens in new window)
• Events (opens in new window)
• People (opens in new window)
• Careers (opens in new window)
• Accessibility
• Social Media Hub
• MIT on Facebook
• MIT on YouTube
• MIT on Instagram

Research Centre on the Future of Cities

Cities and Religions: The Challenges of Diversity and Living Together in the Francophone Sphere

Symposium organized in by the Research Centre on the Future of Cities, La Chaire de recherche Québec, francophonie canadienne et mutations culturelles…

Insights into practices for maximizing the impact of mobilizing knowledge in French

Participation of Cintia Quiroga, member of the Research Centre on the Future of Cities.

Municipalities addressing social and environmental issues

Thematic exchange session moderated by Anne Mevellec, member of the Research Centre on the Future of Cities.

Our research axes

Post-growth and city transformations

Anthropocene and the urbanization of the world

Living in the city and urban trajectories

Anthropologie végétale

Le rôle de l’urbanisation dans la lutte aux changements climatiques

L'inégal accès à la nature

Subscribe to our newsletter

Faculty of Social Sciences 120 University Private Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5 [email protected] Subscribe to our newsletter

City Futures Research Centre Arts, Design and Architecture

UNSW Sydney NSW 2052 Australia

UNSW CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G

ABN: 57 195 873 179

Follow us on:

City Futures Research Centre is located on the unceded coastal land of the Bidjigal people of the Eora Nation. City Futures Research Centre acknowledges the Traditional Owners and pays respect to Elders past and present. City Futures Research Centre recognises that First Nations people are a living part of the oldest continuous existing culture on earth and have been stewards of the natural environment upon which we now learn and work.

Home / Projects / Centre for Science Futures

Centre for Science Futures

A think tank of the International Science Council

Latest news

The ISC’s Centre for Science Futures secures a million-dollar grant to explore the impacts of AI on science in the Global South 

Bridging the gap: new report highlights global strategies for accelerating ai in science and research .

The ISC has established the Centre for Science Futures to improve our understanding of emerging trends in science and research systems, and to provide options and tools for appropriate action. 

The Centre, launched in May 2023, explores where changes in science and its organization are leading us by carrying out analytical work, organizing workshops, and compiling resources. 

It engages in focused interventions within critical discussions on science futures , science systems , and science policy to push these discussion forward and provide options and tools for better informed decisions and targeted action for the future of science systems.

The Centre received a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to investigate the impact of AI and emerging technologies on Science, Technology & Innovation organizations in the Global South. The three-year project was officially launched in May 2024  and will continue until mid-2027. 

Advisory council

The work of the Centre is guided by an Advisory Council. Advisory Council members are accomplished experts and exceptional individuals who combine rich and varied experience in areas relevant to the Centre’s mandate.

ISC Foundation Fellow (June 2022)

Prof Sarah de Rijcke

Leiden University

Maria Fernanda Espinosa

Former President

United Nations General Assembly

Derrick Swartz

Special Advisor

South Africa’s Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation

Christina Yan Zhang

CEO and Founder

Metaverse Institute

Dr Sudip Parikh

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Research Associates

Research Associates are qualified experts who help the Centre produce a diversity of documents on a variety of topics relevant to its mission.

Prof James Wilsdon

ISC Fellow (Dec 2022)

Prof Stéphanie Balme

Dean of Undergraduate Studies

Sciences Po

Prof Simon See

NVIDIA AI Technology Center

News & Events View all

ISC project updates: Converging science & technology in a digital era

Shared concerns and aspirations around AI in Latin America and the Caribbean 

Official launch of the IDRC and ISC project to explore AI’s impact on science systems in the Global South

Project team.

Vanessa McBride

Science Director, Acting Head of the Centre for Science Futures

International Science Council

Prof. David Castle

University of Victoria

Dureen Samandar Eweis

Science Officer

Centre for Science Futures, International Science Council

Zhenya Tsoy

Senior Communications Officer, Digital Lead

Jane Guillier

Administrative Officer

Involved ISC Members

Malaysia, academy of sciences malaysia.

Australia, Australian Academy of Science (AAS)

Colombia, Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences (ACCEFYN)

Honduras, National Academy of Sciences of Honduras

Mongolia, Mongolian Academy of Sciences

Publications view all.

Science organizations in the digital age

Preparing National Research Ecosystems for AI: Strategies and progress in 2024

Protecting Science in Times of Crisis

Related work, ai in national research ecosystems.

Science organizations in the digital age 

Science in times of crisis 

Evaluating science as a global public good

Sign up to our newsletters.

Subscribe to the  ISC Monthly  to receive key updates from the ISC and the broader scientific community, and check out our more specialized newsletters on Open Science, United Nations, and more.

New research centre in Kingston looks to answer key questions about psychedelics in health care

Some are keen on advancing the science — but one expert says patients must come first.

Social Sharing

Canadians have seen a lot of hopeful headlines about psychedelics in recent years, as evidence indicating they can help people suffering from treatment-resistant conditions continues to grow.

One woman with chronic pain is fighting to get her insurer to cover ketamine treatments in Halifax. In Manitoba, there's a waiting list for people seeking treatment with psilocybin . Psychotherapists in B.C. have undergone training to use MDMA — commonly known as ecstasy —  on patients experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder .

And a new Canadian psychedelics research centre opened in Kingston, Ont. last week. Psychedelics show a lot of promise in health care and have been used by Indigenous communities around the world for centuries, said the centre's director, psychiatrist and researcher Dr. Claudio Soares.

"In the place that I grew up, for instance, in Brazil, ayahuasca is used in the Amazon rainforest in religious ceremonies," Soares said.

But because it's a new field, he said, scientists are still working to answer some basic questions about the use of psychedelics. Who should take them and under what conditions?

The Centre for Psychedelics Health and Research , a joint project of Kingston's Providence Care and Queen's University, is expected to build on existing research at Queen's.

From MDMA to ketamine, new research centre will study psychedelics in health care

Among other things, researchers want to learn whether psychedelics can serve as a treatment on their own. Two schools of thought are being tested, Dr. Soares said.

The first focuses on using psychotherapy along with psychedelics.

The second tries to determine whether the experience of "tripping" and the use of therapy techniques are necessary in order for a patient to reap the benefits of psychedelics.

"It's almost like, you have a surgical approach to an injury or you have a physiotherapy approach for an injury," Dr. Soares said. "I would say there's no right or wrong."

Concerns about patient care

But one Kingston health-care professional said they worry about how well the research centre will take care of its patients. CBC agreed to give them confidentiality due to their concerns about professional repercussions. 

Providence Care runs a ketamine clinic at the hospital of the same name in Kingston.

The health-care professional said the high-pressure environment of a medical clinic is not a good one for patients experiencing the "malleable state" brought on by ketamine.

"[The clinic is] just treating [ketamine] as a chemical," he said. "People come out [of the clinic] very confused, they're not sure how to make sense of it. They don't know how to navigate the experience."

Dr. Argel Aguilar-Valles, a neuroscientist at Carleton University, said that how a person reacts to their environment does affect the results of treatment with psychedelics.

"Usually, if a person feels safe and secure in the environment, the experience tends to be very positive," he said. "That's where usually you see signs of effective treatment. And we have known [that] for quite a long time."

He said some researchers want to learn if tripping on psychedelics is therapeutically necessary, but their work involves micro-dosing — giving patients doses that are too low to cause them to trip.

The ketamine clinic at Providence Care is giving its patients a dose high enough to cause them to trip, the unnamed health-care professional said.

They said they work to prepare their patients for their experience at the clinic but that's something the clinic should be doing itself. They said the clinic's staff also should take a psychedelics first-aid course.

The future of psychedelics

Soares said he can understand that health-care professional's concerns because the clinic uses "the medical model of ketamine for depression, which is not integrated with psychotherapy."

"There's probably opportunities lost there to capture what's happening with those patients under ketamine and explore that with them," he said. "Or at least to be aware and sensitive to that experience that can be probably more intense for some patients than others."

He said he plans to reach out to colleagues and suggest that they collect information about their patients' experiences on ketamine to look for "common themes" so that they can share the information with patients and other researchers.

"I think there's probably opportunities for ... enriching the experience of the academy and clinic," he said.

The research centre will gather professionals from multiple disciplines, Soares said, and there will be "opportunities for cross-training and sharing experiences."

Kingston psychotherapist Richard Tyo said he is happy to see the research expand because he has seen first-hand how effective the safe use of psychedelics can be.

"A lot of [traditional therapy] is just talking about problems and not really going into the emotional content or the somatic or the body experience of it," Tyo said. "And that's where [psychedelics] can really help."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gabrielle is an Ottawa-based journalist with eclectic interests. She's spoken to video game developers, city councillors, neuroscientists and small business owners alike. Reach out to her for any reason at [email protected].

• Follow Gabrielle on Instagram
• Follow Gabrielle on Twitter

Related Stories

• New psychedelics medical research centre opening in Kingston, Ont.
• Doctors believe ketamine can treat her chronic pain — if she's approved by workers' comp
• Video What’s behind the push for more magic mushrooms research
• B.C. health workers train to provide MDMA-assisted psychotherapy
• More than 100 health-care professionals challenge rejection of psilocybin access

Along with Stanford news and stories, show me:

• Student information
• Faculty/Staff information

We want to provide announcements, events, leadership messages and resources that are relevant to you. Your selection is stored in a browser cookie which you can remove at any time using “Clear all personalization” below.

The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability has selected eight interconnected Solution Areas to focus its research efforts over the next decade. This new research plan amplifies the school’s ability to translate Stanford research into large-scale solutions and inform key decision makers in policy and business.

Selected based on extensive faculty input and assessment of where Stanford can make the most meaningful impact, the eight areas are: climate; water; energy; food; risk, resilience, and adaptation; nature; cities; and platforms and tools for monitoring and decision making.

“Solution Areas identify and leverage the critical junctions between the most pressing global sustainability challenges and the areas where Stanford has the talent and expertise to find solutions,” said Dean Arun Majumdar. “This collaborative all-campus approach expands and strengthens our commitment to using all the power we have – the knowledge, the education, the talent, the innovation, the resources, the influence – to build a thriving planet for future generations.”

‘Integrative Projects’ and ‘Flagship Destinations’

In each Solution Area, the school plans to build two types of research initiatives. One type, called Integrative Projects, will be managed by the school’s institutes, including the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment , the Precourt Institute for Energy , and a planned Sustainable Societies Institute.

Integrative Projects will be organized around decade-long research themes and dedicated to creating solutions through interdisciplinary collaboration, engagement with partners beyond Stanford, identifying significant knowledge gaps, and understanding systems.

According to Chris Field , the Perry L. McCarty Director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and a professor in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and the School of Humanities and Sciences , the new commitment to these areas “will provide both resources and coordination that expand Stanford faculty’s capacity to deliver sustainability solutions at scale.”

A second type of research initiative, called Flagship Destinations, is managed by Stanford’s Sustainability Accelerator . Flagship Destinations are targets for the pace and scale of work to address challenges facing Earth, climate, and society. For example, the school’s first Flagship Destination, announced in 2023 , calls for enabling the removal of billions of tons of planet-warming gases annually from Earth’s atmosphere by the middle of this century. By working backward from sustainability targets in consultation with faculty and external experts, this initiative seeks to rapidly translate Stanford research into policy and technology solutions. Additional Flagship Destinations will be announced later this week.

Whereas Integrative Projects are designed to produce knowledge and evidence that can eventually lead to solutions, Flagship Destination projects are intended to help verify and demonstrate that well-studied solutions can succeed at large scale so they can be launched out of Stanford and implemented for the benefit of humanity and our planet. Scalable solutions nurtured and launched through these projects could take the form of policy frameworks, open-source platforms, nonprofit organizations, new for-profit companies, and ongoing collaborations all committed to addressing pressing sustainability challenges.

“By working together in these Solution Areas across disciplines and with collaborators beyond the university, we maximize our ability to have positive impacts on the timeframe and scale needed for the planet and humanity,” said Scott Fendorf , senior associate dean for integrative initiatives and the Terry Huffington Professor in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

Workshops will be held with faculty and external experts to develop research strategies for each Solution Area on a rolling basis. Strategy workshops, opportunities to provide input on future Integrative Projects, and requests for proposals (open to all Stanford faculty) will be announced in the coming months.

Related message from leadership: Read a letter to faculty about the new Solution Areas from Dean Majumdar with Precourt Institute for Energy director William Chueh; Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment director Chris Field; Accelerator faculty director Yi Cui and executive director Charlotte Pera; and Integrative Initiatives associate dean Jenna Davis and senior associate dean Scott Fendorf.

• Beacons of Excellence
• Ethics and integrity
• Global reach
• Institute for Policy and Engagement
• Interdisciplinary research
• Open research
• Research with us

Legal information

• Terms and conditions
• Posting rules
• Accessibility
• Freedom of information
• Charity gateway
• Cookie policy

Connect with the University of Nottingham through social media and our blogs .

Search our Website

Changing the patient journey for people impacted by neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions.

Latest Breakthroughs

Digital Health

Predicting Caregiver Quality of Life in ALS

Therapeutics

The Impact of COVID on the Brain

Diagnostics

New Drug Targets for Brain Diseases

Latest publications, building a supportive framework for brain research in ireland: inaugural position paper of the irish brain council, birth weight and childhood psychopathology in the abcd cohort: association is strongest for attention problems and is moderated by sex, clinical data warehouses for disease diagnosis: a focus on exosomal microrna biomarkers, 3d fabrication and characterisation of electrically receptive pcl-graphene scaffolds for bioengineered in vitro tissue models, patient involvement.

The patient and their family is at the centre of our research. Our Engaged Research approach aims to include people with brain diseases in the design and delivery of our research.

Work With Us

Whether you are a researcher, clinician, or passionate professional, explore exciting opportunities to make a meaningful impact, forge dynamic collaborations and propel innovative diagnostic, therapeutic, and digital health solutions.

Industry Partners

Collaboration is fundamental to the success of FutureNeuro. We invite partnerships with industry, clinical and academic collaborators to address mutually-identified scientific challenges which lead to earlier disease detection, more precise treatment and patient-empowered care pathways.

Latest News

The 2024 futureneuro summer internship programme is now open for applications.

World Parkinson’s Day: Shining a Light on the Human Experience

“A Head With Harmony” Recital

Collaborative Research Centre TRR 228

Future rural africa: future-making and social-ecological transformation.

CRC-TRR 228

Envisioning the future of rural africa, latest news.

New Publication: Unforeseen plant phenotypic diversity in a dry and grazed world

“Multispecies encounters in Conservation Landscapes in Southern Africa”: CRC-TRR Researchers Léa Lacan, Hauke-Peter Vehrs and Michael Bollig Edit Special Issue of Anthropology Southern Africa

Interview: Future Rural Africa Researcher Ndapewa Fenny Nakanyete on Completing University of Cologne & University of Namibia Dual PhD

New Publication: Justice Concerns in Large-Scale Renewable Energy Projects – a Case Study Echoing the Importance of Procedural Justice in Wind Energy Development in Kenya

New Publication: Maternal Healthcare and Health Policy Planning in Tanzania, 1961–1970s

New Publication: Agricultural Intensification, Environmental Conservation, Conflict and Co-Existence at Lake Naivasha, Kenya

Book Launch: Forest Politics in Kenya’s Tugen Hills – Conservation Beyond Natural Resources in the Katimok Forest

Modern Elephant Conservation and Environmental Anthropology in KAZA: Project A04 Contributes to the Wiesbaden Museum Exhibition

New Publication: Forest Politics in Kenya’s Tugen Hills – Conservation Beyond Natural Resources in the Katimok Forest

Workshop: Past Futures – New Histories From Southern Africa

GSSC Public Lecture: Animals and Global Racial Capitalism in an Age of Misanthropy -Juno Salazar Parreñas

How Things Connect People: Project C05 Hosts Workshop in Namibia

Vice-Chancellor of Mzumbe University Visits Department of Geography in Bonn

Wawili Toolbox Entry 6: Contested Roles and Expectations

Short Film: The Southern Buffalo Fence

Picture: Nairobi, Kenya © wollwerth, Envato Elements

Our Projects

Exploring future making and social-ecological transformation in rural africa.

The CRC is structured in three project groups, each organized around a bridging concept that addresses specific aspects of SET and future-making. Project group A (‘coupling’) studies the articulation between social and ecological subsystems, B (‘boundaries’) looks at the shifting zones of interaction and confrontation, and C (‘linkages’) explores cross-scalar drivers, connections and causations. Empirical research focusses on development hubs in the Kenyan Rift Valley (KRV), the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT), and the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA). The CRC builds upon profound research experience from the applicants and African partners, amplifies the unique combination of expertise at the universities of Bonn and Cologne, fosters partnerships with scholars and scientific institutions in Africa, and aims at making Bonn-Cologne one of the leading centres of innovative research in the emerging field of futures studies and social ecology in Africa.

We host a variety of events

We regularly organise a variety of events bringing together academics, experts, the general public and other stakeholders to discuss the results of research conducted within the CRC. The goal is to to explore innovative approaches to future-making in rural Africa and to address some of the challenges arising in the context of our research. Events include t he CRC Public Lecture Series, various exhibitions aimed at transfering our research results to a wider audience and internal events such as summer schools, workshops, booklaunches, research-retreats and more. 

Our Partners

Crc members, our team of experts.

We are proud to have a talented and dedicated team of researchers and coordinating staff who are working together to achieve our mission. Our team of researchers is made up of individuals from a wide range of disciplines including geography, anthropology, political science, agroeconomics and soil science. The CRC emphasizes international collaboration and the contributions of team members from our African partner institutions are critical for our success.

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Future Research Center

Future Research Center (FRC) is an integral part of Future University, one of the most reputable private universities in Egypt. FRC was licensed by the Egyptian Ministry of Health and population under No. 1/2019 to perform bioequivalence/ bioavailability and stability studies.

Scroll Down

Careers & Internships

Latest News

Start your career in clinical research.

Start your career in clinical research Coming soon FRC Training Program our Experts have more than 15 years of experience in the research field

FRC quality management system has been approved by Alcumus ISOQAR

FRC quality management system has been approved by Alcumus ISOQAR and is compliant with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015

Testimonials

I had a unique opportunity for training at Future Research Center (FRC) during my last mid-year vacation where I have been exposed to different processes such as : - Conduction of the clinical phase of bioequivalence studies - Comparative in-vitro dissolution. - Basics of pharmacokinetics and statistical calculations.

Training at FRC was a very nice experience which I benefited a lot from. I had training rounds across various departments where I had theoretical and practical explanations from doctors there in a clear and simple manner and watched every step in the conduction of Bioequivalence studies.

I consider training at Future Research Center a valuable experience where I knew more about the unique field of Bioequivalence. I gained information about each department, various equipment, and analytical instruments in addition to steps of conducting a bioequivalence study. I’m grateful to all the staff who helped me through such an amazing experience.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the training at FRC which was very prosperous and rich in information, I also appreciate the efforts of all FRC experts for teaching me theoretically and preparing me practically by practicing with my own hands how the procedures are done. I feel motivated that my training was recognized. Thank you for the certificate. I shall put it to good use in my resume. I am grateful for this generosity. Thank you so much.

Copyright © 2024, Future Research Center. All rights reserved.

MSD Prevention Works: Past, Present and Future

Celebrating 20 years of CRE-MSD's leadership in moving MSD prevention research into practice!

Conference overview

Join CRE-MSD for this in-person event to kick off Global Ergonomics Month by exploring the impact of musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) prevention, including emerging trends and legislative considerations.

MSD continue to be the leading lost time claim in Ontario and many other jurisdictions. Claims data will set the stage, demonstrating why prevention efforts for injuries like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) have been successful. We'll also l ook forward into emerging trends, including mental health and the link to MSD. The positive outcomes of ergonomics programs on financial return on investment and worker health will be highlighted. The conference will close with a panel of leading international experts and health and safety executives who will share their thoughts on the future of MSD prevention.

CRE-MSD is thrilled to celebrate 20 years of MSD prevention. We'll be profiling initiatives and their impacts through research, implementation, and worker lost-time outcomes.  Yes, there will be cake!

Preliminary program

*Program subject to change

Holiday Inn Burlington Conference Centre 3063 South Service Road Burlington, ON L7N3E9

Hotel website

Registration

CRE-MSD is pleased to offer this as a free, in-person event . Please complete the below registration form. Space is limited, so be sure to  register  early to save your seat!

For assistance, please contact Betina Butler at  [email protected] .

Disclaimer:   CRE-MSD   receives funding through a grant provided by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD). The views expressed are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre nor of the Province of Ontario.

Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Full Topic List

Regions & Countries

• Publications

Our Methods

• Short Reads
• Tools & Resources

Read Our Research On:

Asian Americans: A Survey Data Snapshot

War in ukraine: wide partisan differences on u.s. responsibility and support, harris energizes democrats in transformed presidential race.

The share of Asian Americans in the U.S. middle class has held steady since 2010, while the share in the upper-income tier has grown.

How Americans see federal departments and agencies

Where is the most religious place in the world, sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Fresh data delivered Saturday mornings

Latest Publications

A growing share of u.s. husbands and wives are roughly the same age.

On average, husbands and wives were 2.2 years apart in age in 2022, down from 2.4 years in 2000 and 4.9 years in 1880.

The share of voters who strongly support Kamala Harris is nearly 20 points higher than the share who felt this way about Joe Biden in July.

Americans see many federal agencies favorably, but Republicans grow more critical of Justice Department

Democrats hold consistently favorable views of all 16 agencies asked about, while Republicans express more unfavorable than favorable views for 11 agencies.

How Mexicans and Americans view each other and their governments’ handling of the border

Mexicans hold generally positive views of the United States, while Americans hold generally negative views of Mexico – a reversal from 2017.

Americans’ views of offensive speech aren’t necessarily clear-cut

About six-in-ten U.S. adults (62%) say that “people being too easily offended by things others say” is a major problem in the country today.

All publications >

Most Popular

Sign up for the briefing.

Weekly updates on the world of news & information

Election 2024

How latino voters view the 2024 presidential election.

While Latino voters have favored Democratic candidates in presidential elections for many decades, the margin of support has varied.

10 facts about Republicans in the U.S.

Third-party and independent candidates for president often fall short of early polling numbers, americans’ views of government’s role: persistent divisions and areas of agreement, cultural issues and the 2024 election.

All Election 2024 research >

Quiz: Test your polling knowledge

The hardships and dreams of asian americans living in poverty, what public k-12 teachers want americans to know about teaching, how people in 24 countries think democracy can improve.

All Features >

International Affairs

72% of americans say the u.s. used to be a good example of democracy, but isn’t anymore.

A median of 40% of adults across 34 other countries surveyed in 2024 say U.S. democracy used to be a good example for other countries to follow.

Most People in 35 Countries Say China Has a Large Impact on Their National Economy

Large majorities in nearly all 35 nations surveyed say China has a great deal or a fair amount of influence on their country’s economic conditions.

In some countries, immigration accounted for all population growth between 2000 and 2020

In 14 countries and territories, immigration accounted for more than 100% of population growth during this period.

NATO Seen Favorably in Member States; Confidence in Zelenskyy Down in Europe, U.S.

NATO is seen more positively than not across 13 member states. And global confidence in Ukraine’s leader has become more mixed since last year.

All INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS RESEARCH >

Internet & Technology

How americans navigate politics on tiktok, x, facebook and instagram.

X stands out as a place people go to keep up with politics. Still, some users see political posts on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, too.

How Americans Get News on TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram

X is still more of a news destination than these other platforms, but the vast majority of users on all four see news-related content.

72% of U.S. high school teachers say cellphone distraction is a major problem in the classroom

Some 72% of high school teachers say that students being distracted by cellphones is a major problem in their classroom.

All INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH >

Race & Ethnicity

What the data says about immigrants in the u.s..

In 2022, roughly 10.6 million immigrants living in the U.S. were born in Mexico, making up 23% of all U.S. immigrants.

The State of the Asian American Middle Class

An early look at black voters’ views on biden, trump and election 2024.

Black voters are more confident in Biden than Trump when it comes to having the qualities needed to serve another term.

A Majority of Latinas Feel Pressure To Support Their Families or To Succeed at Work

Many juggle cultural expectations and gender roles from both Latin America and the U.S., like doing housework and succeeding at work.

Asian Americans, Charitable Giving and Remittances

Overall, 64% of Asian American adults say they gave to a U.S. charitable organization in the 12 months before the survey. One-in-five say they gave to a charity in their Asian ancestral homeland during that time. And 27% say they sent money to someone living there.

All Race & Ethnicity RESEARCH >

U.S. Surveys

Pew Research Center has deep roots in U.S. public opinion research. Launched as a project focused primarily on U.S. policy and politics in the early 1990s, the Center has grown over time to study a wide range of topics vital to explaining America to itself and to the world.

International Surveys

Pew Research Center regularly conducts public opinion surveys in countries outside the United States as part of its ongoing exploration of attitudes, values and behaviors around the globe.

Data Science

Pew Research Center’s Data Labs uses computational methods to complement and expand on the Center’s existing research agenda.

Demographic Research

Pew Research Center tracks social, demographic and economic trends, both domestically and internationally.

All Methods research >

Our Experts

“A record 23 million Asian Americans trace their roots to more than 20 countries … and the U.S. Asian population is projected to reach 46 million by 2060.”

Neil G. Ruiz , Head of New Research Initiatives

Key facts about asian americans >

Methods 101 Videos

Methods 101: random sampling.

The first video in Pew Research Center’s Methods 101 series helps explain random sampling – a concept that lies at the heart of all probability-based survey research – and why it’s important.

Methods 101: Survey Question Wording

Methods 101: mode effects, methods 101: what are nonprobability surveys.

All Methods 101 Videos >

Add Pew Research Center to your Alexa

Say “Alexa, enable the Pew Research Center flash briefing”

Signature Reports

Race and lgbtq issues in k-12 schools, representative democracy remains a popular ideal, but people around the world are critical of how it’s working, americans’ dismal views of the nation’s politics, measuring religion in china, diverse cultures and shared experiences shape asian american identities, parenting in america today, editor’s pick, who are you the art and science of measuring identity, electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the u.s., 8 in 10 americans say religion is losing influence in public life, how americans view weight-loss drugs and their potential impact on obesity in the u.s., most americans continue to say their side in politics is losing more often than it is winning, immigration & migration, how temporary protected status has expanded under the biden administration, key facts about asian americans living in poverty, latinos’ views on the migrant situation at the u.s.-mexico border, migrant encounters at the u.s.-mexico border hit a record high at the end of 2023, what we know about unauthorized immigrants living in the u.s., social media, 6 facts about americans and tiktok, whatsapp and facebook dominate the social media landscape in middle-income nations, how teens and parents approach screen time, majorities in most countries surveyed say social media is good for democracy, a declining share of adults, and few teens, support a u.s. tiktok ban.

901 E St. NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20004 USA (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax (+1) 202-419-4372 |  Media Inquiries

Research Topics

• Email Newsletters

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

© 2024 Pew Research Center

A non-partisan centre of excellence, developing timely and practical policy proposals to help make the world of work better for working people and their families.

The Importance of Unions in Reducing Racial Inequality

The Centre for Future Work has released new research regarding union coverage and wages across different racialized categories of Canadian workers. The report also contains a review of efforts by Canadian unions to improve their representation of Black and racialized workers, and recommendations for strengthening the union movement’s practices.

The research confirms that racialized workers are under-represented in unions. New Statistics Canada data, which now disaggregates statistics on employment, wages, and union status according to a set of racialized categories, indicates that racialized workers are significantly less likely to be represented by a union or covered by a union contract. This lack of collective bargaining power contributes to racial gaps in job quality, wages, and employment benefits.

In 2022, racialized workers earned hourly wages almost 10 percent lower than non-racialized workers – and were 8 percentage points less likely to be covered by a union contract. Only one-quarter of racialized workers are covered by a union contract, compared to one-third of non-racialized workers. The gap is even worse for racialized women, reflecting the intersectional barriers they face in accessing decent work – and achieving collective representation to fight for improvements.

The correlation between lower union coverage and lower wages confirms unions need to become more effective at organizing with racialized workers, and engaging with them in collective action for better jobs and better pay. For that to occur, however, unions need to become more visible and more consistent in fighting for racial equality in everything they do: from organizing campaigns, to collective bargaining, to union education, to leadership development, and grassroots community engagement.

This report also shares insights from interviews with fifteen experienced racialized trade unionists, that shed important light on the experiences of racialized workers organizing within unions. These interviews reveal a mixture of hope and frustration: hope that unions can and must be vehicles for racial equality and overall economic justice, but frustration that negative attitudes, inertia, and systemic racism within unions hold back the labour movement’s engagement with anti-racism struggles.

The simple math of Canada’s labour force cannot be denied: if unions cannot become more representative of the growing racialized segment of Canadian workers, their power will inevitably shrink in future years. But to succeed in organizing among racialized workers, and lifting their wages, job quality, and living standards, unions must act as vehicles of racial justice at the same time as they fight for better jobs and wages. From the interviews, and a survey of research and documents on previous union anti-racist initiatives, the report identifies several best practices which can strengthen unions’ racial justice work – and enhance their visibility and credibility among racialized workers.

The report concludes with several recommendations for specific initiatives and reforms so that Canadian unions can rise to the challenge of organizing and mobilizing with racialized workers in the struggle for both better jobs and a racially inclusive and equitable society. The fundamental conclusion of this report is that those two struggles are inseparable.

Please see the full report, The Importance of Unions in Reducing Racial Inequality: New Data and Best Practices , by Winnie Ng, Salmaan Khan, and Jim Stanford.

This report was prepared as part of the Centre for Future Work’s PowerShare program, in partnership with the Atkinson Foundation and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Jim Stanford

Jim Stanford is Economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work. He divides his time between Sydney, Australia and Vancouver, Canada. Jim is one of Canada’s best-known economic commentators. He served for over 20 years as Economist and Director of Policy with Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector trade union.

• The Star ePaper
• Subscriptions
• Manage Profile
• Change Password
• Manage Logins
• Manage Subscription
• Transaction History
• Manage Billing Info
• Manage For You
• Manage Bookmarks
• Package & Pricing

Fewer data centres likely in the future

Friday, 09 Aug 2024

Related News

Malaysia's economy grows 5.9% in 2Q

China sees huge potential in sabah's blue economy concept, says consul general, uk economy expands as forecast in q2.

BMI Research highlighted the risk of some local data centres becoming non-compliant with the upcoming regulation.

PETALING JAYA: Future data centre investments into Malaysia may cool down once the government enforces sustainability-linked standards for local data centres.

The regulation is reportedly under consideration currently by the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry.

In a note, BMI Research said some players may not be financially or technologically able to meet such requirements.

“Because of the latter reasons, some investors may forfeit entering the Malaysian data centre market altogether.

“As a result, we expect investors to potentially start diverting more projects towards neighbouring peer markets with abundant power sources and less sustainability-linked regulations.”

Within South-East Asia, the other favoured destinations for data centres are Indonesia and Thailand.

Investors are also exploring the Philippines.

BMI Research, which is a unit of Fitch Solutions, also highlighted the risk of some local data centres becoming non-compliant with the upcoming regulation.

The research firm was referring to data centre campuses that are already built or are being built.

“This could represent a (temporary) loss for some investors as they may be forced to bring their facilities up to compliant standards.

“A similar situation is already taking place in Germany as a result of the local Power Usage Effectiveness or PUE regulation and represents a key driver of market share reconfiguration over the medium to long term,” it said.

That said, BMI Research noted that data centre operators that feature strong and relevant sustainability-linked credentials will be in possession of a considerable competitive edge against some rivals.

The research firm also said it is unlikely that the upcoming regulation may translate into temporary data centre moratoria imposed in local zones like Johor.

“Potentially, data centre projects may begin to relocate internally towards new areas away from Johor and Kuala Lumpur.”

Currently, BMI Research said the majority of data centres being deployed in Malaysia are aimed at servicing Singapore-based customers, predominantly hyperscale ones.

Proximity to Singapore also means that data centre facilities can become cash flow positive even shortly after their announcement, which is a key incentive for investors to build in areas like Johor.

“This is because of the large addressable market of data-intensive industries located in Singapore and the impossibility to build high-density data centres in the city state, making some facilities in Johor fully leased to a single hyperscale tenant even before completion,” it added.

As per BMI Research’s estimates, between 2023 and the first half of 2024, investors active in Malaysia have announced a record amount of data centre projects that will cumulatively provide over 2.11GW of power.

In the first half of 2024 alone, investors have disclosed data centre infrastructure investments for a total of 850MW, close to 2023’s total of 1.26GW announced.

Tags / Keywords: DataCentreInvestments , SustainabilityStandards , EnergyTransition , MalaysiaTech , DataCentreRegulations , ASEANMarkets

Found a mistake in this article?

Report it to us.

Thank you for your report!

Saving for a child's tertiary education

Next in business news.

Trending in Business

Air pollutant index, highest api readings, select state and location to view the latest api reading.

• Select Location

Source: Department of Environment, Malaysia

Others Also Read

Best viewed on Chrome browsers.

We would love to keep you posted on the latest promotion. Kindly fill the form below

Thank you for downloading.

We hope you enjoy this feature!

FUTURE BIOMANUFACTURING RESEARCH HUB

Harnessing uk strengths in biomanufacturing.

Future BRH is an EPSRC/BBSRC funded programme led by the Hub at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology at The University of Manchester and expertise at spoke partners institutions at Imperial College London; University of Nottingham; University College London; the UK Catalysis Hub; the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre; and the Centre for Process Innovation.

Addressed through two complementary Grand Challenge (GC) themes that feature a portfolio of industry-interfaced research projects, supported by a programme of Platform Research to develop new tools and technology co-created with Hub, Spoke and industry partners.

Future BRH is developing innovative technologies for high-value manufacturing to sustainably produce pharmaceuticals, chemicals and materials. It brings together impressive expertise from fundamental laboratory research infrastructure through to pilot scale production facilities.

INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS

Future BRH is proud to be supported by industrial partners from a range of different sectors. Their input is crucial in shaping the scope of the Grand Challenge and Platform Research areas.

PHARMACEUTICALS

VALUE-ADDED CHEMICALS

ENGINEERING MATERIALS

ADVANCED SYNTHETIC FUELS

Future brh – future biomanufacturing research hub – partners.

Privacy Overview