We live in a complex social world in which the challenges facing society evolve continuously, and organizations must adapt to meet them. With the rapid growth of social networks over the last two decades and the corresponding availability of big data, the behavioral and social sciences have become increasingly important to the development and growth of organizations’ capacity to understand and address global challenges. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the importance of the social sciences in providing guidance during societal crises, particularly with respect to the successful operation of organizations during emergencies. Social, behavioral, and organizational science can help organizations address societal needs, and these contributions can be magnified through collaborations between academia and industry. With respect to such issues as shaping the future of work, harnessing data for societal benefit, supporting diversity and inclusion, advancing team science, establishing successful leadership and mentorship models within organizations, and understanding the impact of artificial intelligence on society, the social sciences are critical for advances and solutions. There are significant opportunities for expanding academic-corporate partnerships in the social sciences to help address urgent societal needs.
The University of Maryland, College Park, in collaboration with the University Industry Demonstration Partnership, will host a three-day workshop in College Park, Maryland, convening a diverse group of experts and leaders from academia, industry, and government to consider how academic-corporate partnerships can advance social, behavioral, and organizational science research to positively impact science and society. This workshop will help generate more awareness about the collaborative opportunities that exist within the social, behavioral, economic, and organizational science disciplines, and will produce strategies to fuel future industry-university partnerships. The workshop will showcase research collaborations relevant to business practitioners, policy makers, and research communities, examine how organizations develop and operate successfully, especially amid current challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and explore how university-industry collaborations in the social sciences can stimulate discovery, knowledge exchange, and economic development, helping to create value and achieve social impact.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
