Physics Today: Foundation Director on the Draw of Science Philanthropy Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 11/30/2017 on 11/30/2017 “Sleuthing for potentially brilliant research ideas to fund turns out to be a fun cultural shift after a decades-long lab career.” In its regular question-and-answer series with leaders in the world of physics, Physics Today, the magazine of the American Institute of Physics, spent time with Cyndi Atherton, program director for science at the Heising-Simons …
Making Headlines: Grantees in the News Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 11/9/2017 on 11/9/2017 The Heising-Simons Foundation is proud to regularly see many of its grantee partners featured in media outlets across the country, providing an expert voice on a timely issue or being highlighted for their accomplishments and hard work. Here are some news items that have featured our grantees over the past month.
Preventing Firearm Violence Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 10/30/2017 on 10/30/2017 Dr. Wintemute is a UC Davis emergency room physician who has been researching gun violence for the past three decades. He leads the University of California Firearm Violence Prevention Research Center (FVRC), the only state-funded research center of its kind in the United States. The Foundation’s Local and Emerging Opportunities program has supported the U.C. Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP), where FVRC is located.
Discovery Opens New Paths for Astronomy Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 10/16/2017 on 10/16/2017 Among the thousands of scientists involved in the discovery of the merger of two neutron stars is a team led by astronomer Ryan Foley at UC Santa Cruz. With support from the Heising-Simons Foundation, Foley’s team captured the first images of the event in a galaxy 130 million light-years away utilizing the 1-meter Swope Telescope at the Carnegie Institution’s Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.
Making Headlines: Grantees in the News Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 10/12/2017 on 10/12/2017 The Heising-Simons Foundation is proud to regularly see many of its grantee partners featured in media outlets across the country, providing an expert voice on a timely issue or being highlighted for their accomplishments and hard work. Here are some news items that have featured our grantees over the past month.
Study Finds Latinos Highly Engaged with Climate Change Issue Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 10/10/2017 on 10/10/2017 Self-identified Latinos in the United States are more convinced that global warming is happening and that it is caused by human activity, according to a national study conducted by grantee the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Latinos are also more worried about climate change, more supportive of climate change policies, and more willing to demand political action than non-Latinos.
Taking on Gender Disparities in Physics and Astronomy Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 9/26/2017 on 9/26/2017 Inside Philanthropy explores the “disturbing decline” of female physics and astronomy students who are on the path from students to professionals in those fields, and what the Heising-Simons Foundation is doing to try “to turn around some of these troubling stats in laboratories and academic departments.” The goal of the Foundation’s women in physics and …
On the Fair Treatment of Women in Science Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 9/20/2017 on 9/20/2017 The Heising-Simons Foundation’s Science program is committed to addressing gender imbalances and inequities in the fields of physics and astronomy, both in colleges and in academic and research careers in the United States. One of our closest thought partners in this work has been UC Berkley’s Chancellor Emeritus and Silverman professor of physics Robert Birgeneau, who recently co-wrote a letter about this subject in the September 2017 Science magazine issue.
Interactive Data Tool: 10 Characteristics of Preschool-Age Children Share By Heising-Simons Foundation on 9/20/2017 on 9/20/2017 With support from the Heising-Simons Foundation’s Education program, Urban Institute has developed an interactive tool that shows national, state, and local characteristics of 3- to 5-year-olds, including whether the children are enrolled in preschool, whether their families are low income, or whether their parents are immigrants. With key data points on immigration status, language spoken at home, and parental English proficiency, this tool paints a more dynamic picture of the linguistic and cultural diversity of the preschool-age population.