News | Science, Technology and Public Policy (STPP)

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Parthasarathy named to prestigious French council

Dec 8, 2023

Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy has been named to the scientific council for ANSES, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety. ANSES is a public administrative body reporting to the Ministries of Health,...

A tale of two perspectives on innovation and global equity

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Parthasarathy comments on one year of ChatGPT

Dec 6, 2023

One year ago, OpenAI launched ChatGPT, a chatbot built on the large language model GPT-3. Since then, knowledge workers in all sectors have been grappling with the potential uses of it and similar artificial intelligence models—as well as the...

Parthasarathy comments on one year of ChatGPT

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STPP influence in New York report about facial recognition technology in schools

Oct 30, 2023

The New York State Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) has outlined the ethical issues with the state’s use of facial recognition technology (FRT) in schools. The report titled “Use of Biometric Identifying Technology in Schools” found...

STPP influence in New York report about facial recognition technology in schools

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Ford School welcomes new faculty that bridge research and policy engagement

Aug 21, 2023

A former foreign minister to Mali, a leading educational economist, a tech entrepreneur who explores indigenous technoscience are among the outstanding new faculty that add depth to the Ford School and connect student education, rigorous academic...

Ford School welcomes new faculty that bridge research and policy engagement

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Ford School welcomes Yousif Hassan as faculty

Aug 21, 2023

Yousif Hassan will join the Ford School faculty as an assistant professor in January 2024. Hassan’s work examines the social, economic, and political implications of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) and data focusing on...

Ford School welcomes Yousif Hassan as faculty

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STPP to explore best practice in community engagement

Aug 1, 2023

As technologists and scientists increasingly engage with communities in order to enhance the societal benefits of their work, and demonstrate its public value, it is important to ensure that such engagements benefit the people they claim to serve....

STPP to explore best practice in community engagement

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Engaged Learning Student Projects Catalog: Preparing Ford School students for leadership

Jun 29, 2023

During the Winter Term 2023, Ford School students were involved in projects with federal, state, county, city, and township governments, school districts, non-profit organizations, and commissions. They worked with the school’s numerous research...

Engaged Learning Student Projects Catalog: Preparing Ford School students for leadership

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Ford School welcomes PPIA 2023 cohort

Jun 19, 2023

The 2023 Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Junior Summer Institute (JSI) has welcomed 23 students from 11 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This year’s cohort will spend seven weeks taking classes, participating in...

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U-M experts: We need to emphasize AI’s societal impacts over technological advancements

May 12, 2023

Artificial intelligence—AI for short—is all over the news lately. And for good or ill, it has implications for us all. Two University of Michigan professors—Nigel Melville from the Ross School of Business and Shobita Parthasarathy from the Ford...

U-M experts: We need to emphasize AI’s societal impacts over technological advancements

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Pretrial risk assessment tools found to be subjective and biased

May 4, 2023 Read the full brief

In their attempts to reform the cash bail system, jurisdictions across the country are turning to automated pretrial risk assessment tools that ‘predict’ if a defendant will be arrested for a new crime while waiting for trial or will fail to appear...

Pretrial risk assessment tools found to be subjective and biased

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STPP receives grant to study STEM-in-Society training

Apr 21, 2023

As science becomes more central to our daily lives—whether for predicting the impacts of climate change, transforming our physical and cognitive capabilities, or developing life-saving pharmaceuticals—socially responsible research and innovation are...

STPP receives grant to study STEM-in-Society training

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Surveillance technology can have unintended consequences, Kleinman tells The New York Times

Apr 2, 2023

Nationwide, police departments are integrating facial recognition technology into their investigative processes. The technology has been criticized as "exacerbating racist policies," because of false identification, especially among African American...

Kleinman on the hazards of facial recognition technology in schools

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STPP gift to expand educational opportunities for undergraduates

Mar 22, 2023

The Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program has received a $250,000 gift to expand educational opportunities for undergraduates across campus. The gift comes from Phil (LSA ’87) and Julie (LSA ’88) Hollyer, parents of Keegan (Ford BA...

STPP gift to expand educational opportunities for undergraduates

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ChatGPT: Ford School expert can discuss AI chatbots, their reach, impact, concerns, potential

Mar 3, 2023

As ChatGPT hits three months in operation, its reach and uses continue to widen along with a range of efforts and research to grasp and anticipate the upside and downside of using artificial intelligence to do what humans would normally do. Ford...

"Appropriative" patents a long-term problem - Parthasarathy

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Ford School welcomes local and state elected officials to boost collaborative work

Feb 16, 2023

Elected officials from local, county, and state government came to the Ford School to hear about the potential for collaborations with their offices and the School’s faculty, research centers, and students. Fifteen members of the Michigan State...

Ford School welcomes local and state elected officials to boost collaborative work

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STPP receives Carbon Neutrality Acceleration grant, examining nuclear power

Feb 16, 2023

The Graham Sustainability Institute’s Carbon Neutrality Acceleration Program (CNAP) announced $1,160,000 in funding for six new faculty research projects. CNAP is a multi-year, multimillion-dollar program created in 2020 with a $5 million gift from...

STPP receives Carbon Neutrality Acceleration grant, examining nuclear power

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ChatGPT scrutiny brings STPP Artificial Intelligence study new relevance

Feb 9, 2023

ChatGPT, Microsoft’s artificial-intelligence (AI) algorithm, has been subject to intense scrutiny since its launch in November, becoming instantly popular because it was made free and easily accessible. Proponents are amazed at its ability to...

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Research centers give U-M students hands-on, practical policy experiences

Jan 27, 2023

With the guidance and support of the Ford School’s research centers, graduate and undergraduate students are creating a real-life impact in a range of areas by working with external partners. The Ford School is deeply integrated with a wide range of...

Research centers give U-M students hands-on, practical policy experiences

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Announcing winter 2023 Ford School events

Jan 11, 2023

The Ford School is pleased to announce an exciting lineup for the winter 2023 Policy Talks @ the Ford School series and other special public events hosted with partners from across campus. Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise...

Announcing winter 2023 Ford School events

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Green discusses the fairness of algorithms at Harvard University

Jan 10, 2023

Postdoctoral scholar Ben Green recently joined Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society for a webinar focused on what fairness means in the context of algorithms and how fairness can be measured. Joined by other scholars...

Green discusses the fairness of algorithms at Harvard University

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Ford School STPP scholars receive inaugural Quad Fellowships

Jan 3, 2023

Two graduate certificate students in the Ford School’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program have been selected for the inaugural cohort of the Quad Fellowship, a program designed to spur interdisciplinary scientific and...

Ford School STPP scholars receive inaugural Quad Fellowships

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Ford School faculty launch open online courses

Dec 19, 2022

Three Ford School faculty have developed exciting new online courses to equip learners and professionals around the globe with interdisciplinary skills that help them engage in and inform complex public policy decision-making processes. Elisabeth...

Ford School faculty launch open online courses

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U-M online course centers equity and justice in technology policy

Nov 30, 2022

A new massive open online course available on Michigan Online will help STEM and policy professionals, community organizers, and students understand how injustices can become embedded in technology and associated policies. “Justice and Equity in...

U-M online course centers equity and justice in technology policy

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Parthasarathy discusses implications of Large Language Models

Nov 7, 2022

Large Language Models (LLMs) are artificial intelligence tools that can read, summarize and translate texts and predict future words in a sentence letting them generate sentences similar to how humans talk and write. Shobita Parthasarathy, professor...

Parthasarathy: ChatGPT reinforces human biases

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Has India's new federal abortion law made it a safer place for women?

Nov 2, 2022

India's top court upheld a woman's right to an abortion up to 24 weeks into pregnancy, regardless of marital status, a widely hailed decision by women's rights activists. The right to abortion has proved contentious globally after the U.S. Supreme...

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Ford School faculty contribute to Anti-Racism Hiring Initiative

Oct 31, 2022

Three Ford School faculty members have played an integral role in U-M's Anti-Racism Hiring Initiative, providing expertise and guidance to the initiative. The Anti-Racism Hiring Initiative is led by the Office of the Provost and aims to bring 21...

Ford School faculty contribute to Anti-Racism Hiring Initiative

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STPP students awarded second place in science policy writing competition

Oct 30, 2022

A group of Science, Technology, and Public Policy program students recently won second place in the National Science Policy Network's 2022 Science Policy Writing Competition. This year's competition challenged authors to create a policy brief based...

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Max Bronstein (MPP/STPP ’10), Founder of the Journal of Science Policy & Governance Celebrates Journal's 10 Years

Oct 28, 2022

Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) founder Max Bronstein (MPP/STPP ’10) celebrates 10 years of JSPG! In a podcast, Bronstein talks about his initial vision for the journal, how JSPG has impacted the science policy landscape, and how JSPG...

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STPP Students Win 2nd Place in Policy Writing Competition

Oct 26, 2022

STPP students Natasha Dacic, Christina Del Greco, Natalia Harris, Kelsey Kochan, and Elena Levi-D’Ancona recently penned a policy brief about abortion rights in the United States for the National Science Policy Network's 2022 policy writing...

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STPP Student Carmen Altes Interns at U.S. Government Accountability Office

Oct 25, 2022

Carmen Altes, MPP and STPP student, did a summer internship with the U.S. Government Accountability Office's Science and Technology Assessment and Analytics team. Carmen received course credit towards the STPP certificate for this internship, and...