Departments and Research Centers

Science, Technology, and Public Policy program

The Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program is a unique research, education, and policy engagement center concerned with cutting-edge questions that arise at the intersection of science, technology, policy, and society.

Showing 151 - 180 of 374 results

Publication

Policy memo: Parthasarathy on "Ensuring global access to COVID-19 vaccines"

Jan 21, 2021

As the Biden administration embarks on its first hundred days, experts from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy have produced a series of policy briefs on key issues. Download a PDF of this brief or read the web-formatted version...

Professor Shobita Parthasarathy leads a discussion in the Betty Ford Classroom

News

Ford School experts address Biden priorities in new policy memos

Jan 19, 2021

As the Biden administration embarks on its first hundred days, experts from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy have produced a series of policy briefs in their areas of expertise. All of the prepared briefs can be downloaded...

Issue memos for an incoming administration graphic

In the Media

Parthasarathy lauds Biden's choice for science and society advisor

Jan 18, 2021 Science Mag

"What an incredibly important and forward-thinking move to include social perspectives on science and tech policy in the office," said Shobita Parthasarathy about Alondra Nelson, the new deputy director for science and society in the White House...

News

Parthasarathy profiled: why we need to diversify expertise

Jan 5, 2021 Public Books

In a Public Books Public Thinker profile, Shobita Parthasarathy discusses what drew her to science and technology policy, gene patents and testing, COVID-19, and the role of diversity and activism in science/technology to regain public trust. In...

In the Media

Parthasarathy ponders cell "ownership"

Jan 5, 2021 NPR Planet Money

Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy believes that as a matter of public policy, people should have more control over what researchers can do with their cells. In a recent segment on NPR's Planet Money, she noted that you can find human...

News

Hampshire receives PIT-UN challenge grant to create knowledge network, expand student opportunities

Nov 20, 2020

The field of Public Interest Technology is growing — putting technology to the use of social justice, the common good, and the public interest. Ford School professor Robert Hampshire has just received his second grant from the Public Interest...

News

Public Interest Technology gets a boost with challenge grant for the Ford School and computer science

Nov 13, 2020

The Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program has received a challenge grant from the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN), which will contribute to its “Rethinking Computer Science Education: Bringing Public Interest...

Glasses rest on a desktop with various coding windows open on a screen behind

News

Parthasarathy addresses relationship between politics and science in Nature podcast series

Nov 12, 2020

A three-part podcast series by Nature explores the intimate relationship between politics and science. The series, ‘Stick to the science’: when science gets political aims to look at why a journal of science needs to address politics. Shobita...

In the Media

Parthasarathy comments on using facial recognition technology in schools

Nov 3, 2020 WIRED

"These technologies are least accurate among students who are already marginalized in schools,” Parthasarathy says. She notes that school officials are often ill-equipped to handle the security and privacy of children’s biometric data and ensure the...

In the Media

Michigan Proposal 2 may not go far enough to protect personal digital data - Parthasarathy

Oct 30, 2020 Detroit Public Radio WDET

“I’m not sure that Proposal 2 goes far enough at this moment when we have more and more electronic data we’re generating and more and more interest from not only law enforcement but the private sector to collect our data,” said Shobita...

News

Parthasarathy says Nobel winners break barriers, court controversy with their discoveries

Oct 8, 2020

The winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry to the first all-female team for their development of the CRISPR genome editing technique shines a light on both the lack of women at the top ranks of science and technology and on the controversial...

In the Media

Surveillance in virtual classrooms exacerbates technological racism, increases student anxiety

Sep 25, 2020 WUOT

“These kinds of technologies tend to disproportionately burden students of color who are already often assumed to be somehow deviant... and so these technologies tend to exacerbate that kind of racism by rendering it quantitative and technological...

Publication

Parthasarathy’s report shows innovation policy ignores marginalized communities

Sep 23, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed policymaking biases that have ignored poor and marginalized communities, argues Ford school professor Shobita Parthasarathy. In a paper, Innovation Policy, Structural Inequality, and COVID-19, published in the...

News

Considering inequities and disparities is essential for innovation in fighting COVID-19

Sep 2, 2020

“Disparities, distrust in health systems and other complexities must be explicitly factored into solutions” to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy writes in the latest issue of Nature. Governments around the world...

Publication

Facial recognition technology in schools presents multiple problems, shows limited efficacy

Aug 10, 2020

Facial recognition (FR) technology should be banned for use in schools, according to a new study by the Science, Technology and Public Policy program (STPP) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. The study...

Dozens of security cameras pointed at one person

Ethical and logistical problems raise questions about COVID-19 antibody test efficacy

May 29, 2020

As stay-at-home orders expire across the United States, a reliance on antibody testing seems to be a key element of keeping people safe and avoiding a resurgence of COVID-19. Antibody testing is being touted as a way to know whether locked-down...

News

Growing civic-minded technologists

May 19, 2020

“This was a game-changer for us,” said Kwaku Osei, the CEO of Farmacy, a food app startup focused on user’s dietary needs. Osei was one of five social entrepreneurs of color in the Detroit metro area matched with Masters students from the Ford...

Public consensus on anti-COVID-19 measures risks being politicized, says Parthasarathy

May 14, 2020

Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy says Americans' consensus belief in the science behind anti-COVID-19 measures is at risk. In an article in Times Higher Education published May 14 entitled "Science ‘risks coronavirus backlash’ as it is...

News

Ann Arbor may repurpose streets to accommodate pedestrian and cyclist social distancing

Apr 28, 2020

Since the implementation of the governor’s stay at home order, Ann Arbor’s vehicle traffic has declined markedly. Ann Arbor city council members may consider vehicle street closures in an effort to expand space available for pedestrians and cyclists...

Parthasarathy’s NSF grant will investigate how politics and public trust drive coronavirus response

Apr 20, 2020

It’s becoming clear that more diagnostic testing is key for the U.S. to stop the spread of COVID-19, re-open the economy, and better manage the next epidemic. Shobita Parthasarathy, director of the Ford School of Public Policy's Science, Technology,...

Intellectual property research needs to take a broader view of how patents affect the public interest

Apr 17, 2020

Intellectual property, and patents, in particular, affect every level of society. Research interest in the area has expanded beyond just the legal community and now involves social scientists and humanists as well. In an article published on...

U.S. scientific advancements lack diversity, equity, and inclusion, says Parthasarathy

Mar 16, 2020

U.S. competitiveness in global research and development (R&D) is hampered by political bias and a lack of diversity, according to Ford School professor Shobita Parthasarathy. She spoke at a February 25 meeting of the National Academy of Sciences,...

Science, technology, and society… Oh my!

Oct 2, 2019

Professor Shobita Parthasarthy and a colleague have launched “The Received Wisdom”, a new podcast that will explore the potential of science and technology by challenging commonly held wisdom.On Monday, September 23, “The Received Wisdom” launched...

News

Hampshire receives National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator grant, Admitted students

Sep 11, 2019

Robert Hampshire, associate professor of public policy at the Ford School and associate research professor at Michigan Institute for Data Science (MIDAS), has been awarded a $948,182 grant by the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator...

Parthasarathy talks algorithms place in the criminal justice system

Sep 3, 2019

Algorithms are making their way into public systems. They serve to make data-based, automated decisions when applied to public system models, but those computerized decisions don’t come without bias or ethical implications. In the podcast series...

Ali encourages collaboration to protect against AV terror in Detroit News

Jul 22, 2019

Each day tech and automotive companies are making advances in autonomous vehicle (AV) technology. With that innovation comes a new threat to our security, warns Javed Ali in a July 21 op-ed in The Detroit News titled “Collaboration key to preventing...

News

Bike sharing research by Hampshire wins EURO Award

Jun 26, 2019

Robert Hampshire was part of the author team that won the EURO Award for the Best EJOR Paper announced today during the annual European Conference on Operational Research in Dublin. Conveyed by EURO, the Association of European Operational Research...

Bias in bail: Parthasarathy cautions against new Public Safety Assessment tools

Apr 19, 2019

Tackling criminal justice reform requires a multi-pronged approach, and one of the most recent avenues gaining traction is an attempt to rework how pretrial decisions are made. The Michigan Supreme Court has its hands in this effort, launching a new...

Leaders and Best: U-M joins new collegiate technologist network; Ford School's Joy Rohde to lead the way

Mar 15, 2019

Announced earlier this week, the University of Michigan will join the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT), which is “a new partnership of 21 colleges and universities dedicated to building the nascent field of public interest...

The war against misinformation: Professor Nyhan's technological front

Feb 4, 2019

As misinformation and “Fake News” proliferates via social media, so too do the campaigns aimed to stop them. As the negative consequences of “Fake News” taint the content of public and private debate, the urge to regulate social media companies...