Craig Scott (PI), Keri Stephens (Co-PI) and Mir Rabby (Co-PI, and TIPI graduate research assistant) received a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). As automated decision-making through algorithmic systems is increasingly in use by organizations, this project will study key fairness issues for gig workers who have limited awareness of how algorithms make decisions for them, such as assigning work, evaluating performance, and disciplining workers. NSF provided $29,283 in funding for this 1-year project.
Jovana Andelkovic, Ph.D. student and TIPI graduate research assistant (supervised by Keri Stephens) received two grants to fund her dissertation. First, she received the Waterhouse Family Institute Research Grant (less than 10% were funded and she competed with faculty for this award) for her project on Communication in Extreme Heat Crisis: Understanding Uncertainty Management During Extreme Heat in the amount of $8,000. She also received funding from the Natural Hazards Center in the amount of $2,000. She is studying how to communicate about extreme heat.
Finally, Ruoxiao Su, Ph.D. student and TIPI graduate research assistant (supervised by Keri Stephens) received an award to continue her doctoral studies. This monetary award of $6000USD is highly competitive with only 250 awards given out among all the Chinese students studying abroad. Ruoxiao is in the third year of her doctoral program and has an incredible publishing record.
Mir, Jovana, and Ruoxiao are all three students who took Keri Stephens’ graduate course, Grant Writing in Communication.
The impressive accomplishments of these graduate students demonstrate the real-world impact of their academic training. Not only are they pursuing innovative research in critical areas like algorithmic fairness and crisis communication, but their ability to secure competitive funding showcases the practical skills they developed.