Nergis Mavalvala reflects on the moment her team first detected gravitational waves and how it broadened the scope of research for the field.
Elenoa Fuka
By Marc Kastner, president of the Science Philanthropy AllianceFundraising for a growing center at an institution can be very satisfying, yet challenging, work. At a recent conference, Columbia University trustee and donor Armen A.A. Avanessians sat down with the University’s new director of the Data Science Institute, Jeannette Wing, for a conversation about philanthropy and…
In this video, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan shares how a fundamental physics discovery facilitated his Nobel Prize-winning work in chemistry and discusses the impact of curiosity-driven research.
Billionaire Ed Bass is giving $30 million to Biosphere 2, the massive, futuristic earth science project he helped create in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert more than 30 years ago.Read more about the gift to the University of Arizona here.
Robert Kirshner, chief program officer for science at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation spoke with Inside Philanthropy about making the move to a foundation, what philanthropy can and can’t accomplish, and how one of the country’s largest private funders of science research decides what and who it’s going to support. Read the article here.
In this video, May Berenbaum explains how a brown moth helps control a pervasive roadside weed, and how the study of sick caterpillars has resulted in contributions to medical science.
Using most of a $115 million donation from Rajen Kilachand, a Dubai businessman and BU graduate, the school will create an endowment that finances early research by its faculty and students into life sciences and engineering.The Kilachand gift is the school’s largest and could provide funding for early-stage research on topics related to memory or…
Scientists May Berenbaum, Nergis Mavalvala, Janet Rossant, and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan reflect on how breakthroughs in science have led to new industries and new knowledge, and enhanced human life.
Valerie Conn is the executive director of the Science Philanthropy AllianceA particular challenge that research institutions face is that of fundraising for mega projects such as centers and institutes. Unlike fundraising for specific scientists or labs, these capital-intensive projects have longer timelines and require careful strategy and inter-departmental teamwork to pull off.At a recent conference,…
By Marc Kastner, president, Science Philanthropy AllianceResearchers often want to know: will my research be of interest to philanthropists? That’s a hard question to answer—until you ask philanthropists themselves. At a recent Science Philanthropy Alliance conference in July, senior representatives from three of our member organizations—the Simons Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the…