University of Chicago

The mission of the University of Chicago’s Data Science Institute is to address important scientific and societal questions through coordinated advances in applications, models, algorithms, and platforms. The award provides flexible support to the project “Translating Research to Practice: Responsible ML and the Social Impact of AI” (the project). It has two core areas of focus. First, to produce new research focused on algorithmic impacts, fairness, the responsible use and development of machine learning models, and developing quantitative approaches to understanding questions of social importance. Second, beyond research, a core focus of the project is to translate new and existing research on these topics into policy and practice. Illustrative examples of outputs include scholarly research, briefings, and other publications.

The Game Changer Chicago Design Lab at the University of Chicago creates digital stories, trans-media games, and new media art projects that advance young people’s social and emotional health. Game Changer will use this grant to improve the quality of their most promising game prototypes in an effort to bring them to scale; to develop technology, science and health-based pathways for Chicago youth; and to conduct research to better understand the impact of game-based learning on young people’s outcomes.

The University of Chicago’s Game Changer Chicago Design Lab (GCC Lab) creates digital stories, trans-media games, and new media art projects that advance the social and emotional health of youth, with a particular focus on civic engagement and sexual and reproductive health. Game Changer will use this grant to create a trans-media, narrative-driven game to engage Chicago youth in science, technology and health learning as part of the year-round Chicago City of Learning, and study young people as they play the game to better understand how it facilitates learning and how badging and mentors affect youths’ outcomes.

This grant to the Gary Becker Milton Friedman Institute for Research in Economics will support a distinguished group of academic and theoretical economists at the University of Chicago to pursue work on the effects of policy uncertainty, and to bring that research into Washington policy debates more deliberately. Foundation funds supplement other support raised by the Becker Friedman Institute to be used for theoretical and empirical research, to host conferences, and to actively connect this research, which is currently not well-represented in the policy debates, to the policy community.

Game Changer Chicago Design Lab (GCC Lab) is a new research initiative at the University of Chicago that taps staff, students, and faculty to work with youth to create digital stories, trans-media games, and new media art projects related to the social and emotional well-being of urban youth. With this grant, the Game Changer Chicago Design Lab will work with the Chicago Hive Learning Network, Mozilla Foundation, Born This Way Foundation, and the MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics to create experiences that engage young people in learning through their interest in improving their communities and schools.