American Press Institute Summer Fellow for 2017

Check out this website for more details.

National Security Hackathon (February 24-26)

MD5, a national security technology accelerator, is partnering with UT Austin to host a hackathon on February 24 – 26 at the Vault Space in north Austin.  Undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, staff and others from the UT Austin community are invited to participate in this exciting event. Over three days, participants will work with 100-150 innovators from the DoD, UT Austin and the Austin community to tackle some of the toughest Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) challenges by developing hardware and software concepts focused on logistics & planning, communications, and restoration of water & power resources. 

In addition to access to cool new technologies, as hackathon participants get the opportunity to be mentored by a diverse group of experts: experts in disaster relief, technology mentors and pitch mentors. 

Winning team(s) will receive up to $15K to further develop their ideas.  Please visit http://www.md5.net/hackathonw17 to learn more and to secure your place at this event.

From Paper to Policy: Can Researchers Influence Lawmakers?

Tuesday, January 31st, 6:15-7pm in CBA 1.104

Professors, researchers, and policy wonks are constantly churning out new recommendations and innovative ideas. But just how often does good research make its way into new laws or regulations? Do lawmakers seek expert advice when making decisions, or are political factors more important? And what should happen when experts’ conclusions conflict with popular opinion?

Join the Texas Undergraduate Research Journal for a panel discussion on what happens when policymaking and academia meet! As always, food will be provided.

Our Panelists:

Dr. Bryan Jones is the J. J. “Jake” Pickle Regents Chair in Congressional Studies at UT and co-director of the Policy Agendas Project, and has served on the Executive Council of the American Political Science Association. His research covers public policy processes and change, organizational decision making, and agenda-setting.
Dr. William Spelman studies urban policy with an emphasis on local government administration. He served two terms on the Austin City Council and has received national recognition for developing policy programs that address criminal justice issues.
Dr. Benjamin Gregg’s research focuses on social and political theory, values, and morality in modern societies and has taught at universities across Europe, China, and Japan. He has published books on bioethics, as well as the conflict between human rights and national sovereignty.