In The News
Rutgers Wellness Study: Participate and earn $120
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A study on the ways digital behavior can be used to predict changes in a person's mental health is done by the researches at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information (Rutgers SC&I), Rutgers School of Public Health (Rutgers SPH), and Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS). The participants will be required to download their Google account data through Google Takeout, a feature that will allow it to be encrypted and shared with the research team. Then over the course of 10 weeks, each participant will fill out some surveys. The users will receive a total compensation of $120 (in Amazon gift cards) upon completion of the study. To sign up for the wellness study, email here at
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders awards RuCCS EC member Kasia Bieszczad a $1.7M grant
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Kasia Bieszczad, Rutgers Center of Cognitive Science - New Brunswick, (RuCCS) EC member and Assistant Professor of Psychology awarded a $1.7M grant by the NIDCD for her project "Molecular Epigenetic Mechanisms that Transform the Auditory System for Learning and Memory." The aim of this project is to investigate epigenetic neural mechanisms which can ensure meaningful sounds are faithfully and adaptively represented in the adult auditory brain. Bieszczad's proposal was scored in the 4th percentile by the NIDCD.
$3M NSF Grant Awarded to Rutgers for the Development of Robots of the Future
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Kristin Dana (RuCCS EC member, ECE Professor) is the PI for the proposal awarded the grant Socially Cognizant Robotics for a Technology Enhanced Society (SOCRATES). The SOCRATES grant proposal was completed by Dana alongside her team of co-PIs, senior personnel, and an external evaluator:
- Kostas Bekris (Computer Science/RuCCS EC, co-PI)
- Clinton Andrews (Planning and Public Policy, co-PI)
- Jacob Feldman (Psychology/RuCCS EC, Cognitive Science, co-PI)
- Jingang Yi (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, co-PI)
- Pernille Hemmer (Psychology/RuCCS EC, Cognitive Science, senior personnel)
- Aaron Mazzeo (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, senior personnel)
- Hal Salzman (Planning and Public Policy, senior personnel)
- Matthew Stone (Computer Science/RuCCS EC, senior personnel)
- Kathy Haynie (External evaluator on STEM education)
The objective of the grant is to create a new vehicle for graduate training and research that integrates technology domains of robotics, machine learning, and computer vision with social and behavioral sciences including psychology, cognitive science, and urban policy planning.
Read the article on Rutgers Today for more on the story. For more info on the research read the ECE article here. For more info on the NSF grant read here.
Rutgers Announces John McGann as the New Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS) Director
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Professor John McGann has been announced as the new Director of the Center for Cognitive Science at Rutgers University-New Brunswick (RuCCS).
Professor McGann earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Psychology, followed by a doctorate in neuroscience, all from Yale University. He came to Rutgers in 2009 as an Assistant Professor in the Behavioral & Systems Neuroscience section of the Psychology Department, where he established the McGann Laboratory on the Neurobiology of Sensory Cognition. He was tenured in 2013, promoted to full Professor in 2019, serves as Director of RuCCS as of July 1, 2020.
Recent concerns over the Coronavirus pandemic lead to an increase in discrimination in banking, particularly minority-owned small businesses, finds RuCCS Affiliate Professor Jerome Williams
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A study conducted by Jerome Williams (RuCCS Affiliate, Distinguished Professor, and Prudential Chair in Business at Rutgers) and peers argues that Black borrowers face disadvantages even before filing for loans.
In the study, the same qualifications and statuses were presented for both the White and Black borrowers. Ultimately, it was White borrowers who were more likely to get an additional line of credit with their loans while Black borrowers weren't even offered additional credit.
Read more on the study in the New York Times article here or the NCRC article here.
