Would you like to hear Francis Collins? Connect with ESN in person? Go to a faith/science conference on the beautiful grounds of Gordon College, near Boston? All three are possible this July! Student registration is free, and student scholarships for half off lodging and meals are available. And if you’re a grad student or postdoc, you might even get $300 towards travel costs. The American Scientific Affiliation faith/science conference is coming up July 27-30 near Boston. [Read more…] about Hear Francis Collins at ASA 2018 ($300 Travel Scholarships Available)
funding
Science Corner: Universal Science Income
Paying for science is not always as exciting as the science itself, unless we’re using science to figure out how to pay for it. (Just don’t get caught in a recursive loop.) And so we have a proposal for a new economic model for science funding along with some simulation studies to demonstrate how it would play out under different conditions. The current system involves a lot of time spent on writing grants, most of which are unsuccessful, and on reviewing those grants, creating expensive overhead even under the best circumstances. Actual circumstances might not be the best, since new investigators are having increasing difficulty getting funded, and since the review process can be complicated by questions like how to get a fair and thorough review in small fields where the qualified reviewers might all be competing for the funds in question. Hence the interest in alternatives.
[Read more…] about Science Corner: Universal Science Income
Science Corner: Out with the Old?
The challenges of getting funding and being published are perennially of interest, particularly to emerging scholars. I imagine this examination of the current status quo will therefore be popular. But for an article on science funding, it seems to have a disconnect between its data and conclusions. [Read more…] about Science Corner: Out with the Old?
A Mission to the University: Part 2 of Engaging the University
Part 2 of Vinoth Ramachandra‘s Engaging the University (21:22) is packed. After exploring the broad topics of funding’s push toward instrumentalism, the fragmentation of campus academic life by global communication, and the lack of “any coherent master narrative for a central point of reference . . . to evaluate the relationship of . . . parcels of knowledge to other parcels or to weigh their relative importance,” Ramachandra considers three challenges which Christians face in engaging the university:
- Evangelistic/pastoral challenge: “There are many outstanding thinkers in our university with a global influence who have never been exposed to a robust Christian faith which they can respect intellectually either because they’ve never come across Christians in their universities who love God with their minds and engaged them in serious thinking about God or they have never been exposed to the best Christian learning in their particular academic field of study.”
- Comment: As a campus minister for the past seventeen years, I found Ramachandra’s exploration of Jonathan Rowles’ loss of faith during World War II particularly convicting. Please continue to share with the Emerging Scholars Network how we may pray for, encourage and equip you (and your colleagues) in this area by email and/or commenting below.
- Raising a Christian voice not only with intellect, but also with charity: [Read more…] about A Mission to the University: Part 2 of Engaging the University
Call for Proposals: 2012 CSF-ESN Grant to Advance Christian Scholarship
One of my favorite benefits of ESN membership is our partnership with the Christian Scholars Foundation. Most of ESN’s work deals with intangible — encouragement, prayer, resources, etc. CSF offers something that might be a bit more practical to ESN members: grant money! Further, CSF has demonstrated truly excellent discernment and great breadth in choosing its grantees. The 2011 recipient was Winnie Fong, Assistant Professor of Economics at Wheaton College, for her project “Short and Long-Term Health and Economic Effects of Prenatal Blood Testing Legislation.” If you review the list of past recipients,* you will see a number of worthwhile projects in the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and other disciplines that don’t always receive attention from Christian organizations. Even further, the grants have funded experiences for an incredible range of activities: research, teaching, travel, conference expenses, publications, writing, etc.
The grant is open to junior faculty who are members of ESN. Full details are below.
~ Mike
The Christian Scholars Foundation (CSF) is a small family foundation formed to encourage and support Christian junior faculty in their efforts to gain recognition and stature in the academy. CSF also wishes to encourage them in the effort to integrate Christian faith and academic endeavor.
In partnership with the Emerging Scholars Network, CSF offers the CSF-ESN Grant to Advance Christian Scholarship to encourage and nurture Christian junior faculty as they strive for wider recognition in and beyond the academy. CSF seeks to encourage them to integrate Christian faith in their academic endeavors. [Read more…] about Call for Proposals: 2012 CSF-ESN Grant to Advance Christian Scholarship