Georgia Tech researchers have been awarded funding to develop a proposed research center focusing on the intersection of neuroscience and the arts, humanities, social sciences, and other fields. The Dana Foundation's grant to the interdisciplinary team led by Christopher Rozell, professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will provide funding to complete a full proposal and a demonstration project.

The grant was one of 11 awarded by the Dana Foundation to U.S. colleges and universities on Sept. 28. The Foundation hopes to choose two teams to establish centers by the end of 2023.

In partnership with the Institute of Neuroethics (IoNx), a think tank devoted to neuroethics, the proposed GT/IoNx Center for Neuroscience and Society (GTI-CNS) will develop a community of transdisciplinary scholars who are committed to addressing the impacts of neuroscience and neurotechnology advances across all facets of the human endeavor. IoNx is the first think tank wholly devoted to neuroethics and was founded by Karen Rommelfanger, former program director for the Center for Ethic’s Neuroethics Program at Emory University.

Georgia Tech collaborators in the GTI-CNS proposal include: 

• Aaron Levine, associate dean for research and outreach and associate professor in the School of Public Policy
• Aaron Shackelford, director of the Office of the Arts
• Jennifer Singh, associate professor in the School of History and Sociology
• Lewis Wheaton, director of the Center for Promoting Inclusion and Equity in the Sciences and associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences

The proposed vision of the GTI-CNS would be achieved through meaning bidirectional public engagement through the arts, interactive training experiences for undergraduate and graduate students, and an interdisciplinary research community of social science or humanities fellows performing independent research while embedded in technical labs and think-tanks.

If approved, the work of the center will have national impact on public engagement through leveraging partnerships with organizations such as Neuromatch, Inc. (a non-profit focused on increasing access to science training) and the National Informal STEM Education Network (NISENet).

The planning grants are an important first step to address gaps in training and research for scholars who aim to foster neuroscience’s positive impact on society, according to the Dana Foundation. Georgia Tech will receive funding for five months to put together a full proposal and complete a demonstration project that pilots a key program that would be part of the proposed center.