Publication Archive

Back
Science Policy
Article
Expected Utility Forecasting for Science Funding

Common frameworks for evaluating proposals leave this utility function implicit, often evaluating aspects of risk, uncertainty, and potential value independently and qualitatively.

11.20.23 | 11 min read
read more
Nuclear Weapons
Article
Culture Blast at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum

Charlotte Yeung’s latest work weaves Kurt Vonnegut’s stance on nuclear weapons with current issues we face today.

09.07.23 | 7 min read
read more
Science Policy
Article
FAS Forum: Envisioning the Future of Wildland Fire Policy

In this critical year for reimagining wildland fire policy, we brought together stakeholders across science, technology, and policy to exchange forward-looking ideas with the shared goal of improving the federal government’s approach to managing wildland fire.

03.21.23 | 1 min read
read more
Technology & Innovation
Article
AI for science: creating a virtuous circle of discovery and innovation

In this interview, Tom Kalil discusses the opportunities for science agencies and the research community to use AI/ML to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery and technological advancement. Q.  Why do you think that science agencies and the research community should be paying more attention to the intersection between AI/ML and science? Recently, researchers have […]

08.22.22 | 9 min read
read more
Technology & Innovation
Article
The Magic Laptop Thought Experiment

One of the main goals of Kalil’s Corner is to share some of the things I’ve learned over the course of my career about policy entrepreneurship. Below is an FAQ on a thought experiment that I think is useful for policy entrepreneurs, and how the thought experiment is related to a concept I call “shared agency.” Q.  What […]

08.08.22 | 10 min read
read more
Technology & Innovation
day one project
Article
2022 Bioautomation Challenge: Investing in Automating Protein Engineering

2022 Bioautomation Challenge: Investing in Automating Protein EngineeringThomas Kalil, Chief Innovation Officer of Schmidt Futures, interviews biomedical engineer Erika DeBenedictis Schmidt Futures is supporting an initiative – the 2022 Bioautomation Challenge – to accelerate the adoption of automation by leading researchers in protein engineering. The Federation of American Scientists will act as the fiscal sponsor […]

02.11.22 | 6 min read
read more
Technology & Innovation
day one project
Article
Growing Innovative Companies to Scale: A Listening Session with Startups in Critical Industries

On September 16th, 2021, the Day One Project convened a closed-door listening session for interagency government leaders to hear from co-founders and supply-chain leaders of 10 startups in critical industries — bioeconomy, cleantech, semiconductor — about challenges and opportunities to scale their operations and improve resilience in the United States. The panel was moderated by Elisabeth Reynolds, Special Assistant […]

02.10.22 | 10 min read
read more
Technology & Innovation
day one project
Article
Session Readout: Rebuilding American Manufacturing

Our roundtable of senior leadership at the White House National Economic Council and U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services as well as a diversity of viewpoints across political ideologies from Breakthrough Energy, American Compass, MIT’s The Engine, and Employ America discussed competing with China on advanced manufacturing sectors (bioeconomic, semiconductor, quantum, etc.), supply chain resilience, […]

02.10.22 | 9 min read
read more
Technology & Innovation
day one project
Article
Interview with Erika DeBenedictis

2022 Bioautomation Challenge: Investing in Automating Protein EngineeringThomas Kalil, Chief Innovation Officer of Schmidt Futures, interviews biomedical engineer Erika DeBenedictis Schmidt Futures is supporting an initiative – the 2022 Bioautomation Challenge – to accelerate the adoption of automation by leading researchers in protein engineering. The Federation of American Scientists will act as the fiscal sponsor […]

02.02.22 | 6 min read
read more
Technology & Innovation
day one project
Article
An interview with Martin Borch Jensen, Co-founder of Gordian Biotechnology

Recently, I caught up with Martin Borch Jensen, the Chief Science Officer of the biotech company Gordian Biotechnology.  Gordian is a therapeutics company focused on the diseases of aging. ​Martin did his Ph.D. in the biology of aging, received a prestigious NIH award to jumpstart an academic career, but decided to return the grant to launch […]

02.02.22 | 8 min read
read more
Nuclear Weapons
Article
Biden, You Should Be Aware That Your Submarine Deal Has Costs

For more than a decade, Washington has struggled to prioritize what it calls great power competition with China — a contest for military and political dominance. President Biden has been working hard to make the pivot to Asia that his two predecessors never quite managed. The landmark defense pact with Australia and Britain, AUKUS, that […]

09.30.21 | 1 min read
read more
Science Policy
Article
Why and How Faculty Should Participate in U.S. Policy Making

If the U.S. Congress is to produce sound policies that benefit the public good, science and technology faculty members must become active participants in the American policy-making process. One key element of that process is congressional hearings: public forums where members of Congress question witnesses, learn about pressing issues, develop policy initiatives and conduct oversight of […]

08.17.21 | 1 min read
read more