Achievement

Our first research achievement relates to culture and organizations. The Center for the Study of Complex Systems received two new federal grants this year, in part, due to the interdisciplinary teamwork made possible by our IGERT. The Army Research Office of the Dept. of Defense is supporting a project called "Games Theory, Culture and Instutional Path Dependence." We were invited to submit this proposal as a result of our previous research on culture funded by the U.S. Air Force (and reported in our 2010 survey). Our IGERT trainees are helping to construct mathematical and computational models of the relationship between cultural factors and institutional performance. This research has implications for the design and choice of restoration programs after military interventions or government upheavals. The second award is from NSF to support a project called "Creating Wise Crowds: Diversity Maintenance Through Incentives." Our IGERT trainees are also assisting on this project.