News by Subject Business & Economics

As the threats of climate change and economic instability loom large, public energy investment can seem like roll of the dice. Now, new research has analyzed scientific publications to identify the 'good bets' for governments committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions even in the face of growing constraints on public R&D budgets.

In medical diagnostics, the importance of genetic code assays is growing day by day and modern molecular biology could not do without it. Current DNA analysis techniques, however, are far from perfect. Working on a record high speed genetic research tool Curiosity Diagnostics, a spin-off company of IPC PAS and part of the Scope Fluidics group, has developed a new method of DNA analysis, combining the key advantages of the two currently most used methods.

Young scientists from colleges and universities across the United States will arrive on Capitol Hill on Thursday to talk with senators and representatives about the value of biomedical research.

A new paper co-authored by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health's Bhaven Sampat, PhD, shows that 30 percent of all NIH-funded grants produce research that is cited by a private-sector patent. The publicly-funded research creates knowledge that links to private companies' efforts to develop drugs, medical devices, and other patented biomedical products.

Research grants issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) contribute to a significant number of private-sector patents in biomedicine, according to a new study co-authored by an MIT professor. The study, published in the journal Science, examines 27 years of data and finds that 31 percent of NIH grants, which are publicly funded, produce articles that are later cited by patents in the biomedical sector.

Are powerful, well-to-do people more charitable? It depends. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, wealthier people are more likely to donate to charity if they endorse social inequality while less wealthy people are more likely to make donations if they endorse greater equality.

We become more generous in relation to donating money for, e.g., emergency aid via email and text messages if we do not feel (too) pressured to donate right away. But deadlines in themselves do not make more people donate money.

When seed funding for start-up companies comes from the universities where the technologies have been developed, benefits go well beyond the money necessary to conduct business. Additional benefits for the institution and community include expanded funding opportunities, hiring and retention of top entrepreneurial faculty, goal setting, entrepreneur development, economic development, and university engagement.