Shinobu Kitayama Named New Director of the Research Center for Group Dynamics
July 15, 2026
The Institute for Social Research has announced that Shinobu Kitayama will serve as the next director of the Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD), one of the nation’s premier research centers for the study of social and behavioral science.Kitayama, the Robert B. Zajonc Collegiate...
Shinobu Kitayama to serve as next director of RCGD
July 9, 2026
ANN ARBOR — Shinobu Kitayama will serve as the next director of the Institute for Social Research’s (ISR) Research Center for Group Dynamics.Kitayama is the Robert B. Zajonc Collegiate Professor of Psychology and director of the Culture & Cognition program at the University of...
From Alaska to Michigan: Translating research into practical community tools
June 9, 2026
For decades, our national approach to substance use prevention was delivered as a lecture and focused on abstinence: âJust Say No.â But as any parent or researcher can tell you, the most vital lessons arenât delivered from a podium; they are shared in small, sometimes messy, honest moments by...
ISR welcomes the 2026 Junior Professional Researcher cohort
May 26, 2026
ANN ARBOR — Six young researchers will join the Institute for Social Research as the 2026 Junior Professional Research Researcher cohort this summer. Over the next two years, these six researchers will embed in projects throughout ISR, sharpening their research skills and building key...
U-M research spending generates $164M for Michigan businesses
May 11, 2026
University of Michigan federal grants supported more than 16,000 jobs and generated nearly $396 million in research-related spending nationwide in fiscal year 2025.According to a recent report produced by the Institute for Research on Innovation and Science, spending reached vendors in...
AI analysis of police body-camera footage raises Constitutional concerns, racial disparities
April 30, 2026
ANN ARBOR—Thousands of officer-worn camera recordings found evidence of underreported police stops, troubling racial disparities in officer interactions, and widespread use of unclear language during consent searches, a new study shows.Researchers at the University of Michigan, University of...
Family-led firearm strategy goes âbeyond the screenâ to curb suicide risk
April 17, 2026
ANN ARBOR—A family-centered approach to firearm safety can change how guns are kept in homes and may offer a new path to reducing suicide risk.A new University of Michigan study, published in Injury Prevention, tested a method called the Family Safety Net in Alaska, which shifts suicide...
Convoys of Caregiving: Arab American Families Living with Dementia
April 8, 2026
Listen to the Michigan Medicine podcast, Minding Memory, interview with Kristine Ajrouch, PhDJump to TranscriptIn this episode, Matt & Lauren speak with Kristine Ajrouch, PhD – a new member of our CAPRA leadership team. Kristine is a Research Professor at the Institute...
How Next Generation Initiative funds helped Bill Chopik fund a key study and change his career trajectory
March 12, 2026
ANN ARBOR â Nearing the end of his time in graduate school at the University of Michigan, Bill Chopik found himself in an all-too-common situation: he was out of money. Money can be a perpetual source of frustration for students, but Chopikâs needs went beyond what youâd typically expect...
The Research Center for Group Dynamics & the Origins of Network Analysis
February 27, 2026
Postwar Researchers at U-M made groundbreaking discoveries around how relationships work that continue to help us understand society today“A told B, and B told C, I’ll meet you at the top of a coconut tree.” The opening lines of a classic children’s verse deliver a...
