EurekAlert! News by Subject: Social & Behavior - News by Subject: Social & Behavior

Social & Behavior

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 28-Jun-2025 08:10 ET (28-Jun-2025 12:10 GMT/UTC)

Virtual reality pilot program shows promise for preventing substance misuse and violence among

George Mason University

New research from Kenneth Griffin, a professor in the Department of Global and Community Health, shows that the virtual reality (VR) program helps students handle complex social situations. This success has led to a new research grant to continue the study.

Journal: Health Informatics Journal
Funder: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Clay Klein named as 2025 recipient of Nick Cobb Memorial Scholarship

SPIE--International Society for Optics and Photonics
Grant and Award Announcement

Clay Klein has been announced as the 2025 recipient of the $10,000 Nick Cobb Memorial Scholarship by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and Siemens EDA — formally Mentor, a Siemens company — for potential contributions to advanced lithography or a related field. Klein will also be honored during 2025’s SPIE Advanced Lithography + Patterning conference.

The annual Nick Cobb scholarship recognizes an exemplary graduate student working in the field of lithography for semiconductor manufacturing. The award honors the memory of Nick Cobb, who was an SPIE Senior Member and chief engineer at Mentor. His groundbreaking contributions enabled optical and process proximity correction for integrated circuit manufacturing. Originally funded for three years for the period ending in 2021, the Nick Cobb Memorial Scholarship partnership has been extended and is now scheduled to be awarded through 2027.

Ancient artifacts unearthed in Iraq shed light on hidden history of Mesopotamia

University of Central Florida
Reports and Proceedings

Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, an associate professor of history at UCF, and a team of researchers made the new discoveries during field work at the Bronze Age site of Kurd Qaburstan. The research provides insights into regional heritage and fills gaps in knowledge about how ancient humans lived and advanced.

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

Innovative partnership helps low-income tobacco users quit

University of California - San Diego
Peer-Reviewed Publication

By connecting with local 211 agencies, a UC San Diego-operated quitline was able to reach thousands of low-income tobacco users.

Journal: Nicotine & Tobacco Research

Clark University launches School Of Climate, Environment, and Society and names inaugural dean

Clark University
Business Announcement

In a vital effort to address our planet’s most profound and urgent challenges through a distinctive lens, Clark University has announced the establishment of the School of Climate, Environment, and Society, to open in Fall 2025.

The school elevates Clark’s historic academic strengths and leading-edge research to embolden an urgently needed response to climate change and related ecological and social crises. To address these challenges, society needs a better way of understanding our world. Clark programs will advance critical systems thinking that integrates learning from across traditional disciplines like economics, political and social sciences, natural sciences, data sciences, the humanities, and business — empowering students and faculty to pursue innovative and human-focused approaches to global problems on a local, regional, and planetary scale.

New study explores how tightness and looseness shape global entrepreneurship

Strategic Management Society
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study by researchers Valentina A. Assenova and Raphael Amit from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, reveals how cultural tightness and looseness significantly influence entrepreneurial activity worldwide. Published in the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, the research investigates why some nations and regions produce more startups than others, offering a fresh perspective on the intersection of culture and entrepreneurship.

Drawing on data from 156 nations and 50 U.S. states, the study introduces cultural tightness-looseness (CTL) as a pivotal factor shaping entrepreneurial ecosystems. CTL measures the strength and enforcement of social norms—with tighter cultures exhibiting strict adherence to rules and looser cultures favoring flexibility and tolerance for deviation. The research found that cultural looseness explains 56% of the variation in new firm formation rates across nations and 71% of the variation in new entrepreneur rates within U.S. states.

Journal: Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal

Tata Group and IISc partner to establish medical school to pioneer healthcare education and research

Indian Institute of Science (IISc)
Business Announcement

Tata Group and IISc partner to establish medical school to pioneer healthcare education and research