University of Texas at Austin

The Center for Media Engagement, housed in the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin, researches, develops, and tests innovations in how newsrooms can better present news in a rapidly changing digital age. The center works to help news organizations make decisions based on business and democratic considerations that are informed by social-scientific research. The center aims to help news audiences gain information, appreciate diverse views, and become more engaged in the political process.

A grant to the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin will continue to support the development of an interdisciplinary, integrated cybersecurity studies program. It will pioneer new educational approaches that integrate insights from computer science, engineering, law, business administration, and public policy (including security studies and civil liberties) into a unified academic program that (a) develops model curricula and educational materials designed for open online access (targeting students as well as law professors and other professional educators) and (b) produces policy-relevant research that draws on similar interdisciplinary perspectives. (Strategy: Talent Pipeline)

Project SANA — the Self-Managed Abortion Needs Assessment Project — at the University of Texas at Austin brings together a diverse group of researchers to examine the “who, what, and why” of self-managed medication abortion in the United States. While self-management has risen to prominence in the past year due to the implementation of state-level abortion bans, it was prevalent prior to the Dobbs decision because many in the U.S., and particularly people with low incomes and people of color, the right to choose abortion was already a right that existed on paper only. Project SANA’s research has consistently shown that when states implement restrictive abortion policies and move in-clinic care further out of reach, demand for self-managed abortion increases. (Strategy: U.S. Reproductive Equity)