Michael McBride, economics associate professor, has received $489,000 in grant funding to outfit his newly launched Experimental Social Sciences Laboratory with state-of-the-art computer equipment and for initial experimental behavioral studies.

The Army Research Office has supplied a one-time, $149,000 award for equipment while the Office of Navy Research is supplying the remaining $340,000 for experimental studies through a subcontract with the University of Southern California. Experiments currently underway in the facility include research on how terrorist networks may form and why peace negotiations sometimes fail.

“Experimental methods are increasingly important in the social and behavioral sciences, in part because they help to unify research across many disciplines,” says McBride. “Our faculty researchers come from economics, logic and philosophy of science, political science and sociology, so we are really building on UCI’s interdisciplinary tradition.”

The lab is currently seeking out researchers interested in using the facility and students interested in participating in paid studies. For more information, visit /~essl/ or email essl@ss.uci.edu. 

Funding from the Office of Navy Research began in August and will run through August 2014.