Research
-
Impact of rewards on student attendance, performance aim of new Vanderbilt study
The impact of recognition and rewards on student attendance and performance in afterschool programs is the aim of a new study being launched by the National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University and uBoost, a company that manages student reward programs. Read MoreSep 21, 2009
-
Terrorist warnings affect political attitudes, says Vanderbilt researcher
When citizens in the United States and Mexico are confronted by terrorist threats, they cope in ways that can put significant stresses on the nations' democracies, according to research by political scientists at Vanderbilt and Claremont. Read MoreSep 1, 2009
-
Fisk/Vanderbilt program receives $3.7 million to increase minority Ph.D.s in the physical sciences
A unique collaboration between Fisk and Vanderbilt universities that is poised to become the nation's top source of Ph.D.s in physics and astronomy awarded to underrepresented minorities has received a major boost from three federal grants totaling $3.7 million. Read MoreAug 27, 2009
-
Obama’s appointees: some strong, some not, Vanderbilt expert finds
A Vanderbilt University political scientist's study of President Obama's appointments during his first six months in office finds some agencies are receiving significantly more qualified presidential appointees than others. Read MoreAug 25, 2009
-
Teacher-designed performance pay programs offer smaller incentives to more teachers
Performance pay programs designed by teachers, for teachers have been found to offer small incentives to a large number of teachers, new research indicates. Read MoreAug 20, 2009
-
Vanderbilt chemist receives grant to develop animal testing alternative
Vanderbilt chemist David Cliffel has received a grant from the Alternatives Research & Development Foundation to assess the potential of an advanced cell monitoring system for reducing the use of animals in toxicity testing. Read MoreAug 13, 2009
-
Why Obama’s birth certificate issue won’t go away: Vanderbilt expert
The controversy over President Obama's birth certificate will not go away as long as he refuses to release sealed records, including the original birth certificate, according to Carol Swain, professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University. Read MoreJul 30, 2009
-
Vanderbilt astronomer receives $50,000 fellowship to further racial equality
Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Keivan G. Stassun has been awarded a $50,000 fellowship from the Fletcher Foundation to support his efforts to increase the number of underrepresented minorities pursuing scientific careers. Read MoreJul 23, 2009
-
Legalizing a federal crime: how states could win the war over marijuana
Even though it's against federal law to grow, sell or possess marijuana, 13 states have recently legalized medical use of the drug. Now California is contemplating taking the next step – legalizing marijuana outright – in the hope that taxing marijuana sales could help ease the state's latest budget crisis. Vanderbilt University Law School professor Robert Mikos, an expert on federalism issues, examined the conflict between state and federal drug laws in a new paper. Read MoreJul 22, 2009
-
Lotteries: From big bucks to bankruptcy
In this tough economy, the allure of buying lottery tickets seems like a pretty enticing way to erase financial problems. But new research from Vanderbilt Law School found that people who won between $50,000 and $150,000 did not solve their debt problems and only postponed bankruptcy. Read MoreJul 7, 2009
-
Ultra-sensitive detector promises improved treatment of viral respiratory infections
A Vanderbilt chemist and a biomedical engineer have teamed up to develop a respiratory virus detector that is sensitive enough to detect an infection at an early stage, takes only a few minutes to return a result and is simple enough to be performed in a pediatrician's office. Read MoreJun 26, 2009
-
TIPSHEET: Vanderbilt experts give insight on Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination; Video included
Will Judge Sonia Sotomayor become the next U.S. Supreme Court justice? Vanderbilt faculty Tracey George, Terry Mahoney and Brian Fitzpatrick provide expert insight and commentary. Read MoreJun 25, 2009
-
Water snake with a unique angle: It startles fish in fashion that causes them to flee into its jaws
Forget the old folk tales about snakes hypnotizing their prey. The tentacled snake from South East Asia has developed a more effective technique. The small water snake has found a way to startle its prey so that the fish turn toward the snake's head to flee instead of turning away. In addition, the fish's reaction is so predictable that the snake actually aims its strike at the position where the fish's head will be instead of tracking its movement. Read MoreJun 18, 2009
-
Video: Tentacled snake in action
Watch video of the tentacled snake using a body fake to trick fish into fleeing toward the snake\'s head. Read MoreJun 18, 2009
-
Firms can lose big when politicians die unexpectedly
When a homegrown politician dies suddenly, local companies show the loss of a valuable connection immediately in their share prices, according to research from the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management. Read MoreJun 16, 2009
-
Vanderbilt doctors and software engineers pioneer an advanced sepsis detection and management system
Jason Martin, a fellow in allergy, pulmonary and critical care medicine, is part of an interdisciplinary team at Vanderbilt University that has come up with a high-tech approach to combat this deadly illness, which is one of the top 10 causes of death in the United States and kills more than half a million people worldwide every year. Read MoreJun 15, 2009
-
VU sociologists analyze American music forms and their changes over time
Vanderbilt sociologists Jennifer Lena and Richard Peterson analyzed 60 samples of American music and found that each one --over time -- took on forms that were roughly comparable during their developmental sequences. The professors call these four distinct genre types Avant-garde, Scene-based, Industry-based and Traditionalist. "Classification as Culture: Types and Trajectories of Music Genres" has been published in the American Sociological Review. Read MoreMay 28, 2009
-
Conventional views on liberalism and Black Power challenged by VU professor
Black Power's complex relationship with liberalism during the civil rights era and the surprising consequences of that interaction are explored in Devin Fergus' book Liberalism, Black Power, and the Making of American Politics, 1965-1980. Read MoreMay 22, 2009
-
Politics and the changing face of the Supreme and appellate courts
Empirical research from Vanderbilt professor of law and political science Tracey George shows how the United States court system, especially the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, could dramatically change under the Obama Administration. Read MoreMay 21, 2009
-
Step-by-step guide to handling anti-social behavior at school published
Many schools across the nation struggle in their efforts to deal with challenging behaviors. A new book co-authored by Kathleen Lane, associate professor of special education at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of education and human development, aims to help schools develop a comprehensive strategy to identify and help students with behavior issues before violence erupts. Read MoreMay 19, 2009