The projects address a variety of issues, including exploration of global patterns of Creative Commons license use; the impact of prison phone service provider contracts on inmates' families; networking possibilities for media advocacy groups in South Asia; and technical and policy guidelines for a new, more broadly defined 'network neutrality'.

Small Grants Winners

• 'Assessing the Commons: Social Metrics for the New Media Landscape'

  Primary Investigator: Giorgos Cheliotis, National University of Singapore
  Partnering Organization: Creative Commons (CC)

• 'Community Connect: A Forum for Civic Participation’

  Primary Investigators: Lana Rakow and Diana Nastasia, University of North Dakota
  Partnering Organization: Center for Community Engagement 

• 'Mapping Media Advocacy in South Asia’

  Primary Investigator: Vibodh Parthasarathi, Centre for Culture, Media & Governance (CCMG), Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 
  Partnering Organization: Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF)

• 'Prison Phone Service Provider Contracts, Kickbacks and Fiscal Impact on Prisoners’ Families’ 

  Primary Investigator: Steven Jackson, University of Michigan
  Partnering Organization: Prison Legal News (PLN)

• ‘Revitalizing a Media Reform Movement in Canada: Survey and Workshop’ 

  Primary Investigator: Robert A. Hackett, Simon Fraser University
  Partnering Organizations: World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) and Campaign for Democratic Media (CDM)

New Research Bounties

• ‘A Strategy, Acquisition, and Revenue Model of Evangelical Radio Networks’

  Proposing Organization: Prometheus Radio Project
  Primary Investigators: Colleen Connolly-Ahern and Amit Schejter, Penn State University
  Bounty collected: $7,500

• ‘New Network Neutrality: Toward a Stronger Account of Internet Freedom’

  Proposing Organization: Open Technology Initiative (OTI) of the New America Foundation
  Primary Investigators: Andrew M. Odlyzko, University of Minnesota; Sascha Meinrath and Victor Pickard, NAF; and Michael Weisman, Media Access Project
  Bounty collected: $7,500

Since 2005, the Necessary Knowledge for a Democratic Public Sphere program of the Social Science Research Council has awarded 44 Collaborative Grants via an open competition selection process. Grant selection is conducted by an external review committee, with representation from academic and advocacy communities. Research Bounties allow advocacy groups, foundations and trade associations to submit their own calls for research, which become invitations for academic collaboration.

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