HKS receives $600,000 from William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The Harvard Decision Science Laboratory (HDSL), a cross-faculty research facility based at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), has received a three-year, $600,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to support the lab’s scientific research in human judgment and decision making.

“To receive such a major grant at this early stage is an enormous boost, and a gratifying acknowledgment of early success,” says Jennifer Lerner, lab faculty director and professor of public policy and management. “This support helps catalyze the lab’s emergence as a hub for a growing community of researchers in decision science at Harvard.”

HDSL is a world-class biobehavioral research facility featuring an innovative combination of approaches from psychology, economics, and neuroscience. It provides a model for a new type of research center, serving as a cross-disciplinary home for Harvard students and faculty to collaborate on studies examining judgment and choice.

“I see terrific potential in the Decision Science Lab’s unique approach and University-wide focus,” says David T. Ellwood, HKS dean and Scott Black Professor of Political Economy. “Through a better understanding of the factors behind decision-making processes, we can help ensure that leaders make the most reasonable decisions in day-to-day and crisis situations.”