Research Centers & Projects
Featured Research News
Meet the Social Sciences Faculty
- Richard N. Merkin Professor of Mathematical Finance
Jakša Cvitanić
We create an environment in which interdisciplinary, original research involving the social sciences and quantitative fields can thrive. It boils down to two things, which are education and research. There are not many places like Caltech where students can learn from experts from so many different fields in a natural way."
- Rea A. and Lela G. Axline Professor of Business Economics; Director, Ronald and Maxine Linde Institute of Economic and Management Sciences
Jean-Laurent Rosenthal
We have to restore people's understanding that science and engineering solve a lot of social problems, while also sensitizing scientists and engineers to the reality that their solutions must find traction within societal structures that decide what succeeds and what fails.
- Professor of Political Science
Alexander V. Hirsch
There are other institutions that are wonderful at teaching and wonderful at research. But at Caltech, it seems to me that to be wonderful at teaching means that you teach the students what the frontier of research is—that teaching and research are not different things."
- Bren Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Biology
Ralph Adolphs
Caltech's small size really fosters interdisciplinary science. I exchange ideas with people from different fields when walking between my lab and my office, and I often run late to lunch at the Athenaeum because I catch up with so many students and faculty who I run into along the way."
- Rea A. and Lela G. Axline Professor of Economics
Marina Agranov
There are good reasons to do experiments. Applying theories in the real world before testing them, and ruining someone’s real life, seems too high a cost."
- Assistant Professor of Political Science
Gabriel Lopez-Moctezuma
Caltech pioneered the use of mathematical models to explain political behavior, including voting and bargaining. The research I do would not be possible without these early contributions."
- Robert Kirby Professor of Behavioral Economics; T&C Chen Center for Social and Decision Neuroscience Leadership Chair; Director, T&C Chen Center for Social and Decision Neuroscience
Colin F. Camerer
One of the hallmarks of Caltech's HSS division, besides scientific excellence, is that people here wander and end up working on things in very unusual combinations."
- Kay Sugahara Professor of Social Sciences and Statistics
Jonathan N. Katz
Money is very important in politics, but all the previous studies about campaign finance were restricted to relatively large donors, leading to a skewed picture of this important political activity. Given changes in technology, smaller donors are becoming both more numerous and important."
- Professor of Political Science
Michael Gibilisco
Here, political scientists are right next door to economists and right next door to neuroscientists. We often tackle similar problems, like collective decision making, but from very different approaches."
- Professor of Economics; William H. Hurt Scholar
Kirby Nielsen
Experiments are starting to get incorporated into mainstream economics but are still a relatively new tool. Caltech has been a powerhouse in experimental economics from the beginning, and it's so exciting to join the tradition."
