Grinnell College to award 2018 Grinnell Prize to Mélanie Marcel on Oct. 2
Grinnell Prize Week events to explore issues of science, innovation and social impact
GRINNELL, Iowa — On Tuesday, Oct. 3, Grinnell College President Raynard S. Kington will award the $100,000 Grinnell College Innovator for Social Justice Prize of to Mélanie Marcel, founder and CEO of SoScience. Based in France, SoScience brings together scientists and social entrepreneurs around the world to collaborate on research to solve global challenges.
In her work as a laboratory scientist, Marcel realized researchers most often conduct projects for which they can secure corporate or government funding, rather than projects that address community or environmental needs. Marcel founded SoScience to disrupt this system and create a new model for driving research. SoScience’s mission is to “engage scientists in solving societal challenges across the globe by creating collaborations with social entrepreneurs and advocating a research approach focused on social impact.”
Throughout Grinnell Prize Week, Oct. 2–4, students, faculty, staff, and the public will have the opportunity to interact with Marcel and learn about developing responsible research and innovation projects, interdisciplinary social entrepreneurship and collaboration between scientists and social entrepreneurs.
The following events are free and open to everyone:
Tuesday, Oct. 2
11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center, Room 101, 1115 Eighth Ave., Grinnell
Grinnell Prize Awards Ceremony and Keynote by Prize Winner Mélanie Marcel
Lunch will be provided.
4:15–6 p.m.
Rosenfield Center, Room 101
Workshop with Mélanie Marcel
Using Science for Good: A New Field with its Own Actors and Methodologies
We are constantly bombarded with news of scientific breakthroughs and controversies. How do we support socially-just research and development? How can we intentionally construct research and innovation projects that are built to bring about positive social change? Who are the players in this field and what interdisciplinary links can be made to social entrepreneurship? This skill-building workshop will offer an overview of this emerging interdisciplinary field and present tools you can use to develop responsible research and innovation projects. RSVP to career@grinnell.edu.
Wednesday, Oct. 3
7:30–9 p.m.
Rosenfield Center, Room 209
Workshop with Mélanie Marcel
Facilitating Collaborations Between Scientists and Social Entrepreneurs and Grassroots Change Agents
Marcel will present concrete examples, strategies, and tools designed and used by SoScience. In addition, participants in SoScience’s collaborative programs will describe their experiences and outcomes. RSVP to career@grinnell.edu.
Thursday, Oct. 4
11:15 a.m.–1 p.m.
Noyce Science Center, Room 1023, 1116 Eighth Ave., Grinnell
Panel Discussion: Careers Connecting Science and the Social Good
Panelists are Grinnell College alumni and faculty who are working in careers that use science to positively impact change. They will discuss their collaborative work, how their careers have evolved, and how to go about entering similar fields. Lunch will be provided.
Grinnell College welcomes the participation of people with disabilities. Information about parking and accessibility is available on the college’s website: www.grinnell.edu. Accommodation requests may be made to Conference Operations at 641-269-3235 or calendar@grinnell.edu.
The college welcomes minors at all age-appropriate public events and for informal visits, with the understanding that a parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult assumes full responsibility for their child’s safety and behavior during such visits or events. In these cases, the college expects that an adult responsible for the visiting child takes measures to ensure the child’s safety and sees that the child complies with directions of college personnel. Grinnell College is not responsible for supervision of minors on campus.
