Social Sciences

Berkeley Social Sciences Strategic Plan

Following more than a year of consultation, the Social Science Dean’s Office has identified a series of priorities that will guide us over the next five to seven years. On campus, we will engage our diverse student populations, both undergraduate and graduate. We will continue to ensure opportunities for them to develop analytical skills, preparing them to be honest and ethical members of society– while also preparing them for the twenty-first century workplace. We will continue supporting real innovation through social science research. More than ever before, we will seek to share our...

Cognitive Science students pitch AI college counseling, productivity tools to investors

June 24, 2026

From AI-powered social media content creation to college access platforms, cognitive science student entrepreneurs pitched their startups to potential investors at the Berkeley Accelerator & Startup Incubator in Cognitive Science (BASICS) Spring Pitch Day.

Students presented ventures developed through the BASICS course to a panel of investors and startup experts including Erik Leklem, regional operations director at the Institute for Security Governance; Oguzhan Aygoren, director of the Institute for Business Innovation at the UC Berkeley...

What can AI learn from children?

October 14, 2026

AI models are always hungry for vast amounts of information, so it can learn how to give us human-like responses. For example, OpenAI’s GPT-3 trained on 570 gigabytes of text, or roughly 225 billion words.

But children and babies, however, do not require an enormous pool of information to learn how language works. They listen and try things like imitating the sounds of people around them – a different way of learning that’s more efficient and consumes much less energy.

Is it possible for AI to learn more like young...

How do Californians tolerate extreme inequality?

May 29, 2026

The 136 conversations took place in roughly the same way: Pleasantries would be exchanged, a recorder started, then UC Berkeley researchers asked middle-class Californians to dig deep. Who deserves government assistance? What values do you hope to instill in your children? What do you think about undocumented immigration? What is the American dream, exactly?

Those wide-ranging interviews form the basis of aself-scrutinizing new book from Berkeley professors G. Cristina Mora and...

Why trying too hard to be happy might actually make you less happy

May 28, 2026

Trying to be happy can sometimes have the opposite effect.

A new review of previous psychology research, titled “The pursuit of happiness: pitfalls and promises,” by Iris Mauss, a UC Berkeley psychology professor, and Brett Ford, a University of Toronto psychology professor and Berkeley psychology alumna, explores this happiness paradox. The researchers examined findings from 20 years of research on the...

Why UC Berkeley Economist Gabriel Zucman wants a 2% billionaire tax

June 18, 2026

Billionaire wealth has reached historic highs — and so has their power. UC Berkeley and Paris School of Economics Professor Gabriel Zucman, a world-renowned expert on wealth inequality and global tax evasion, warns that this growing concentration of extreme wealth is undermining democracy and allowing the ultra-rich to wield outsized influence over politics and society.

In his new book, “We Need to Tax Billionaires...

Why California’s electricity bills keep climbing

August 14, 2026

Flipping on the lights, plugging in a phone or turning on the air conditioner are everyday routines that most Californians rarely think twice about — until the monthly utility bill arrives. Over the past several years, electricity has become one of the fastest-growing household expenses across the state, leaving residents wondering why costs have risen so dramatically as California doubles down on clean energy goals.

It’s tempting to point to a single culprit: Some blame renewable energy, while others point to regulations or inflation. However...

Does misinformation on Facebook and Instagram change what you believe?

July 29, 2026

For years, social media companies have faced pressure from users and government watchdogs to stop misinformation from distorting elections, deepening political divisions and undermining Americans’ trust in institutions.

But what if dramatically reducing people’s exposure to unreliable sources that frequently spread misinformation doesn’t actually change what they believe?

UC Berkeley Political Science Ph.D. student Olivier Bergeron-Boutin tested that question on Facebook and Instagram during the 2020 presidential...

Why some researchers choose not to share their work openly

July 30, 2026

Open-access publishing was supposed to make knowledge available to everyone. But a new UC Berkeley study suggests that some of the scholars whose research could most benefit public conversations about race, gender and inequality are less likely to share their work through open-access channels.

The new study, which was published in Gender & Society, is titled “Sharing Knowledge Openly: Author Gender, Race/Ethnicity,...

New UC Berkeley study links deep-sleep loss to Alzheimer’s-related protein buildup

September 15, 2026
As tau builds up in our brains, non-REM brain waves necessary for memory formation become erratic.