Media Forensics Hub requests proposals for seed grant funding

The Watt Family Innovation Center’s Media Forensics Hub is soliciting funding proposals from Clemson University faculty interested in better understanding digital disinformation, deception, and manipulation. 

With the assistance of the James L. and John S. Knight Foundation, the Media Forensics Hub is offering two to four grants to individuals or teams with a budget between $10,000 and $20,000 per project. The Media Forensics Hub is interdisciplinary in nature and proposals are welcome from all colleges and disciplines.   

Suggested topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Understanding the spread of mis and disinformation through the media ecosystem
• Building a society more resilient to digital deception, fraud, and/or inauthenticity
• Constructing and testing tools to study digital deception, fraud, and/or inauthenticity
• Exploring the human psychology underpinning digital deception, fraud, and/or inauthenticity
• Building theory related to digital deception, fraud, and/or inauthenticity
• Addressing public policy related to digital deception, fraud, and/or inauthenticity

Proposals should include the following:

1. Short (two page) project narrative addressing the problem, proposed method, desired outcomes, and project timeline. This narrative will also include the role of each project team member.

2. Detailed budget

3. Curriculum Vitae for each project team member

All funded projects will be expected to present findings at the Media Forensics Hub’s annual “April Fools” (Monday, April 1, 2024) research symposium. 

Proposals are due no later than Friday, September 15, 2023, by 4:30 pm and should be directed to Rose Ellen Davis-Gross (regross@clemson.edu).

Questions or concerns prior to submission should be directed to Davis-Gross (regross@clemson.edu).

About the Media Forensics Hub

The Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University builds society’s capacity to understand the context, origins, and impact of modern media. As part of the Watt Family Innovation Center, the Hub connects scientific expertise with practical application: faculty with students, academics with practitioners, social scientists with engineers, experts with the public, and South Carolina with the world.

“Media Forensics” means the development and application of state-of-the-art techniques to broaden and deepen the understanding of all media types, while working to increase the capacity of students and community members to apply them. The Hub accomplishes this by spanning multiple disciplines and approaches, from history and case studies, to AI and machine learning, to experiments in the lab and the field.