April 2008

In 2005, the Iranian Studies Group at MIT undertook a comprehensive survey of ranian-American community characteristics to better understand what it means to be Iranian-American. In this report, we present the variables used in the analysis, their statistics, and their correlation table. Afterwards, we focus on a few interesting questions regarding the characteristics of the Iranian American community, in particular, child education patterns

November 2006

Human embryonic stem (hES) cells may potentially revolutionize biomedicine through their use as a renewable source of cells for regenerative medicine. However, despite much promise the use and derivation of these cells in many countries is ethically challenging. Interestingly, stem cell research in Iran's Royan Institute is thriving despite many challenges and has led to the generation of novel hES cell lines. Unfortunately, Iranian scientists still have many difficulties to overcome such as inconsistent funding opportunities, sanctions which prevent the import of materials and supplies. This report proposes that the implementation of a governmental agency to promote the development of science as well as improved international relations could potentially eradicate these hurdles and aid in the development of stem cell science in Iran.

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August 2006

This fact sheet summarizes the statistical indicators of Iranian students and scholars in Science and Engineering in the U.S. and Canada.

February 2006

Orkut.com is an online personal networking service, where thousands of people from around the world shares their personal interests and construct a network of friends. Iran is the third country in terms of the number of Iranians connected to this social network. Most of Iranians connected to this site are among youth under age 30. This project was initiated to collect some of the information available on Orkut about Iranians youth interests and do some statistical analysis on the data. The data was randomly collected from 237 individuals.

October 2005

In this research we use interview data with individuals who have returned to Iran after completion of their studies in the west, to learn about challenges and promises of returning to Iran. The aim of this report is to provide better information for those who want to make a decision about their prospects of return to homeland, and to help them hedge against predictable challenges. Presentation (Farsi)

July 2005

A presentation on the history of women's movements in Iran.

June 2005

The quantity and scope of activity of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have been growing across the world and specifically inside Iran. However, the information about their structure, challenges, and successful practices is not well known inside Iran. This report compiles a brief summary of what NGOs are, how they are organized, and what are their challenges, and offers further resources for learning.

December 2004

This fact-sheet briefly discusses the legal and historical aspects of the usage of "Persian Gulf" name.

June 2004

This short report surveys the impact of economic sanctions on Iran, mainly on development of Iranian civic society. The presentation discusses further details on some of the economic results of sanctions.
Presentation

June 2004

Over several years Dr. Hooshang Chehabi has collected a large bibliographic data-base of academic research, books, and articles on Iran. This database is unique in including book-chapters and books that are not included in commercial data-bases, and therefore provides a very valuable resource for researchers around the world.

February 2004

Using the data from the U.S. Census 2000, this report summarizes the socio-economic characteristics of the Iranian-American community.

January 2004

Earthquakes continue to take a great toll on Iran. Better disaster management strategies are necessary to reduce the human and financial costs of these natural events. This reports is an attempt to summarize the main ideas in the literature on earthquake disaster management and make it more accessible to public and policy-makers.

December 2003

A brief fact-sheet on the economic and educational status of Iranian-Americans, based on the U.S. censuses.

November 2003

Given the increasing challenges faced by the Iranian-American community, there is a gap between the desired level of civic participation and the capacity to motivate and organize such involvement within this community. This study is an attempt to provide the Iranian-American community with a perspective of why such participation is important and what are some first steps to encourage such participation. The report is presented in two main sections and four appendices. In the first section, we discuss why it is both necessary and beneficial for Iranian Americans to get involved in the political process. In the second section, we discuss some strategies and planning steps that need to be considered for increasing the chances of success in this campaign.