Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy

Basic Quantitative Methods Placement Exam
2025-08-28 09:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
To register: Email Shiyu Ma at sm2758 [at] scarletmail.rutgers.edu by 5pm on August 21, 2025.
This closed-book exam is similar to the final exam for the Basic Quantitative Methods course. The exam will cover all chapters of the book listed below. You will need a non-graphing calculator and pen or pencil.
To prepare: Joseph F. Healey. Statistics: A Tool for Social Research. Wadsworth Cengage Learning 10th edition (or subsequent editions) . Please be advised that you need an active Rutgers Box Account to view the above link.
Exam format:

multiple choice and short answer questions that test your understanding of concepts, and
computational problems and interpretation of statistical output from STATA. Familiarity with any statistical software package should be sufficient to interpret the output.

At exam time, you will receive statistical tables (appendices A, B, C, and D from the 10th edition of the textbook) as well as a formula sheet with the formulas from the inside front cover of the textbook.

Intelligent Informatics @ Bloustein: AI AGENTS to the Rescue!? An Overview of the Opportunities, Risks and Economics of Agentic AI
2025-09-15 18:00 - 19:15 | Virtual
Rutgers Informatics Forum on Agentic Artificial Intelligence
This webinar will host an eminent expert on agentic AI, and will also provide insights into the advanced data science, informatics and AI education, and preparation needed for informatics, DS and AI jobs and careers.
Justin Trugman is Cofounder and Head of Technology at BetterFutureLabs, a venture studio focused on Multi-Agent Systems and the future of work. He was VP of Software Development and an early engineer at Caregility, worked at Google X’s Project Loon, and co-founded BlinkCDN and the non-profit SecureMeeting.
Facilitator: Professor Jim Samuel, Ph.D., Bloustein School, Rutgers University
PROGRAM

6:00 PM – Welcome and opening comments.
6:05 PM – Agentic AI Overview, Justin Trugman, Cofounder, Head of Technology, BetterFutureLabs

6:55 PM – MPI Studio on AI Agents and Generative AI, Prof. Samuel, Bloustein, Rutgers

7:00 PM – Career Discussion and Q&A on Agentic AI

Hosted by the Master of Public Informatics (MPI) program at Rutgers University
Special Thanks to our Collaborators:
Public Informatics Student Group, Journal of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, New Jersey Big Data Alliance, and The Rutgers Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (RAD) Collaboratory
REGISTER AT go.rutgers.edu/informaticsF25
Questions? Email informatics@ejb.rutgers.edu. Join the Intelligent Informatics forum on LinkedIn https://go.rutgers.edu/rutgersinfx

2025 Rutgers Robotics Workshop
2025-10-10 08:30 - 17:30 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
Please join us for the 5th annual Rutgers Robotics Workshop.
The workshop is held annually as part of the NSF National Research Traineeship SOCRATES (Socially Cognizant Robotics for a Technology-Enhanced Society) at Rutgers. It brings together faculty, students, and industry representatives and will feature both internal and external speakers, with a full day of invited talks, poster sessions, lightning talks, and demonstrations. Students will also present their robotics research during a dedicated poster session. A special alumni session will showcase lightning talks from graduates working across industries ranging from healthcare to venture capital. Several AI startups founded by Rutgers alumni will also be highlighted
The workshop is free. Registration is required at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rutgers-robotics-workshop-2025-tickets-1367545087169?aff=oddtdtcreator
Robotics Workshop Agenda:
8:30 – 9:00 Check – in 9:00 – 9:30 Introduction
9:30 – 10:30 Plenary Speaker, Dhruv Shah, Princeton University
10:30 – 10:45 Poster Spotlight Talks
10:45 – 11:45 Coffee break & Poster Session
11:45 – 12:30 SOCRATES Faculty Lightning Talks: Socially Cognizant Robotics in Action
Clinton Andrews, Kristin Dana, Kostas Bekris, Pernille Hemmer, Matthew Stone, Jacob Feldman
12:30 – 1:30 Networking Lunch
1:30 – 2:30 Industry/Alumni Lightning Talks: AI in industry
2:30 – 3:30 Student Talks (NRT fellows/trainees)
3:30 – 4:00 Keynote Speaker, Gabriela Oana Cula, Janssen Pharmaceutical
4:00 – 4:15 Walkover to Spring Street
4:15 – 5:00 Robot Demonstrations
5:00 – 5:30 Industry Consortium Discussion
For more information, visit https://robotics.rutgers.edu/#workshop

Careers: Planning, Policy, & Informatics Career Fair--In Person
2025-10-24 10:00 - 13:00 | Bloustein School, Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
For Urban Planning, Public Informatics, and Public Policy students. Engage with Bloustein alumni and employer partners who are seeking interns or full-time employees now or in the future. Learn more about their careers and the organizations in which they represent.
Registration coming soon!

Careers: Planning, Policy, & Informatics Career Fair--Virtual
2025-10-30 16:00 - 18:00 | Virtual

New Jersey Big Data Alliance Research Collaboration Forum
2025-11-07 08:30 - 14:30 | Institute for Quantitative Biomedicine Proteomics Building, 174 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, 08854
This event includes participation from leading Universities and educational institutions in NJ, and government and industry.
We’re thrilled to announce our keynote speakers:

Welcome: Professor Stephen K. Burley, President, NJBDA
Morning Keynote: Professor Dimitris Metaxas, Rutgers University
Final Keynote: Aaron Price, CEO, TechUnited

The theme for this Forum is Advancing AI Research, and this is a great opportunity to:

Present your latest or upcoming research through Lightning Talks – Signup Now!*
Lead a Research Round Table during the AI & Data Science Lunch – Signup Now!*
Connect and collaborate with peers across academia and industry
Learn about new grants and funding opportunities
Publish your research with JBDAI Journal: https://jbdai.org/

LEARN MORE: go.rutgers.edu/njbda
Please note that priority registration closes on October 14, 2025 – and seats are limited!
* Selected lightning talks (5 minutes each) and lunch table hosts will be informed via email by around 10/21/25. Presentation slides will be due by 10/31/2025.

HOSTS:

Professor Stephen K. Burley, President @ NJBDA; Interim Director, Rutgers Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (RAD) Collaboratory
Professor Jim Samuel, Vice-President – Research @ NJBDA; Director, Master of Public Informatics, Bloustein School, Rutgers University

In Collaboration with:
Rutgers Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (RAD) Collaboratory & Public Informatics @ Bloustein School, Rutgers University
https://radcollaboratory.rutgers.edu/
https://informatics.rutgers.edu/

Civic Engagement in an Era of Artificial Intelligence
2025-12-02 16:00 - 17:30 | Virtual
Renée Sieber is an associate professor at McGill University. Since she graduated from the Bloustein School, she has investigated the intersection of civic empowerment and computational technologies. She is best known for her research and practice on public participation geographic information systems and also has conducted research on participatory climate modeling. She currently researches civic engagement related to artificial intelligence. She co-hosts the monthly Al in Canadian Municipalities Community of Practice, now in its sixth year, where cities exchange best practices on Al use. She has collaborated
with numerous federal agencies and organizations in Canada on Al policy. She has advised on the design of two Al risk assessment tools and served on the IEEE working group on Al procurement. She sits on the executive boards of GIScience and Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management.
Artificial intelligence is sold as a miraculous cure to many of the ills of cities, one of which is a lack of civic (local) engagement. Al can summarize and translate civic participation and even synthesize participants if desired. Add to that, cities may be reluctant to engage citizens on Al-its deployment, impacts, and overall policy-because engagement supposedly slows Al adoption and because the tech contains all these contradictions. It’s opaque and can only be understood by data scientists. But it seems effortless to use, with chatbots and software libraries. Humans can and should be in the loop but autonomous agents will save cities time and money. On top of all of that, Al, especially generative Al, exerts an enormous impact on people’s lives so citizens should be involved. But governments exist in a FOMO (fear of missing out) world, where they feel the need to optimize with Al, less they miss their competitive advantage. This lecture will discuss these challenges and explore numerous ways that citizens can engage with cities on Al. It will also cover the dark side of Al with regard to civic engagement.
This talk draws on Dr. Sieber’s research at the intersection of tech and civic engagement. This interest developed in her dissertation with PhD supervisor Lyna Wiggins, who emphasized local adoption by planners of GIS, which at the time was hard! Throughout her career, she has been driven to investigate the potential for civic engagement using hard tech, especially as the discourse moves towards tech as the engine of innovation, for example in smart cities. In this she will draw on her six years co-hosting Al in Canadian Municipalities Community of Practice as well as 20+ years researching public participation GIS.
RSVP AT go.rutgers.edu/meck2025
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The Stuart Meck Distinguished Speaker Series on Land Use Law and Affordable Housing was established in 2018 by the family of the late Stuart Meck, Associate Research Professor and director of the Center for Planning Practice at the Bloustein School, and a professional planner for more than 45 years. The series highlights experts and practitioners of planning and policy development, offering diverse insight into topics under public and academic debate. This year’s lecture is dedicated to the memory of Lyna L. Wiggins, a longtime professor and program director in Rutgers’ urban planning program who retired in 2019 and passed away in November 2024. A pioneer in Geographic Information Sciences (GIS), Lyna taught its intricacies to generations of students at the Bloustein School. Most currently practicing planners in New Jersey took one of her courses. All are invited to join us in honoring her memory.

Careers: Planning, Policy, & Informatics Career Fair--Virtual
2026-02-27 10:00 - 15:00 | Virtual
For Urban Planning, Public Informatics, and Public Policy students. Connect with employers and alumni at this career fair design for meaningful conversations and networking. Discover internship and full-time opportunities, explore diverse career paths, and establish professional connections in a welcoming, low-pressure environment.
Registration link sent via email by Bloustein Career Services!

Bloustein Research Day 2026
2026-04-03 09:00 - 12:00 | Gov. James J. Florio Special Events Forum, CSB, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
It’s time to catch up on the wonderful research our faculty, staff, and student colleagues have performed over the past year. Bloustein School faculty and staff will present lightning talks followed by a poster session by graduate and undergraduate students.
This will be an in-person event. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
Register to attend by visiting: go.rutgers.edu/researchday26
Agenda:
8:00 – 9:00 am Continental Breakfast
9:00 – 10:15 am Lightning Talks
Faculty and staff will give 5-minute lightning talks about their research.
10:15 – 11:30 am Poster Session with Light Refreshments
Graduate and undergraduate students will present posters. A best poster award will be given.
LIGHTNING TALK PRESENTATIONS AND POSTER PRESENTERS/TOPICS
11:30 – 12:30 pm Closing Panel: AI and the Future of Research
A cross-disciplinary faculty panel on the growing role of AI in scholarly research.
Panelists
Jim Samuel, Ph.D. Director, MPI Programs, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy
Lauren M.E. Goodlad, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature; Chair, Critical AI @ Rutgers; Editor, Critical AI
Robert Wolfe, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Information Science, School of Communication & Information, Rutgers University
Organizing Committee: Clint Andrews

RAISE-26 Artificial Intelligence - Informatics - Data Science AI Competition
2026-04-17 08:30 - 12:30 | Gov. James J. Florio Special Events Forum, CSB, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States
RAISE-26 Artificial Intelligence (AI) – Informatics – Data Science Competition
Mirror Mirror on the Wall – Is AI Transforming Us All? Exploring AI’s Impact on Human Behavior
RAISE-26, the world’s strongest AI-NLP competition, invites undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines to explore one of the most urgent questions of our time: Is artificial intelligence (AI) transforming us? This cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence – Informatics – DS Competition from the MPI program at the Bloustein School, Rutgers University, challenges participants to investigate how AI is shaping human behavior.
Find out more about the competition and register:
RAISE-26 Website
For all news and latest updates, please follow us on Public Informatics @ Rutgers University
