European Social Science Genetics Network

欧洲社会科学遗传学网络(ESSGN)汇集了七名对社会科学遗传学有共同兴趣的学术受益者，即纳入遗传信息以提高我们对社会科学中古老问题的理解，如不平等的起源、“先天还是后天”的辩论，以及环境和基因之间的相互作用在塑造个人生活中的重要程度。该联盟由一个跨学科的学者小组以及七个非学术合作伙伴组成，致力于利用数据科学来解决生活机会中的不平等问题。由于最近遗传学技术的进步，使用遗传数据的复杂性，以及在传统上由社会科学家研究的调查中越来越多地获得这种数据，迫切需要进行社会科学遗传学方面的培训。我们的目标是培训下一代社会科学家负责任地和在技术上正确地使用基因数据，并客观地交流从社会科学中使用基因数据可以学到什么，不能学到什么。该项目将超越最新水平：(I)使用欧洲最全面的多代数据库，将直接遗传效应与塑造养育环境的父母遗传和社会经济因素分开；(Ii)利用计量经济学和统计学中使用的因果推理方法的大型工具箱，估计环境对患有遗传缺陷的个人的因果保护程度。我们将(1)分析遗传(“先天”)和环境(“后天”)因素在多大程度上有助于机会平等和代际流动，以及(2)确定先天和后天如何共同塑造生活机会中的不平等。因此，我们的研究计划为社会科学家提供了新的和令人兴奋的机会，以加深我们对生活机会不平等是如何形成的理解。

The European Social Science Genetics Network (ESSGN) brings together seven academic beneficiaries with a shared interest in social science genetics, i.e., in incorporating genetic information to improve our understanding of age-old questions in the social sciences, such as the origins of inequality, the 'nature versus nurture' debate, and the extent to which the interplay between environments and genes is important in shaping individuals' lives. The consortium consists of an interdisciplinary group of academics, as well as seven non-academic partners committed to using data science to address inequalities in life chances. There is an urgent need for training in social science genetics due to recent technological advances in genetics, the intricacies of using genetic data, and the growing availability of such data in surveys traditionally studied by social scientists. Our aim is to train the next generation of social scientists in the responsible and technically correct use of genetic data and in objective communication about what can and cannot be learned from working with genetic data in the social sciences. The project will go beyond the state-of-the-art (i) by using Europe's most comprehensive multigenerational databases to separate direct genetic effects from parental genetic and socio-economic factors that shape the rearing environment; and (ii) by exploiting the large toolbox of causal inference methods used in econometrics and statistics to estimate the extent to which environments causally protect individuals with genetic disadvantages. We will (1) analyse to what extent genetic ('nature') and environmental ('nurture') factors contribute to equality of opportunity and intergenerational mobility, and (2) establish how nature and nurture jointly shape inequalities in life chances. As such, our programme of research provides novel and exciting opportunities to social scientists to deepen our understanding of how inequalities in life chances are shaped.