Staging 2 - RESEARCH GRANTS

Research grants:

Evaluating new policy tools

Research grants can underwrite evaluations of the efficacy of new policy tools, leading to the production of decision-relevant evidence.

Recent findings indicate that research grants can lead to the production of socially beneficial evidence that would not otherwise be produced. For example, Howell (2017) found that early-stage research grants made through the Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation Research program led to increases in patents, venture capital investment, and successful startup exits. Kremer et al (2021) found that the research grants distributed through USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures program produced a social return of over 17x.

The Social Science Research Council works with funding partners to design and administer research grant programs that produce decision-relevant evidence about socially beneficial policy tools.

All Research Grants:

The Mercury Project

FEATURED

The Mercury Project is a $25M funding consortium providing research grants to support evaluations of cost-effective and scalable interventions designed to build vaccination demand around the world. With funding from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, and the U.S. National Science Foundation, 18 teams comprising over 100 social and behavioral scientists have received Mercury Project research grants averaging $610,000 per award.

CSWEP-SSRC Women in Economics and Mathematics Research Grants

The CSWEP-SSRC Women in Economics and Mathematics Research Consortium provides research grants to support evaluations of cost-effective and scalable interventions designed to broaden opportunity in the disciplines of economics and mathematics.

Data Fluencies Research Grants

The Data Fluencies Project provides research grants to Ph.D. students actively enrolled in doctoral programs in the United States and Canada to explore data-centric practices that advance socially beneficial outcomes.

Religion, Spirituality, and Democratic Renewal Research Grants

The Religion, Spirituality, and Democratic Renewal program provides research grants to Ph.D. students and early career researchers to enable explorations of the relationships between democracy and religion.

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