Public and private funding organizations, state legislatures, and donors increasingly expect universities to produce socially impactful and policy-relevant research. However, publication and promotion incentives may undermine efforts to mobilize the social and behavioral science research community to pursue policy-relevant research. This series of virtual convenings is an opportunity for member institutions of the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences (CUF) to share what works–and what doesn’t–to mobilize social and behavioral science that is both policy-relevant and scientifically rigorous.

These virtual convenings are intended to be an opportunity for cross-institutional learning and networking across CUF member institutions, and we hope they will be highly interactive and conversational. Registration is only open to individuals associated with one of the current member institutions. If you’d like to be notified of upcoming events, please join our mailing list.

Past Events in the Series

September 27, 2023

William Howell, director of the Center for Effective Government at the University of Chicago, and Cyrus Samii of New York University’s Department of Politics and Executive Director of the Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) network, discussed each organization’s approach to balancing high-quality research with practical partnerships with government officials, NGOs, and journalists.

Watch the video:

June 12, 2023

Arthur Lupia, executive director of the Bold Challenges Initiative at the University of Michigan, and Jeremy Weinstein, faculty director of Stanford Impact Labs, talked about their work to support faculty and graduate students pursuing ambitious applied and socially relevant research, in partnership with public, private, and nonprofit organizations.

Watch the video: