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CJI Fellow Shinjini Pandey on Crisis Response Research

Recently, the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), with support from Arnold Ventures (AV), launched the Criminal Justice Innovation (CJI) Fellowship program, which supports early-career researchers who are exploring what works to make communities safer and the criminal justice system fairer and more effective.

We spoke with current CJI Fellow Shinjini Pandey, who is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Economics at Duke University and a Visiting Research Scholar at NBER.

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New Policy Brief from AI Disclosures Project

A new policy brief from the AI Disclosures Project, “Protocols and Power” by Isobel Moure, Tim O’Reilly, and Ilan Strauss, argues that as AI models become commodities, tech giants are racing to lock in users by hoarding their data. Open protocols, backed by open APIs, can facilitate broad data sharing and healthier AI markets. This paper frames Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) as a potentially critical market-shaping device that can decentralize power through unbundling context. 

African Peacebuilding Network (APN) News Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa

July 2025 APN and Next Gen Research Proposal Development Workshop: Ébène, Mauritius

The Social Science Research Council’s (SSRC) African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Generation (Next Gen) Social Sciences in Africa Program, in collaboration with the University of Mauritius, held a Regional Proposal Development (RPD) Workshop from July 11 to July 12, 2025. Over a dozen participants from universities in Mauritius and neighboring Madagascar attended the two-day workshop, which was designed to provide opportunities for producing high-quality, internationally competitive research proposals and improve their chances of winning grants and fellowship award, while expanding opportunities for professional development through mentorship by highly experienced mentors from different parts of the world. Mrs. Christina Chan

African Peacebuilding Network (APN) News Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa

July 2025 APN and Next Gen Research Methods Workshop: Ébène, Mauritius

The Social Science Research Council’s (SSRC) African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Generation (Next Gen) Social Sciences in Africa Program, in collaboration with the University of Mauritius, held the 2025 July Research Methods Workshop in Ébène, Mauritius, from July 7 to July 10, 2025. The workshop brought together fifty-six (56) fellows from fourteen (14)  African countries, along with facilitators, guests of honor, and keynote speakers, for four days of field-based research methods development, peer-to-peer engagements and networking, and mentorship by highly experienced senior scholars drawn from North America, Europe, and African countries. The workshop also served as an opportunity for

African Peacebuilding Network (APN) News

Announcing the 2025 African Peacebuilding Network and Next Gen Social Sciences in Africa Fellows

The SSRC is excited to announce the 2025 cohort of fellows for the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Gen Social Sciences in Africa (Next Gen) program.

This year’s cohort will conduct expert research on diverse topics including policy for localizing digital technology, the impacts of the lithium rush in Zimbabwe, and depictions of women in African cinemas of conflict. In this year’s competitive selection process, APN awarded 20 Individual Research Fellowships and 1 Research Policy Fellowship, and Next Gen awarded 37 fellowships across three categories, including 9 Dissertation Proposal Fellowships, 17 Dissertation Research Fellowships, and 11 Dissertation Completion Fellowships.

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SSRC and Sloan Foundation Launch Economic Research Rescue Fund

The Social Science Research Council is partnering with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to host a Research Rescue Fund that will provide financial support for societally valuable economics research projects that have been approved for NSF funding but that are not currently receiving that funding. Review of applications to the fund will be conducted by an advisory panel of Americans drawn from different walks of life, including business and public service, and from different geographic regions of the US. Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis, as funds permit.

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Social Science Research Council Welcomes Ira Katznelson to Board of Directors

The SSRC is pleased to announce that Ira Katznelson has joined the Board of Directors. Ira Katznelson is the Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History at Columbia University, and Deputy Director of Columbia World Projects. Katznelson, a fellow of the British Academy, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society, is a former president of the American Political Science Association (2005-2006) and the Social Science Research Council (2012-2017).

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The SSRC’s Centennial Campaign raises $101M+ for the social and behavioral sciences

We are so grateful to announce that the Social Science Research Council has not only met but also has exceeded its ambitious $100M Centennial Campaign goal. Since the Campaign’s public launch in January of 2023, the Council’s Centennial year, we have raised $101,349,064 in program and operating support for the Council’s work. The robust philanthropic support for the social and behavioral sciences will be critical for the research community in the years to come.

Event News

Virtual Lecture | Repeated Evaluation Can Make Better Policy: The Case of Summer Youth Employment Programs

Virtual Lecture | May 22, 2:00 PM Eastern, via Zoom

Researchers often pursue ideas because they are novel and innovative. Breaking new ground is clearly important, and being “first” can help a paper get published. But the drive to be new can also push researchers away from the kinds of iterative research questions that help decision-makers implement effective policy (and towards surprising results that can be hard to replicate). This talk will tell the story of a policy-research partnership that started with a new and surprising finding—that summer jobs programs don’t actually help future youth employment, but do reduce violence—then kept iterating to explore how, why, and for whom. The result highlights what can come from repeated evaluation: an evidence base that is more convincing, illuminating, and practical than any single study can be.

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