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National Research Conference 2023
From Evidence to Action: Harnessing Research to Promote Safety & Justice
Registration is closed
Registration has closed for general attendance. We look forward to seeing everyone who has registered.
NIJ is hosting a three-day, in-person conference from May 23-25, 2023, in Arlington, Virginia. Registration is free and open to all.
The theme of NIJ’s Research Conference is “evidence to action,” and our goal is to bring researchers and practitioners together to learn about the latest research evidence and how it can be implemented to promote safety, equity, and justice.
Conference participants will be exposed to a wide array of topics, including youth mentoring, officer wellness, school safety, forensics, technology evaluation, and strategies to engage in more inclusive research processes. Attendees will also learn how to find, apply for, and manage NIJ grant awards.
We look forward to welcoming researchers, practitioners, policymakers, graduate students, advocates, and anyone interested in how research can enhance public safety, equity, and justice.
Learn how the conference will address issues in the following fields:
NIJ is dedicated to advancing knowledge and tools to help law enforcement agencies deliver services more effectively and efficiently.
Law enforcement attendees at the National Research Conference can learn about NIJ’s efforts in officer safety and wellness, drug crime investigation, victim assistance training, data-led enforcement, recruitment and retention of women officers, uses of body worn cameras, collaboration with co-responders, uses of unmanned aircraft systems, forensic DNA investigations, labor trafficking, and crime mapping and spatial analysis.
As the research and evaluation arm of the Department of Justice, NIJ is committed to empirically exploring issues of interest for the field of corrections. Specifically, our research investments seek to increase knowledge about what works—and what doesn’t—in community corrections, correctional facilities, reentry, and recidivism.
At the National Research Conference, corrections professionals can learn about research projects on correctional officer safety and wellness, implementing the First Step Act, the use of technology in facilities, and supporting successful reentry.
NIJ’s forensic science mission is to strengthen the quality and practice of forensics through research and development, testing and evaluation, technology, and information exchange.
The National Research Conference will convene leading minds from the forensics community and the greater criminal justice field, which can reinforce collaboration between government, academic, and industry partners. Forensics practitioners can get up-to-speed on findings and practical applications of NIJ’s development work supporting laboratories across the nation.
The National Institute of Justice sponsors criminal court research and court-based program evaluation to identify tools, programs, and policies that satisfy criminal justice goals, including public safety, cost-efficiency, and fair and equitable treatment of victims and defendants.
At the National Research Conference, courts professionals can learn about our research investments in court operations and case management, specialized or problem-solving courts, adjudication and sentencing, and forensics and technology. Attendees may be especially interested in our work in evidence-based prosecution and the use of data to improve prosecutorial equity and effectiveness.
NIJ's research provides information about the risk and protective factors that contribute to or deter youth’s involvement in the juvenile justice system. It also helps the field understand adolescent behaviors, system responses, and the interventions that are most likely to promote positive youth outcomes.
Attending NIJ’s National Research Conference will allow both researchers and practitioners to network and learn NIJ’s research efforts on the use of data in juvenile corrections, what works to make schools safer, collaboration for evidence-based youth mentoring, life course theory, and gang violence.
NIJ supports research to advance the field of victims' services, including funding projects aiming to understand and reduce victimization; evaluate services; understand the impact of crime on individuals, their loved ones, and their communities; and improve the criminal justice system response for victims of crime.
The National Research Conference will enable those interested in this field to come together and collaborate across other justice areas to put research into action.
NIJ is the leading federal agency funding and supporting the criminal justice research community. Researchers who attend the National Research Conference will network with other researchers, be exposed to innovative and inclusive research methodologies, and learn how to ensure that their own research findings are effectively communicated and disseminated to promote improvements in criminal justice policies and practices.