U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Social and Behavioral Science

Research and Evaluation on Trafficking in Persons, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date
With this solicitation, NIJ continues to build upon its research and evaluation efforts to better understand, prevent, and respond to trafficking in persons in the United States. Applicants should propose research projects that — first and foremost — have clear implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the United States. NIJ is interested in research projects addressing both sex and labor trafficking. NIJ is...

Research and Evaluation on School Safety, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date
This solicitation seeks applications for funding to conduct research to: 1) examine the root causes of school violence, 2) evaluate the effectiveness of the approaches to stopping school violence found in the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) FY 2018 or FY 2019 STOP School Violence Act solicitations; 3) research on the perspectives of STOP School...

Applying the Latest Research to Prevent Bullying: Empowering Schools to Change Behavior & Attitudes

January 2020

Bullying prevention is an important aspect of school safety. During this webinar, co-sponsored by NIJ and the Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention, renowned bullying prevention researchers will share information schools can use to address bullying. This information will include helping teachers respond to bullying in the classroom and giving students who see bullying tools to take action to address it. 

Investigator-Initiated Research and Evaluation of Firearms Violence, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date
NIJ is seeking applications for the funding of research and program evaluation projects that inform efforts to prevent and reduce intentional, interpersonal firearm violence and mass shootings in the United States. NIJ will support scientifically rigorous research and evaluation projects designed to strengthen the scientific knowledge base and produce findings with high practical utility to improve public safety.

Research and Evaluation on Promising Reentry Initiatives, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date
With this solicitation, NIJ requests proposals for rigorous research to examine reentry initiatives that incorporate promising practices, strategies, or programs.  NIJ is interested in supporting evaluations of innovative reentry initiatives that focus on offenders with a moderate-to-high risk of reoffending. 

Research and Evaluation on Drugs and Crime, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date
NIJ's Drugs and Crime Research Program supports rigorous applied research on evidence-based tools, protocols, and policies for state, tribal, and local law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies that address drug trafficking, drug markets, and drug-related violence. The focus of this research solicitation is narcotics-related criminal investigation, prosecution, intelligence, and community surveillance relevant to law enforcement and medicolegal death investigation activities. The FY2020 solicitation's drug...

Research and Evaluation on Policing, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date
With this solicitation, NIJ seeks applications for funding for investigator-initiated, randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies of approaches to the challenges of policing in the United States that address the strategic priorities and objectives identified in NIJ’s Policing Strategic Research Plan, 2017-2022.

Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants Solicitation, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date
NIJ actively supports research that involves federally recognized tribes (or tribally-based organizations) on issues of crime and justice in the United States. In doing so, NIJ is committed to ethical and engaged efforts in line with responsible research conduct and federal trust responsibilities. This solicitation seeks applications for funding for planning grants to develop new and innovative criminal and juvenile justice research or evaluation projects...

Research and Evaluation of Technology-Facilitated Abuse for Criminal Justice Purposes, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date

With this solicitation, NIJ’s seeks proposals for research projects addressing the use of technologies such as texting, mobile applications, telecommunications networks, and social networking to bully, harass, stalk or intimidate another person, including adolescents. Examples of technology facilitated abuse include cyberstalking, sextortion, non-consensual pornography, doxing, or swatting. NIJ will support scientifically rigorous research projects that will advance understanding of these types of crime, and effective...

Research and Evaluation in Safety, Health, and Wellness in Criminal Justice System, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date
With this solicitation, NIJ seeks applications for funding of multidisciplinary research projects addressing any of these five topics: (1) Resiliency and Recovery of Law Enforcement agencies from Singular, Extreme Traumatic Events; (2) Impact of Organizational Stressors on Officer Health and Wellness; (3) Effects of Pre-Career Interventions and Subsequent Reminders in Modulating Mental, Physical, and Social Responses to Stressors in Law Enforcement Officers; (4) Community Hostility...

Research and Evaluation of Domestic Terrorism Prevention, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date
This solicitation seeks to build knowledge and evidence related to strategies for effective prevention of terrorism in the United States. Applicants should propose research projects that will primarily benefit, and have clear implications for, criminal justice agencies and their attendant communities at the state, local, and tribal levels.

Research and Evaluation on Violence Against Women, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date
NIJ strives to support objective and independent knowledge and validated tools to reduce violence against women (VAW) (including violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls), promote justice for victims of crime, and enhance criminal justice responses. For that reason, this solicitation seeks applications for grant funding to conduct research and evaluation projects examining a broad range of topics including the crimes of...

Graduate Research Fellowship, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date
The Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) program provides grants to accredited academic institutions to support outstanding doctoral students whose dissertation research is relevant to criminal justice.

Review and Revalidation of the First Step Act Risk Assessment Tool, Fiscal Year 2020

Closing Date

With this funding opportunity, NIJ seeks review and revalidate on an annual basis the risk assessment tool developed in response to the First Step Act (FSA). The risk assessment tool, the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs (PATTERN), will be implemented and used by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to predict the likelihood of general and violent recidivism for all BOP inmates.

NIJ LEADS Program Increases Research Capabilities of Law Enforcement Officers

October 2019

This video, produced for IACPTV, provides an overview of the NIJ Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (LEADS) program. NIJ LEADS Scholars from Dayton and Newark police departments provide an overview of the LEADS program as they describe their projects and experiences working in the program.

Hear from LEADS scholars Major Wendy Stiver, Dayton Police Department, and Captain Ivonne Roman, Newark Police Department.

American Indian & Alaska Native Student Travel Scholarship: Connecting Science to Crime and Justice, Academic Year 2021-2022

Closing Date

To enhance diversity in the field of criminal justice, NIJ will support 15 American Indian and Alaska Native students to attend criminal justice-related conferences. Students will explore how their educational backgrounds apply to issues of crime and justice. They will meet researchers and practitioners engaged in similar work. Conferences will expose students to innovative and evidence-based scientific and technological solutions to justice issues.

Learn more about...