The Russell Sage Foundation (RSF), in collaboration with the Criminal Justice program at Arnold Ventures (AV), is pleased to announce its first annual grants competition for early-career scholars. The goal is to cultivate a pipeline of researchers conducting causal research on the criminal justice system. Criminal justice policies and practices include the work of the police, courts, jails, prisons, probation and parole, and immigration detention. Proposals must include causal research designs that can reliably isolate the treatment effects of a policy, practice, or intervention. Examples include difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, instrumental variables, and randomized controlled trials. Mixed methods projects will be considered if a causal research design is central to the proposal.

To be eligible, applicants must be tenure-track assistant professors at a college or university in the U.S. at the start of the grant period. They encourage applicants who have not previously received RSF support. The program prioritizes disciplinary diversity and welcomes applications from scholars who are underrepresented in the social sciences, and/or employed at under-resourced universities. The maximum grant is $100,000.

The proposal deadline is April 3, 2025, for funding starting October 1, 2025.

RSF staff will discuss the Causal Research on Criminal Justice System Grants competition application process at a webinar on March 4, 2025, at 2PM ET.

Read more about the Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System Grants competition here.