Current Funding Opportunities

NIJ seeks proposals for funding under the NIJ Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) program that provides awards for research on crime, violence, and other criminal justice-related topics to accredited universities that offer research-based doctoral degrees. NIJ invests in doctoral education by supporting universities that sponsor students who demonstrate the potential to successfully complete doctoral degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of NIJ and who are in the final stages of graduate study. Applicants sponsoring doctoral students are eligible to apply only if the doctoral research dissertation has direct implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the United States and is in an NIJ-supported discipline; e.g., social and behavioral sciences, operations technology, information and sensors research and development, and investigative and forensic sciences.

NIJ seeks proposals for the W.E.B. Du Bois Fellowship for Research on Race, Gender, Culture, and Crime FY 2013. The Fellowship Program seeks to advance knowledge regarding the confluence of crime, justice, and culture in various societal contexts. The Fellowship places particular emphasis on crime, violence, and the administration of justice in diverse cultural contexts within the United States.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) have entered into a partnership that seeks proposals under the Data Resources Program (DRP) for original research using existing data available from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) and other public sources.

NIJ seeks proposals for a study of the use of funds on aftercare services by the Department of Justice under the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Program. The RSAT for State Prisoners Program funds formula grants to all 56 States and U.S. territories for support of residential, jail-based, and aftercare treatment services delivered to offenders with substance abuse problems by State and local providers. In 2008, Section 102(a) of the Second Chance Act (SCA) amended the RSAT Program funding legislation to require an aftercare component, and Section 102(c) mandated a study on aftercare services by NIJ.

NIJ seeks proposals for criminal justice research and evaluation that include a researcher-practitioner partnership component. Within the context of the proposed research or evaluation project, the partnerships can be new or ongoing. Results from these projects should lead to better criminal justice policy, practice, and research, including for the participating practitioner partner.

NIJ intends to support criminal justice research in two areas related to new and ongoing researcher-practitioner collaborations. Proposals should fall under one of the following program areas: (1) Junior Faculty Grant Program to Promote Criminal Justice Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships, and (2) Criminal Justice Researcher-Practitioner Fellowship Placement Program.

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NIJ seeks proposals for research to evaluate the use of police and technology in schools. The proposed research should be comprehensive and include assessment of aspects such as school ecology, culture, climate, and social capital in addition to outcomes and other impacts. Logic models should be provided and include assessment of implementation processes and outputs and proximal and distal outcomes. A cost-benefit component should be included as part of the proposed research design. Multi-method, multi-measurement, and multiple year projects will be given priority in funding. Administrative agreements with participating school districts are required and should be provided in the funding application.

NIJ seeks proposals for research on radicalization to violent extremism as it occurs in the United States, and for evaluation of promising practices to prevent or mitigate radicalization in U.S. communities. The goal of this research is to aid State, local, and tribal criminal justice agencies and their attendant communities in implementing programs that prevent or counter radicalization to violent extremism. Proposals should develop and analyze information and data that have clear implications for criminal justice in the following focus areas: (1) comparative analysis at the individual (micro-) level; (2) online radicalization to violent extremism; and (3) evaluations of promising practices to prevent or mitigate radicalization.

NIJ seeks proposals for funding research and evaluation projects that support Federal, State, local, and tribal criminal justice agencies in meeting the challenges posed to them by transnational issues such as transnational organized crime, trafficking in persons, and radicalization to violent extremism. Proposals should develop and analyze information and data that have clear implications for criminal justice in the following focus areas: (1) transnational offenders, (2) similarities and differences between organized crime and violent extremist groups, (3) measurement of transnational organized crime and trafficking in persons, and (4) evaluations of efforts to reduce demand for transnational organized crime and/or trafficking in persons.

Note: On Page 5 of this solicitation, under the "Amount and Length of Awards" section, the award amount has been changed from $1 million to $1.9 million.

NIJ seeks proposals to evaluate the implementation and outcomes of the Office on Violence Against Women’s (OVW) Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative. Proposals submitted under this solicitation should:

• Detail research options for conducting both a process and outcome evaluation.
• Provide an initial plan for review of Phase I research and program information that can include in-person or virtual site visits.
• Demonstrate strong knowledge of program evaluation, including experience with multi-site evaluation.
• Demonstrate an understanding of domestic violence, including intimate partner homicide and related prevention programs.

NIJ seeks proposals for funding for research related to adult offender decision-making with respect to crime. NIJ is particularly interested in research to extend the rational choice models or expand into other theories and models (e.g., behavioral economics, business models, or cognitive models) in order to advance our understanding of adult offenders’ decision-making process. Proposed research also should consider issues such as social context, emotions, default choices, or possibly environmental context to help the field gain a better understanding of the overall decision-making process.

NIJ seeks proposals for research that explores the relationship between theory (of any discipline) and geospatial predictive policing strategies. In particular, NIJ is interested in proposals that focus on linking theories to current policing strategies, discerning potential disconnects in the levels of analysis between theory and practice, explicating what effects this may have on findings, and addressing means of adapting theory and practice based on the results.

NIJ seeks proposals for research and evaluation on a wide range of topics related to white collar crime (WCC). The following list of WCC-related topics is by no means exhaustive and is offered only as a set of examples. Much more research remains to be done in these and many other areas.

• Improving the research base regarding different types of white collar crimes and criminals, in particular demonstrating how certain research strategies and methodologies are particularly useful for studying the area of WCC.
• Enhancing knowledge of the incidence, prevalence, and characteristics of white collar crimes and criminals.
• Developing and validating standardized definitions, models, or measurements for various types of WCC.
• Developing and/or evaluating new or existing strategies for effective WCC prevention and intervention.
• Developing and demonstrating/evaluating programs to reduce the monetary and other social costs of WCC.

As part of a collaborative effort with and funding from the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART), the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) seeks proposals for basic scientific research in the development and validation of a risk assessment tool with both static and dynamic factors designed for use in criminal and juvenile justice systems to estimate the short-term risk that juveniles with a history of sex offenses may recommit sex offenses. The risk assessment tool can (a) be available in the field of juvenile justice currently but not validated empirically; or (b) be developed for the purposes of this solicitation. The risk assessment tool should be validated in up to four sites that are geographically and demographically diverse, should include protective factors, and should be capable of estimating short-term risk of reoffending no more than 1 to 3 years into the future for juvenile sex offenders.