Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System

Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System is sponsored by Russell Sage Foundation, in collaboration with Arnold Ventures. This program supports causal research on the criminal justice system, aiming to cultivate a pipeline of researchers conducting such work.

Information for Applicants | Russell Sage Foundation Information for Applicants View All Upcoming Application Deadlines | View Research Priorities Core Research Grants provide up to $200,000 for PhD holders to conduct research projects aligned with RSF's research priorities and special initiatives. Funds can be used for salary support and research expenses in accordance with RSF budget guidelines.

Grants over $75,000 include 15 percent in indirect costs. Sheldon Danziger Pipeline Grants Launched in 2020, the Pipeline Grants, initially co-funded with the Economic Mobility and Opportunity program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, supports early-career scholars (Assistant Professors, Lecturers, and Adjunct Professors). They were renamed the Sheldon Danziger Pipeline Grants in 2025.

The Pipeline Grants consider investigator-initiated projects across all RSF research priorities. Pipeline grants provide up to $65,000 for assistant professors, lecturers, and adjunct professors for salary support and research expenses in accordance with the Pipeline grant budget guidelines. Pipeline grantees are paired with mentors who offer advice on their projects and career development.

Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System Grants The Russell Sage Foundation launched the Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System Grants program in 2024 in collaboration with the Criminal Justice program at Arnold Ventures. The goal of the program is to cultivate a pipeline of researchers conducting causal research on the criminal justice system.

Criminal justice policies and practices include the work of police, courts, jails, prisons, probation and parole, and immigration detention. The program provides up to $100,000 for assistant professors for salary support and research expenses, in accordance with the Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System Grants program budget guidelines, including 15 percent in indirect costs.

Projects 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.

Dissertation Research Grants The dissertation research grants program supports innovative and high-quality dissertation research projects that address questions relevant to RSF’s priority areas: Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context; Future of Work; Race, Ethnicity and Immigration; Immigration and Immigrant Integration; and Social, Political, and Economic Inequality.

Proposed projects must be closely aligned with the funding priorities listed on the RSF website for any of these areas, contribute to RSF’s mission to improve social and living conditions in the U.S., and demonstrate appropriate use of relevant theory, innovative data, rigorous research methods, and measures.

Dissertation grants provide $15,000 for PhD candidates for a stipend and research expenses, in accordance with the Dissertation Research Grant budget guidelines.

These grants will support all aspects of dissertation research (data collection, data preparation, data analysis and writing), but they are not intended for students who have completed data collection and analysis and propose to spend the entire grant period writing the dissertation.

Visiting Scholar Fellowship The Russell Sage Foundation’s Visiting Scholars Program provides a unique opportunity for individual scholars and small working groups to pursue their data analysis and writing while in residence at the foundation’s headquarters in New York City. The 10-month residential fellowship runs from September 1st through June 30th.

The Foundation also welcomes applications for half-year visits to occur during the 5-month period from either September through January, or February through June. Scholars are provided with an office at the foundation, a computer and software, access to research materials including online journals and databases, and salary support typically up to 50 percent of their academic year salary up to a maximum of $150,000.

Scholars who reside outside the greater New York City area are provided with partially subsidized housing near the Foundation. During their time at the Foundation, scholars will interact with other scholars from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, as well as Visiting Researchers, Margaret Olivia Sage Scholars, and RSF staff in programs, communications and publishing.

The foundation annually awards 15 to 17 Visiting Scholar fellowships. Visiting Researcher Fellowship On an occasional basis, the Foundation has one or two available office spaces and considers applications for short-term residential fellowships from scholars who are conducting research relevant to the Foundation’s priority areas.

These positions do not come with any Foundation financial support and are available for visits up to five months, between September 1 and June 30, as space permits. In rare circumstances, visits up to ten months may be considered. Visiting Researchers are provided with an office at the foundation, a computer and software, access to research materials including online journals and databases.

Researchers who reside outside of the greater New York City area may be provided with a partially subsidized apartment near the Foundation, if available.