Conference: Collaborative Convenings: Increasing Capacity in the Social Science Research Enterprise with HBCUs, PUIs, and Other Less Research-Intensive Institutions

The goal of this project is to increase the capacity and competitiveness of the social science research enterprise. Despite the continued evolution of social science research, little is known about the barriers and challenges researchers face when attempting to develop fundable research projects and grant proposals to secure funding. This project serves as a model for how to create networks and partnerships between various social science research professionals to facilitate the development of research support infrastructure to catalyze collaborative social science research opportunities. This project provides an opportunity for research-oriented faculty and research enterprise professionals to identify the challenges and barriers, and to propose solutions about how to broaden participation in social science research. Social science research professionals from all types of organizations and institutional backgrounds, including historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs), are invited to participate in the convenings and project activities. The shared learnings and products would be disseminated broadly to constitute best practices about how to capitalize on support opportunities and service infrastructure to benefit social science research across academic disciplines and fields. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.