Research, Policy and Practice Labs
The Kellogg Institute's Research, Policy and Practice Labs support high-impact, high-yield research intended to have a tangible influence on policies and practices affecting democracy and human development. The labs intentionally bridge the worlds of research and policy while maintaining a focus on rigorous scholarly inquiry.
Building Inclusive Growth (BIG) Lab
The Building Inclusive Growth (BIG) Lab seeks to address structural barriers to equitable economic growth in different parts of the world. The Lab generates evidence-based approaches for tackling these barriers at both macroeconomic and microeconomic levels. Such research requires a range of methodologies to make progress, and methodological breadth is a strength of its researchers.
In partnership with the College of Arts and Letters.
African Governance Innovations Lab (AGIL)
The African Governance Innovations Lab (AGIL) promotes research and policy frameworks that provide educational opportunities and build linkages related to thematic global concerns of democracy and human development. It aims to identify “bright spots” within African governance that highlight good governance and accountability—whether they are historical, micro-level, or outside of formal institutions.
Jointly with Franco Family Institute and the Democracy Initiative
Notre Dame Eliminating Violence Against Women Lab
The Notre Dame Eliminating Violence Against Women (E-VAW) Lab responds to the pressing need to draw evidence-based policies and strategies that can help prevent gender-based violence, more effectively provide services, and increase access to justice for survivors of all genders.
Notre Dame Reparations Design and Compliance Lab
The Notre Dame Reparations Design and Compliance Lab focuses on the question: Under what conditions do states comply with orders of international tribunals in cases involving human rights?
Jointly with the Klau Institute 
Notre Dame Violence and Transitional Justice Lab
The Notre Dame Violence and Transitional Justice Lab (V-TJLab) conducts interdisciplinary research on large-scale criminal violence in new democracies, the new forms of civilian victimization that result from criminal wars, and the likely contribution of transitional justice mechanisms in developing peaceful societies that fulfill victims’ rights in Latin America.
Research, Policy and Practice Labs
The Research, Policy and Practice Labs bridge the worlds of research and practice by responding to concrete global issues and generating policy impact. Through an innovative use of social science research methods, the labs aim to shape their respective fields of research and address questions related to the Kellogg Institute’s core thematic areas of democracy and human development.
Each lab addresses a common problem or set of interrelated questions through individual and collective research. Led by Institute faculty fellows, the labs engage the broader Kellogg scholarly community of faculty fellows, current and former visiting fellows, doctoral student affiliates, and distinguished research affiliates. The labs also operate in partnership with NGOs, public and private institutions, and practitioners.
The labs are intended to serve as incubators for larger, longer-term collaborations that can attract external funding and generate significant research and policy outputs.
The Research, Policy and Practice Labs also:
- Cross disciplinary, sub-disciplinary, and/or methodological boundaries and lead to cross-fertilization across regions and themes;
- Link important normative and theoretical work, high-level empirical research, applied research, and policy-relevant research;
- Create synergy across disciplines, methods, and approaches of research and practice to address complex problems and important challenges facing humankind;
- Integrate and explore the intersection of the core themes of democracy and human development;
- Contribute to relevant contemporary debates on public policy;
- Partner with international institutions and practitioners to improve practice.
Kellogg Research, Policy and Practice Labs are funded through an annual call for proposals. For details, see the other tabs.
Eligibility
A Research, Policy and Practice Lab must have at least one principal investigator who is a Kellogg faculty fellow. Proposals must identify a minimum of two on-campus researchers working on a common theme, including Notre Dame faculty, visiting fellows, and doctoral students whose dissertation topic is directly related to the theme of the Research, Policy and Practice Lab.
The Institute strongly encourages lab proposals that make connections across the Kellogg community – including faculty fellows, current and former visiting fellows, current doctoral student affiliates and PhD alumni, and distinguished research affiliates – as well as those that involve collaboration across disciplines, departments, colleges/schools, and with other institutions, external partners, and practitioners.
Members of a Research, Policy and Practice Lab may be individual scholars pursuing related but independent projects or a team of scholars pursuing collaborative research. The lab must develop a platform of research in the area of the lab that can be expected to yield a sufficient number of research and policy-relevant outputs within a specified time frame and that has the potential to be competitive for external funding. Collaborative initiatives might include the expansion of faculty members’ current projects or the instigation of new collaborative ventures.
Funded Research, Policy and Practice Labs may include elements of but will transcend projects eligible for Kellogg funding in the categories of faculty research, working group, or conference grants. Research, Policy and Practice Lab grants are not intended to provide seed funding for singular research projects. The labs are expected to go beyond basic research by disseminating knowledge to end users outside of the academic arena and partnering with international actors to improve practices.
Among other things, the Kellogg Institute especially seeks to support Research, Policy and Practice Labs that:
- Cross-disciplinary, sub-disciplinary, and/or methodological boundaries and lead to cross-fertilization across regions and themes;
- Link important normative and theoretical work, high-level empirical research, applied research, and policy-relevant research questions;
- Create synergy across disciplines, methods, and approaches of research and practice to address complex problems and important challenges facing humankind;
- Integrate and explore the intersection of the core themes of democracy and human development;
- Contribute to relevant contemporary debates on public policy;
- Partner with international institutions and practitioners to improve practice.
Submission Date for 2025-2026:
The deadline for the submission is September 5, 2025.
Send proposals to: Saadat Musabaeva, Research Program Manager at smusabae@nd.edu
Awards
Research, Policy and Practice Lab grants typically award up to $90,000 over three years. Disbursement of the total award amount may be divided unequally across years (e.g., a larger amount may be required in earlier years for start-up expenses).
These grants are intended as seed money to foster the formation of cohesive, ongoing Research Labs organized around a specific theme, issue, or set of closely interrelated questions or problems.
Research Lab grants are intended to support aspects of the lab that benefit the group as a whole and may be used for a variety of programmatic elements and project costs, including but not limited to:
- Travel expenses associated with collaboration with individuals involved in the project from other institutions, including short-term visitors;
- Graduate or undergraduate research assistants, including those providing logistical and administrative support for the group;
- Acquisition of research materials, including electronic databases, books, manuscripts, microfilm, etc.;
- Research computing or computer software (but not hardware) for research purposes;
- Buy-out(s) of teaching responsibilities; and
-
Support for team-taught seminars or courses by members of the Research Lab.
Research Lab proposals may also include a request that the Institute support a visiting fellow or other post-doctoral researcher with funds over and above those in the proposed Research Lab grant budget.
In addition to the above funding awarded through a Research Lab grant, proposals by designated Research Lab and those of its members that advance the work of the lab are prioritized in other areas of Institute funding, including grants for faculty and graduate student research, conference/workshop grants, and funding for speakers in the Kellogg lecture series. The Institute may also provide Research Labs with logistical assistance, such as office or collaborative work space, support for external grant proposal development and implementation, event coordination, and publicity.
Award Criteria
All Research, Policy and Practice Lab proposals must demonstrate intellectual merit, as well as fit with the Kellogg Institute mission and the potential to make a significant research and policy impact in the Institute’s core thematic areas and advance its strategic plan.
In addition, the following criteria are used to evaluate the strength of proposals:
- Cohesion of research interests of the identified participants;
- Anticipated outcomes, including potential for future publication and other significant research and policy-relevant outputs;
- Potential to leverage Kellogg support to garner substantive external funding;
- Potential for sustained collaboration that catalyzes partnerships across disciplines, departments, and colleges/schools, and with other institutions or external partners that provide long-term strategic value to the Institute as a whole;
- Potential to build long-term, multidimensional relationships that advance key Kellogg objectives for research excellence, student and educational opportunities, fieldwork, and policy engagement and impact;
- Potential to involve PhD, Master of Global Affairs, and Kellogg International Scholars Program students in research related to the theme of the Research Lab;
-
Ability of the proposed Research Lab composition to create synergy among various disciplines, methods, and approaches in a way that addresses the research problem better together than separately.
Successful Research Lab proposals have an ambitious mix of programmatic elements and significant mechanisms of interactivity and collaboration, with priority given to those that incentivize connections across disciplines and/or regions of study that are otherwise absent.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to seek, and priority is given to projects with demonstrated potential to secure financial support from other sources, both internal and external to Notre Dame.
Proposal Submission and Review
Proposals should be no more than ten pages (excluding budget and CVs) and must clearly articulate the lab’s purpose, activities, and alignment with the Institute’s mission.
Proposals should include the following components:
- Brief abstract (150–200 words) outlining the research theme, its relevance to the Kellogg mission and research priorities, and the project’s primary goals and objectives
- Background and rationale describing the key issues or questions to be addressed, the significance of the work, and relevant literature or policy context
- Proposed activities and outputs detailing anticipated lab activities, scholarly and/or policy outputs, potential collaborations, and opportunities for engagement
- Timeline outlining the lab’s scope and major milestones over the three-year grant period
- Statement of expected accomplishments during the funding period
- Description of anticipated scholarly products
- Explanation of student engagement
- Discussion of external funding potential, including any existing applications or plans for seeking additional resources
- A statement regarding previous support received from the Kellogg Institute for related activities by project participants and results achieved
- Itemized budget and narrative justification, with estimated costs broken down by category (e.g., travel, personnel, events, materials); total awards are typically up to $90,000 over three yearsAbbreviated CVs (maximum two pages each) for the principal investigators and key project participants, highlighting recent publications and relevant work
Proposals must be submitted by September 5, 2025, and will be reviewed by the Faculty Committee. Applicants are encouraged to contact Mauricio Benitez (mbenite2@nd.edu) and Saadat Musabaeva (smusabae@nd.edu) prior to submitting a proposal.
Renewals and Extensions
Labs may apply for a second three-year term, for a typical total of six years. In exceptional cases, labs may be considered for up to two additional terms – up to a maximum of four terms or 12 years total – if they have demonstrated significant research and policy impact and applied for or secured for external funding beyond Notre Dame.
To be considered for a renewal, labs must submit an application at the end of their current term. The submission should be no more than four pages and include:
- A summary of the lab’s sustained impact in research and policy domains
- An explanation of how students have been engaged in lab activities, including mentoring, research training, or professional development
- A description of external funding efforts, including grants secured and/or pending applications