Read About CSDE’s Accelerate Policy and Research for Greater Impact Initiative

Posted: 7/9/2026 ()

This winter and spring, CSDE piloted a program to address the demand for evidence-based policy-making and program design. Many public-serving organizations recognize the value of research for the success of their programs, but are often constrained by limited budget, time, or staff capacity to design and implement that research. The Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology (CSDE), with support and inspiration from the Social Science Research Council’s Public Innovations Program (SSRC), led the Accelerate Policy and Research for Greater Impact  initiative. Visit these links to read our final report and view our executive summary.

Through a carefully-designed process, CSDE connected UW researchers to public-serving organizations, helped forge a new path for their research, and advanced the probability of “good fit” matches to potential funders. Project participants included those from public serving organizations, including Sound Transit, Seattle City Light, Walk About Yakima, the Washington Attorney General’s Office, Build 2 Lead, Washington Employment Security Department, and Washington State Court Center for Research. Joining the public serving organizations were UW research collaborators representing scientists from the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Engineering, the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance,  the School of Law, the School of Social Work, the School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, and the Center for Studies in Demography & Ecology.  By the end of the second meeting, every selected organization walked away with the building blocks of a strong research project proposal.