| CSSI News and Opportunities | Dear CSSI Community,
I’m pleased to share this month’s CSSI News and Opportunities, highlighting the outstanding work of our researcher affiliates and the many resources available to support your research. This issue highlights our Summer Researcher-in-Residence program, Faculty Research Fellowship awardee, methods workshops, and more. CSSI remains committed to advancing innovative, high-impact social science at Iowa. I encourage you to explore the opportunities below and to stay engaged with the vibrant research community we continue to build together.
Sincerely,
Mark Berg
Director, Center for Social Science Innovation
Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology | | | | The Center for Social Science Innovation seeks faculty and scientific staff to participate in its Summer Researcher-in-Residence program. The 10-week program provides researchers with space and resources to conduct high impact social science research. Participants also receive up to $1,500 for research-related expenses, such as support from a graduate research assistant.
Apply by Friday, March 27. | | | Brian Ekdale, professor of journalism and mass communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and CSSI researcher affiliate, has been selected for the 2026-2027 CSSI Faculty Research Fellowship. Ekdale will be advancing his project "Outliers and Amplifiers: Understanding How People and Platforms Drive Political Polarization."
Read about Ekdale's selection. | | | | CSSI affiliate Ashley Rila, clinical assistant professor of special education in the College of Education, studies burnout experiences of school staff, including paraeducators, in Iowa, where critical shortages of these professionals persist. Last summer, Rila participated in CSSI’s Summer Researcher-in-Residence program, which gave her dedicated time and space to develop her manuscript on burnout among paraeducators.
Read the feature on Ashley Rila. | | | CSSI’s research services team is helping researchers focus on what they do best – social science. Whether they’re assisting University of Iowa faculty in refining their project proposal, helping them navigate administrative components of the research process, or designing and executing web and telephone surveys, they help relieve the administrative burden that comes with research.
Learn about the support the team provides. | |
CSSI's Social Science Methods Series
Thursday, March 5 | 2:00pm to 3:30pm | Social Sciences Research Building
Whether you are a new researcher or a seasoned veteran, chances are you’re working with research data. Small changes to your data management practices can make a significant impact during research, and save time and effort when you are ready to share the results. In this session you’ll learn about resources and practical steps you can take to organize and document your data during research, and how to increase the impact of your research while meeting publisher and funder expectations for sharing your data. Employing these practices will ensure that everyone, including you, can understand and work with your data in the weeks, months, and years to come.
Wednesday, March 11 | 11:00am to 1:00pm | Social Sciences Research Building
Introduction to Social Network Analysis with R will introduce attendees to concepts of social network analysis by illustration. This in-person course will walk through R code, learning what the code does and introducing network concepts along the way. Attendees will leave with knowledge of commonly used R packages useful for network analysis. Beginner R knowledge is recommended.
Friday, March 27 | 10:00am to 12:00pm | Virtual
This virtual workshop introduces factor analysis models to help participants better understand the methodologies used to develop scales and measures in research. Familiarity with general linear models (such as ANOVA and linear regression) is recommended, but no prior knowledge regarding factor analysis is required. The workshop will focus primarily on confirmatory factor analysis and its application to survey methodology. This is a virtual workshop and will be held over Zoom.
Tuesday, March 31 | 2:00pm to 3:30pm | Virtual
This virtual workshop will introduce how to visualize data in multiple ways using Stata. Various data visualization examples will be demonstrated during the workshop. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to create and edit presentation or publication quality visualizations (e.g., bar graphs, box plots, scatterplots) using Stata code. This is an introductory workshop appropriate for those with only basic familiarity with Stata. Example code will be provided.
Other Opportunities
What does it really take to grow from managing one grant to sustaining two or three at the same time? Hosted by the Office of the Vice President for Research, this in-person panel will take place on Tuesday, April 7 from 2:30pm-3:30pm in the College of Public Health Building and will explore the benefits and challenges of scaling a research portfolio, including increased impact and independence alongside the risks of burnout, overcommitment, and administrative overload.
NEH Fellowships are competitive awards granted to individual scholars pursuing projects that embody exceptional research, rigorous analysis, and clear writing. Applications must clearly articulate a project’s value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both.
- Maximum award amount: $60,000 ($5,000 per month)
- Expected output: Book; Critical Edition; Digital Resource or Publication; Other Scholarly Resource; Peer-reviewed Article; Translation with annotations or critical apparatus
- Period of performance: Six to twelve months
The 2026 Fellowships competition will only accept projects for research in American history and culture and Western civilization.
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