Advancing Social Science Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration

The Center for Social Science Innovation (CSSI) is the University of Iowa’s only Iowa Board of Regents approved premier interdisciplinary social science research center.

CSSI provides faculty, staff, students, and community members across the state of Iowa and beyond the resources and support they need to investigate the most important issues facing our society.

OUR CORE PRIORITIES

6 +

research incubation programs hosted annually

Researchers sit around a table

$26.9 M

In funds awarded in the
past five years

Old capitol building with flowers

80 +

Research projects supported in the past five years

2024 Summer Program cohort.

We're here to help

CSSI provides research and grant development support for University of Iowa faculty, staff, and graduate students, as well as external partners within the community. 

From survey creation and distribution, data access and management, to helping you craft a competitive grant proposal, our team is ready and capable to assist you with all of your project needs.

Explore current and past projects

 

Brian Ekdale and Mainul Islam consultation

Research Services

Browse our research services to learn how we may be able to help support your project. 

Kris Ackerson and Bingbing Zhang talk

Grant Development

Identify suitable funding opportunities, craft a competitive proposal, and more with the help of our grant development support staff.  

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Events and Workshops

CSSI Workshop: Geospatial Data Analysis with Caglar Koylu, PhD promotional image

CSSI Workshop: Geospatial Data Analysis with Caglar Koylu, PhD

Thursday, September 18, 2025 1:30pm to 3:30pm
Social Sciences Research Building
This workshop is designed for beginners eager to develop practical skills in spatial data processing, spatial analysis and statistics, and mapping through a real-world case study on nitrate contamination and social vulnerability. Participants will also learn to use Google Colab for executing and collaborating on spatial data science workflows, including running Jupyter notebooks in a cloud-based environment and processing large datasets.Caglar Koylu, associate professor in the School of Earth...
Social Determinants of Mental and Physical Health Micro Lab promotional image

Social Determinants of Mental and Physical Health Micro Lab

Wednesday, September 24, 2025 9:00am to 11:00am
Social Sciences Research Building
Are you interested in being part of an innovative, interdisciplinary team that explores the research frontiers in the social determinants of mental and physical health?Join us for the Social Determinants of Mental and Physical Health Micro Lab on Wednesday, September 24 from 9am-11am in the Social Sciences Research Building, where University of Iowa (UI) researchers across disciplines will come together to generate bold ideas and forge new collaborations. Whether your expertise lies in social...
CSSI Workshop: Data to Maps – Using ArcGis to transform data into maps with Mainul Islam promotional image

CSSI Workshop: Data to Maps – Using ArcGis to transform data into maps with Mainul Islam

Wednesday, October 8, 2025 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Virtual
This workshop is designed for beginners to introduce them to the power of combining non-geospatial data with geospatial data in ArcGIS Pro. We will cover both attributes and spatial JOINs, showing how to convert tabular (non-geospatial) data with spatial layers to create meaningful maps. Through hands-on activities, participants will practice using the JOIN tool, work with IPUMS data, and learn how to visualize updated datasets for social science research and beyond. Participants will be given...
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Questions?

Contact our team for more information about our programs, services, and professional development opportunities.

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