ISSR Scholars | Announcing the 2025-2026 ISSR Scholars

The Institute for Social Science Research is pleased to announce the selection of the 2025-26 ISSR Scholars. This year's cohort brings an especially strong focus to vital questions in public policy, democrat inclusion, and public opinion. These six faculty members were selected from a competitive field of applicants, based on the strength and complementarity of their proposals to develop important new research spanning cultural, economic, environmental and political domains.

ISSR Director Jason Kamilar, Professor of Anthropology and a 2017 ISSR Scholar himself, notes the strength of social sciences across the disciplines at UMass, and credits the Scholars program with supporting faculty to successfully obtain grant funding that can advance their research impact and careers, “ISSR Scholars are leading innovative research projects on a diverse array of topics including, the impact of war on public health, the social dynamics of weight related behaviors in children, and the effects of tax credits on wages and employment. ISSR is thrilled to launch work with this new cohort of ground-breaking social scientists."

With support from ISSR and their departments, this year's Scholars will participate in a year-long biweekly seminar that helps each of them develop a strong research grant proposal. In addition to attending in-depth sessions on grant writing and receiving valuable peer feedback on their proposals, ISSR Scholars are given unique opportunities to consult with nationally recognized experts about their proposals.  All of the faculty benefit from intensive support from ISSR's Research Methodology and Grant Support professionals, and from the interdisciplinary communication and learning that occurs as part of the program. The time, resources and relationships available to ISSR Scholars has had a demonstrated impact on promising faculty's careers, allowing Scholars to develop a successful large grant proposal by the end of their Scholar year - and raise over $38 million in research funding since 2012. 

The mission of ISSR is to promote excellence in social science research. One of its most important goals, served by the Scholars Program, is to strengthen existing social science infrastructure on campus in order to stimulate high-quality scholarship and build capacity for externally sponsored research grants.

Learn more about the ISSR Scholars program.