NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation on Domestic Radicalization and Violent Extremism | O NIJ 2023 171569

Opportunity Information: Apply for O NIJ 2023 171569

The NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation on Domestic Radicalization and Violent Extremism grant opportunity, offered by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) under the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), funds rigorous research and evaluation projects focused on domestic radicalization in the United States and on practical, evidence-based ways to prevent and intervene before violence occurs. The solicitation is framed around OJP priorities that emphasize civil rights and racial equity, access to justice, support for victims and justice-impacted individuals, stronger community safety, protection from evolving threats, and improved trust between communities and law enforcement. Within that broader mission, NIJ is looking for studies that deepen the field's understanding of how radicalization develops domestically and what strategies actually work to reduce the risk of extremist violence.

NIJ is soliciting proposals across four main topic areas. First, it seeks research that directly informs terrorism prevention efforts, meaning projects that can help practitioners and policymakers better identify risks, understand pathways into extremism, and design prevention approaches grounded in credible evidence rather than assumptions. Second, NIJ is interested in research on communications, including how extremist content and narratives spread, how people are influenced by online and offline messaging ecosystems, and what approaches may be effective in countering extremist information without causing additional harm. Third, the solicitation calls for research on disengagement, deradicalization, and reintegration for individuals incarcerated for terrorism-related offenses, with an emphasis on what supports, services, supervision strategies, or community-based approaches can reduce recidivism and improve safe reentry outcomes. Fourth, NIJ is seeking evaluations of programs and practices intended to prevent acts of terrorism, which can include process and outcome evaluations designed to measure whether interventions are implemented as intended and whether they produce measurable reductions in risk or harm.

A notable emphasis in this solicitation is NIJ's interest in projects examining domestic radicalization to violent white supremacist extremism and anti-government extremism. The goal is not only to document or describe these phenomena, but to identify intervention and prevention strategies that are demonstrably effective and can be translated into real-world policy and practice. NIJ also signals that it values multidisciplinary teams, encouraging applicants to combine complementary expertise and methods, such as criminology, psychology, sociology, communications, data science, public health, and program evaluation, especially when those combinations improve the rigor and applicability of findings.

The opportunity includes several strict safeguards and funding exclusions designed to protect human subjects, privacy, and civil liberties. NIJ will not fund projects that intentionally introduce, expose, or disseminate extremist materials or propaganda to study participants, which rules out research designs that would deliberately show or distribute extremist content as part of an experiment or intervention. NIJ also will not fund applications that lack an explicit plan to anonymize data and personally identifiable information, making privacy protection a baseline requirement rather than an optional feature. In addition, NIJ states it will not support deceptive data collection practices or non-privatized data collection approaches, and it will not fund projects that provide identifiable research data to law enforcement or investigative agencies. These conditions are meant to prevent research participation from becoming a pathway to surveillance or investigative use, and to reinforce that the work must be conducted with clear ethical boundaries and strong data protections.

NIJ indicates it will give special consideration to proposals that meaningfully engage people with lived experience connected to the subject matter. This can include justice practitioners, community members, crime victims, service providers, and individuals with justice system involvement. The intent is to encourage research that is grounded in practical realities, informed by communities most affected, and more likely to produce findings that can be implemented responsibly. NIJ also encourages applicants to incorporate consideration and measurement of diversity, discrimination, and bias, including across age, gender and gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation, when applicable to the proposed study. In practice, that means NIJ is looking for research designs that can detect unequal impacts, document bias where it occurs, and avoid producing conclusions that overlook or exacerbate disparities.

For projects that involve partnerships with criminal justice agencies or other organizations, NIJ expects formal documentation and data stewardship commitments. Applications proposing agency partnerships should include letters of support signed by appropriate decision-making authorities. These letters should acknowledge that de-identified data produced or used through the NIJ-funded award will be archived with the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) at the end of the project. If awarded, grantees are expected to have formal agreements in place with partner agencies by January 1, 2024, and those agreements must include provisions that enable compliance with NIJ data archiving requirements. The solicitation also clarifies that when multiple agencies collaborate using federal funds, only one entity can apply as the primary applicant; other partners must participate as subrecipients, and the applicant is expected to conduct the majority of the proposed work.

A major priority in this funding opportunity is dissemination that leads to real-world change. NIJ is seeking robust, creative, multi-pronged dissemination plans, ideally built around strategic partnerships with organizations and professional associations that can translate results into policy and practice. Special consideration is offered to proposals that allocate at least 15 percent of the requested funding to these dissemination and implementation-focused strategies, and applicants are expected to show this commitment clearly in the budget documents. This focus signals NIJ's intent to fund work that does not just produce publications, but also produces usable guidance, tools, and actionable insights that can improve prevention and intervention efforts.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary grant opportunity (CFDA 16.560) in the science, technology, and research and development category. Eligibility is broad, including state, county, and local governments; public and private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribes and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status; and for-profit organizations (including small businesses). The opportunity number is O-NIJ-2023-171569, it was created on February 7, 2023, and the original closing date was April 24, 2023. The listed award ceiling is up to $5,500,000, signaling support for projects that may be substantial in scope, especially those involving complex evaluations, multi-site designs, or extensive dissemination and stakeholder engagement components.

• The National Institute of Justice in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NIJ FY23 Research and Evaluation on Domestic Radicalization and Violent Extremism" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.560.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-02-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-04-24. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $5,500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Unrestricted.

Apply for O NIJ 2023 171569

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