What We Do
The Russell Sage Foundation was established by Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” RSF funds social science research that extends the methods, data, and theories of the social sciences as a means of better documenting and understanding the nation’s most pressing social, political, and economic problems. The foundation supports visiting scholars in residence and publishes books and a journal under its own imprint. It also funds researchers at other institutions and supports programs intended to develop new generations of social scientists.
Funding Innovative Social Science Research
RSF funds research projects in four principal programs—Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context; the Future of Work; Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration; and Social, Political, and Economic Inequality—and in a number of special initiatives. RSF also hosts working groups that develop and cultivate original social science research in new or understudied fields.
Visiting Scholars, Researchers, and Journalists
The foundation’s Visiting Scholar Program, first established over thirty years ago, is a unique opportunity for social scientists to pursue research projects that investigate essential questions on social, economic, and political life in the United States while in residence at RSF. The program fosters the exchange of ideas in a vibrant interdisciplinary environment and promotes collaborations between researchers.
The foundation has also established shorter term residencies for Visiting Researchers and Visiting Journalists who work alongside RSF’s visiting scholars on projects related to the foundation’s principal research areas.
Visiting Scholars Program
A year or semester long fellowship for scholars to pursue their writing and research.
Visiting Journalists Program
An opportunity for journalists to work in residence at the Foundation for a period of 2-4 months alongside resident Visiting Scholars.
Visiting Researchers Program
A short-term fellowship for scholars who are conducting research relevant to the Foundation’s priority areas.
Publications
As the principal American foundation devoted exclusively to the social sciences, Russell Sage continues to make a substantial contribution to the social science literature through our book publishing program and RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, our peer-reviewed, open-access journal of original empirical research articles by both established and emerging scholars.
