Household surveys are a vital source of information for understanding economic well-being.  But traditional survey methods often fail to capture accurate data on income and government program participation, particularly for low-income and minority groups. This grant supports research by Derek Wu at the University of Virginia to improve the nation’s official income and poverty statistics by linking major household surveys with administrative records. The team will develop new coverage-adjustment methods using federal and state administrative data to fill gaps and correct inaccuracies in survey samples. They will create imputation models to replace misreported survey entries with values derived from administrative records. The project will reconcile inconsistencies between surveys and administrative data to produce more accurate estimates of household income, poverty rates, and other key economic indicators.  The project’s expected output includes revised survey weights, imputed statistical results, and openly shared methods to enhance data accuracy for research on poverty, labor force participation, and social benefit programs.

This grant supports research led by Christopher Snyder of Dartmouth College, in collaboration with Michael Kremer and the University of Chicago’s Market Shaping Accelerator, to explore how microeconomic theory can inform the design of mechanisms for funding innovation. The team will compare “push” strategies, such as research grants, with “pull” strategies, like prizes or Advanced Market Commitments, to identify optimal approaches for driving socially beneficial innovation.  Beyond cataloguing examples that seem to work under certain circumstances, the goal here  is to develop a comprehensive theory for explaining how and when to design better incentives both for the generation and uptake of new ideas.  Outputs will include academic papers and practical frameworks to fund innovation effectively, given real-world constraints faced by funding agencies and philanthropists.

Research led by Jules Polonetsky at the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) will study the implications for eldercare of “AgeTech.”   This includes AI-powered monitoring systems, assistive robotics, and other caregiving technologies. The project will document how seniors and caregivers use AgeTech, assess privacy risks and economic barriers, and analyze regulatory approaches in the U.S. and abroad. The research team will catalog existing and emerging AgeTech products and services, conduct surveys and interviews with seniors and caregivers, and examine global policy frameworks to identify best practices. The study will also evaluate how AgeTech adoption is influenced by cost, privacy concerns, and caregiving needs, using systematic reviews and survey-based analysis. Basic findings necessary for understanding the economics of AgeTech will be shared through policy reports, academic publications, and public engagement activities. The project will produce a taxonomy, educational materials for seniors and caregivers, and recommendations for regulators and industry stakeholders.

A multi-institutional team led by Gerald Marschke from the State University of New York at Albany will link Census Bureau data on businesses and workers with the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) data collected by NSF.  The project will produce a new dataset tracking the employment of PhD holders and use it to analyze their impact on regional economies. The research team will integrate 20 years of SED data with longitudinal Census data to document where PhD recipients work, how they contribute to firm growth and innovation, and whether their presence influences wages and economic activity. To estimate causal effects, the study will use event studies and shift-share instrumental variable techniques, leveraging funding shocks to PhD programs as a source of variation. The resulting data will be made available to researchers through the Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC) network, and findings will be shared through academic publications and conference presentations.

Advances in Artificial Intelligence are transforming business processes and labor market dynamics.  A large research team coordinated by Christophe Combemale of Carnegie Mellon University will compile new evidence about the impact of AI on the workforce by focusing on four interrelated themes. Adoption: Researchers will analyze how AI adoption alters business processes, job roles, and skill requirements using data on job postings, occupational requirements, and firm-level technology adoption. Transition: Researchers at UCLA will use 20 years of administrative worker and firm-level data from California’s Unemployment Insurance system to study the impact of AI adoption on employment, wages, and policy interventions such as job training and unemployment insurance. Geography: Researchers will develop an “Observatory of US Job Disruption,” a national dataset and online visualization tool providing real-time, county-level unemployment risk data disaggregated by occupation and industry. Talent: By leveraging JEDx, a workforce data platform developed by the Chamber of Commerce Foundation, researchers will evaluate how employer-provided data can improve estimates of AI’s impact on labor markets, identify emerging skill shortages, and enhance workforce development strategies. The project will produce academic papers, policy reports, data tools that include the Observatory of US Job Disruption.  The research is expected to inform workforce training policies and provide empirical evidence to guide AI-related labor policy decisions.

This grant supports awards for the second of three Sustainable Minerals, Metals, and Materials (SM3) Scialog conferences, to be held in September 2025. The SM3 Scialog brings together top early-career faculty from diverse fields to develop collaborative research projects addressing critical challenges in material sustainability. At these conferences, scientists work together in small teams to craft research proposals that are then presented and reviewed, with the most promising ideas receiving seed funding. The first SM3 conference in 2024 was exceptionally successful. Participants generated a record of 36 research proposals, with seven selected for funding. The Sloan Foundation supported four of these projects focused on reducing resource-intensive mining processes, utilizing minerals from unconventional sources, and improving mineral separation techniques. This grant will support 10 awards to SM3 Scialog Fellows on winning proposals, with each Fellow receiving $66,000. While some projects may go on to secure additional funding in the future, the primary goal of this effort is building lasting networks among early-career researchers. A final SM3 conference is planned for 2026.

This grant supports the Colorado School of Mines' new Native American Mining and Energy Sovereignty (NAMES) initiative, which addresses the issue of critical mineral development in close partnership and engagement with Tribal communities. This topic is particularly salient, as over 70% of domestic lithium, cobalt, copper, and nickel reserves in the US are located on or within 35 miles of Tribal reservations. The NAMES initiative aims to bridge the gap between critical mineral mining expertise and Tribal sovereignty, acknowledging the complex history of resource extraction on Tribal lands. The grant will fund three key components, guided by an Advisory Council that will shape the initiative’s strategic direction. First, personnel support is provided for the NAMES Program Director position and a Program Administrator role for three years. Second, support is provided for the annual NAMES Symposium, which will be hosted on Tribal reservations and in close collaboration with Tribal leadership to ensure community participation. Finally, research outputs will be produced on the topics related to Indigenous communities and critical mineral development, including journal articles, policy papers, and opinion pieces. This support complements external funding provided to involve undergraduate and graduate students in the NAMES initiative.

The lack of regional and inter-regional transmission capacity to connect clean electricity generation sources to areas of high demand is a major challenge to the clean energy transition. Numerous studies have estimated that transmission capacity will need to increase dramatically to take full advantage of the growth of clean electricity sources that are planned to come online in the near future. However, building new transmission lines has proven to be politically and economically challenging. With this grant, researchers will study innovative approaches to increase electricity transmission capacity that go beyond building traditional new power lines. The team will explore two promising alternatives. The first is upgrading current power lines with advanced technologies to increase carrying capacity. The second is utilizing non-traditional rights-of-way—such as highways, rail corridors, and pipeline routes—to install high-voltage DC (HVDC) transmission lines, which can be more efficient for long-distance power transmission. The project consists of three phases: a comprehensive assessment of policy, economic and technological factors; in-depth analysis of specific interventions like HVDC installation; and creation of a multi-institution research consortium to advance this work. The team includes experts from multiple universities in behavioral science, public policy, energy modeling, and engineering, and industry practitioners from utilities and transmission operators will serve in advisory roles. The team plans to continue building out and expanding this interdisciplinary research network as it grows over time.

This grant provides support for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine's (NASEM) to implement a new Forum on Energy Systems Transformation and Decarbonization.  Unlike standard consensus committees, NASEM Forums offer the flexibility to respond quickly to emerging issues related to energy system decarbonization through workshops and other activities. The Forum will host annual public workshops, smaller closed meetings, and produce various outputs, all while providing networking and engagement opportunities for participants. Topics for Forum discussions may include issues like energy innovation, regional impacts of energy transformation, and the behavioral and economic dimensions of energy policies. In each of the next three years, the Forum will host at least one major public workshop and one smaller, closed meeting of Forum members. It will produce a summary workshop report following each public meeting, along with additional digital and print outputs as relevant. Beyond these tangible products, the Forum is designed to provide interactive engagement, networking, and community-building opportunities for the wide range of participants who join these events.

This grant renews support for the National Bureau of Economic Research's Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy (EEPE) initiative, an effort that connects researchers with policymakers on energy system decarbonization. The EEPE’s annual conference has become a cornerstone event for energy economists. This grant supports research paper generation and conference operations through 2028, when EEPE will reach its 10th anniversary. The program solicits policy-relevant research papers that might otherwise not be pursued, selecting six papers annually for presentation at the Washington, DC conference and then in subsequent publication by the University of Chicago Press. The conference attracts approximately 100 attendees, evenly split between policymakers from federal and state agencies and from academics. Early-career researchers value the opportunity to pursue policy-relevant questions, while government staff appreciate this rare, structured engagement with researchers. In this next cycle of funding, resources are provided to support graduate student researchers in attending this meeting. The grant will fund 24 original papers, four conferences, four published volumes, conference organization, and support for graduate student participation.