Northwestern University, Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research & Science

Established in 1851, Northwestern University is committed to excellent teaching, innovative research and the personal and intellectual growth of its students in a diverse academic community. The Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research & Science (CORNERS) is housed at Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research (IPR). CORNERS conducts rigorous research into the ways that neighborhood science can be used to understand and address gun violence and other pressing social issues. Working closely with community and government partners through an engaged research process, CORNERS collects and analyzes a wide range of data on complex networks of residents, institutions, and organizations. This award provides flexible support to CORNERS to: 1) conduct research and evaluation aimed at preventing gun violence and improving neighborhood safety; and 2) support community and civic partners across the city with rapid, data-driven analysis to inform their programmatic decision making, improve their service delivery, and enhance their operations.

Established in 1851, Northwestern University is committed to excellent teaching, innovative research and the personal and intellectual growth of its students in a diverse academic community. The Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research & Science (CORNERS) is housed at Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research (IPR). CORNERS focuses on conducting rigorous and cutting-edge research into the ways that neighborhood science can be used to understand and address gun violence and other pressing social issues. Working closely with community and government partners through an engaged research process, CORNERS collects and analyzes a wide range of data on the complex networks of residents, institutions, and organizations with the knowledge, experiences, and voices of communities and community members in the scientific process. It then integrates that information with data from agencies and organizations to better understand and develop solutions to neighborhood challenges. Their research illustrates how social relationships shape what happens across entire communities, and how the power of networks can be leveraged to improve health and safety for more equitable neighborhoods.

This award provides flexible support to CORNERS to partner with local research institutions and community organizations to establish a community of practice to facilitate collaboration and shared learning among researchers and government and community leaders from across the fields of criminal justice and community violence intervention to help inform and advance public dialogue with key stakeholders who are working to improve public safety in Chicago.