NIJ Research and Evaluation of AI for Criminal Justice
Supports research teams and institutions for NIJ Research and Evaluation of AI for Criminal in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and defense innovation.
⚠This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research and development agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, funds rigorous evaluation of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools deployed across the criminal justice system through its Research and Evaluation of Artificial Intelligence for Criminal Justice Purposes solicitation (O-NIJ-2025-172615). The program targets empirical studies of AI applications in law enforcement (predictive policing, facial recognition, gunshot detection), courts (risk assessment instruments), corrections (classification tools), and forensic analysis. NIJ emphasizes research on efficacy, algorithmic bias, disparate impact, and real-world operational outcomes. A companion solicitation covering emerging technology more broadly (O-NIJ-2025-172616) shares the same timeline.
This solicitation uses an atypical two-stage process for NIJ: applicants must first submit a Letter of Intent (approximately June 15, 2026), after which NIJ invites selected applicants to submit a full proposal (approximately July 15, 2026). A pre-application webinar was held May 26, 2026. Eligible applicants include nonprofits, universities, research organizations, and for-profit entities registered in the United States; individuals are ineligible. Award amounts are detailed in the full PDF solicitation and were not captured in structured fields at catalog entry.
Competitive proposals combine methodological rigor — ideally experimental or quasi-experimental designs — with access to real-world criminal justice data and operational partnerships with agencies that have deployed the AI tools under study. Interdisciplinary teams spanning computer science, criminology, and law produce stronger applications. Applicants should address how their research will inform policy decisions about AI procurement, deployment standards, or auditing practices, and should anticipate NIJ's interest in findings that are generalizable beyond a single jurisdiction.
Rigorous research evaluating AI and machine learning tools used in law enforcement, courts, corrections, and forensic analysis, with emphasis on efficacy, algorithmic bias, and fairness.
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