The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College sponsors the annual Dissertation Fellowship Program in the field of retirement or disability research.  The program is funded by the U.S. Social Security Administration and provides funding opportunities for doctoral candidates to pursue cutting-edge research on retirement or disability issues.

Research focal areas include:

• Disparities by Race and Ethnicity
  
• Decline in SSDI and SSI Applications
• Improving Communication and Outreach
• Economic Security of SSA Beneficiaries
• Improving Service Delivery
• Return-to-Work
• Informing Trust Fund Projections

For more information on focal areas, see https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/FY2023-Focal-Areas.pdf#page=2.

As with last year, two topics are relevant to all the focal areas and should be considered when developing all research proposals:

1. Racial equity and support for underserved communities. SSA encourages all researchers to consider equity—including the structural barriers that may contribute to disparate outcomes among people who have been historically underserved, marginalized, or adversely affected by persistent poverty—as they develop their proposals.
2. The COVID-19 pandemic and how it impacts our programs and the populations we serve. 

CRR strongly encourages research proposals that draw from a variety of academic disciplines (including, but not limited to, economics, sociology, demography, public health, public policy and administration, and psychology); utilize a variety of quantitative and/or qualitative approaches/methods, including community-engaged research; and draw from (or develop) new data sources.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)