NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Violent Crime: Gangs and Organized Criminal Groups (Domestic and Transnational)

Summary

This is a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Violent Crime: Gangs and Organized Criminal Groups (Domestic and Transnational). This opportunity supports research and evaluation proposals on gang and organized criminal group-related violent crime, including domestic and transnational. Projects funded through this NOFO will study topics that inform law enforcement strategies and operations to effectuate EO 14157, “Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations And Specially Designated Global Terrorist;” Chapter 4 of the 2026 National Drug Control Strategy, “Global Campaign Against Transnational Criminal Threats;” and other related threats, including those posed by firearm, human, and other trafficking-related violence. NIJ seeks rigorous evaluations of new or existing strategies intended to reduce violent crime associated with gangs and organized criminal groups or networks and are led by or collaborate with law enforcement agencies. Evaluations should consider how individual, group, organizational, situational, or other relevant contextual factors interact with the strategies being studied. NIJ encourages evaluation designs such as randomized controlled trials (when feasible), mixed methods research, quasi-experimental designs, matched comparisons, and other appropriate methodologies. Process evaluations should be incorporated to support interpretation of program implementation and outcomes. Outcome evaluations must focus on violent crime measures such as murder, aggravated assault, and robbery along with relevant intermediate and process outcomes. Multi-site and cross-jurisdictional evaluations are encouraged.