The College of Social Sciences and Public Policy (COSSPP) supports a wide range of faculty and student research across its departments, interdisciplinary programs and multiple research centers. The office of the Associate Dean for Research promotes research endeavors across all college units and seeks to increase the amount and scope of funded projects being conducted by COSSPP faculty.
Support is provided through programming thematic workshops and trainings, engaging in faculty outreach and mentorship, offering seed funding programs and fostering collaboration across campus. Moreover, we seek to increase the funded research capacity of our faculty through facilitating college-wide research initiatives, as well as by forging interdisciplinary partnerships with other FSU colleges, state and local agencies, federal entities and other collaborators.
Highlights
We are very proud of our faculty’s research accomplishments and the college’s research support efforts.
- During Fiscal Year 2025-26, COSSPP faculty participated in 36 externally funded research projects with total awards of $7.2 million. 29 of the 36 projects were new awards in FY26, and funding was received from Federal (84%), state (11%), and other (5%) entities.
- During Fiscal Year 2025-26, COSSPP faculty participated in the development of 68 unique proposal submissions. These funding requests totaled $25.7 million, and they targeted Federal (57%), State (6%) and Other (37%) entities.
- Recent awards to COSSPP faculty include:
- Dr. Carr, National Bureau of Economic Research through National Institute on Aging, “The Role of Job Quality in Cognitive Risk and Retirement Timing.”
- Dr. Homan, National Institute of Child Health, “Multilevel Factors Influencing Maternal and Infant Health.”
- Mr. Smith, Florida Department of Health through U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Florida Oversample Survey of Children’s Health.”
- Dr. Uejio, NSF, “Scaling Earth Observations to Coproduce Heat Knowledge and Adaptations.”
Research News
Read our College’s research news here!
COSSPP Academy of Scholars
The College of Social Sciences and Public Policy is pleased to introduce the members of the COSSPP Academy of Scholars. The academy members for the 2026-2027 academic year are Amanda Driscoll (Political Science), Will Butler (Urban and Regional Planning), Miles Taylor (Sociology), and Tony Kwasnica (Economics). Academy of Scholars members organize and host four research/scholarship-oriented events for college faculty, serve as members of the proposal review panel for the COSSPP Faculty Research Support Grant Programs, and provide general advice on research initiatives to the COSSPP Associate Dean for Research.
About the COSSPP Research Team
Associate Dean for Research Christopher Reenock received his Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University in 2001 and joined the Florida State faculty in 2003. Dr. Reenock’s research examines how institutional and policy choices shape the performance, resilience, and long-term sustainability of democratic systems. His work spans the fields of public policy and comparative politics. In public policy, he studies how problems of cooperation and delegation influence the implementation and effectiveness of government programs. In comparative politics, he investigates the institutional arrangements that can protect democratic regimes from erosion and failure.
Laura Kitchens is the Pre-Award Grants Specialist for the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. She has worked at Florida State University since 2014 and has been serving in her role in the Dean’s office since 2018. Laura has over 19 years of experience working on Contracts and Grants. You can contact her at lkitchens@fsu.edu.
Crystal Workman is the Post-Award Grants Specialist for the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. She began serving in her role in the Dean’s office during 2025. Crystal has over 20 years of experience working on Contracts and Grants. You can contact her at cw25l@fsu.edu.
