The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is the research, development and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, dedicated to improving knowledge and understanding of crime and justice issues through science.

Nancy Rodriguez, PhD, NIJ Director, has defined a strong commitment on the part of NIJ towards building the field and investing in the development of researchers’ careers as a cornerstone of her leadership agenda. While NIJ has a long history of making such investments, the level of attention, the size of the investment, the number of opportunities and the planning for the future development of this element of NIJ's work has substantially increased under the leadership of Dr Rodriguez. Included is the strong commitment to diversifying the field of researchers involved in Criminal Justice Science in all possible ways from gender, race and ethnicity to the range and spectrum of fields of physical, social and behavioural science that see the opportunity to contribute to the success …