Research, Policy & Practice
Research, Policy & Practice
The Keough School strives for a high level of integration among the work of academic researchers, policy experts, and practitioners for the purpose of generating new knowledge and eliciting practical insights and solutions.
This dialogic method of inquiry focuses on issues such as systemic poverty, war and other forms of deadly violence, disease, political oppression, corruption, environmental degradation, and other threats to dignity and human flourishing.
Our work builds on a foundation of nine institutes and centers of excellence in international research and education.
Faculty Research
As renowned scholars, practitioners, and visionaries, Keough School faculty are trained in over 15 different academic disciplines.
Integration Lab
The Keough School’s Integration Lab (i-Lab) engages students, faculty, and global partners in collaborative, field-based research on global issues.
Washington Office
The Keough School’s Washington Office focuses on real-time impact, representing Notre Dame at the epicenter of global engagement.
Kellogg Institute policy and practice labs bridge academia and policy, promote research impact
Pulte Institute grant work translates evidence into practice with global development partners
Kroc Institute research includes the world's largest collection of comparative data on instrastate peace agreements
Keough School Collaborative Research Areas
- Addressing global fragility by connecting Keough School faculty and policy professionals with government agencies, including USAID and the Departments of Defense and State, to support the US government’s implementation of the Global Fragility Act of 2019 (GFA).
Recently published Keough School policy papers related to the GFA include Principles and Methodologies for Strategic Monitoring in Fragile States and The Role of Religious Engagement in Implementing the Global Fragility Act.
- Advancing democratization through peace processes and peace accords by bringing together two established research projects within the Keough School — the Varieties of Democracy project of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies and the Peace Accords Matrix project of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
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Promoting transparency in governance by establishing the first-ever Presidential Transition Index—a research program initiated by former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough to assess and monitor presidential transitions in real time, and to identify areas of vulnerability that could impact the health of global democracy.
- Addressing climate change by connecting Keough School policy professionals, engineers, and scientists with specialists in the Pulte Institute for Global Development, Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), and Environmental Change Initiative to explore technically sound, scientifically rigorous, and ethically responsible responses to the social and environmental challenges posed by global climate change while supporting sustainable approaches to environmental management.
- Increasing understanding of migration and the rising tide of people displaced by war and environmental degradation, drawing on multidisciplinary expertise within the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies, the Kellogg Institute’s Ford Program, and the Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights to explore what combination of government, civil society, and corporate practices best eases the plight of migrants and refugees around the world.
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Promoting peaceful, inclusive societies through effective, accountable institutions by establishing a Toward Goal 16 working group. This Keough School working group examines the conditions under which social and political action—from social movements and transnational advocacy networks to community empowerment efforts and citizen consultations—contribute to effective change processes, particularly those related to inclusive and accountable governance.
- Reducing poverty and inequality by connecting faculty and researchers with private sector partners within the McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business and the Pulte Institute for Global Development, to collaborate and explore issues such as the future of work.
- Engaging religion for the common good by examining its role in the present-day migration and ecological crises, as well as in the public discourses of media misinformation, through the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion and the Kroc Institute’s Contending Modernities research program.
- Connecting peace and development work by establishing the Afghan Peace and Development Research Program, a platform to support and amplify the voices of Afghan scholars and practitioners, with support from the Keough School’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and Pulte Institute for Global Development.
Student Research Opportunities
The Keough School brings together nine international institutes and centers across the University of Notre Dame. Their travel and research grants provide students the opportunity to explore global affairs in the country of their choosing, or apply skills in hands-on research and language study programs in the US and overseas.
To learn more, visit the undergraduate research and internships page or visit the various institute websites.
A global research institution
The Keough School contributes to and benefits from a vast network of resources across the University of Notre Dame system.
Notre Dame Research supports and encourages innovation in more than twenty core facilities and resources, as well as in a number of key areas of research, including cancer, environmental change, global health, and many more, with faculty finding their homes in one of Notre Dame’s seven colleges or schools.