The NSF-Census Research Network (NCRN) consists of eight nodes, each comprised of researchers conducting innovative, high-impact, cross-disciplinary investigations of theory, methodology and computational tools of interest and significance to the Census Bureau, the federal statistical system and the broader research community. These nodes are located at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Colorado at Boulder/University of Tennessee, Cornell University, Duke University/National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS), the University of Michigan, the University of Missouri, the University of Nebraska and Northwestern University. The NSF/Census Research Network Coordination Office (NCRN-CO), operated jointly by NISS and Cornell University, catalyzes and fosters communication and collaboration among the nodes of the NCRN, as well as focuses the network's relationships with multiple external stakeholder communities. These communities include federal statistical agencies, researchers in academia and the private sector, professional associations, international bodies, and the press and public. Among NCRN-CO activities are organizing semi-annual meetings of NCRN researchers; facilitating information sharing within the NCRN, using advanced communication and collaboration tools; supporting NCRN engagement with staff from the Census Bureau; assisting and coordinating educational activities at NCRN nodes; conducting workshops and seminars that disseminate the research products of the NCRN and engender feedback and engagement of non-NCRN researchers; and maintaining a website that provides access to research findings and their implications for a broad and diverse set of communities.
The NCRN-CO is a value-added activity, helping the NCRN nodes to leverage each other's research achievements and leading to scientific and societal impact that exceeds the sum of the individual impacts. The NCRN-CO is the public face of the NCRN, through paths such as the website www.ncrn.info, quarterly newsletters and an NCRN-wide annual report, research briefs, news releases, special sessions at professional society meetings, and special issues of leading journals. The NCRN-CO aids the nodes in advancing the careers of postdoctorals and graduate students, as an investment in the future of official statistics in the United States.
