Most - if not all - of the research conducted at the AISSR concerns urgent issues of social and political controversy – from migration and belonging, to global health, to environmental sustainability, to urban quality-of-life, to global terrorism. AISSR research and publications often inform new policy agendas in the Netherlands, Europe and the world.

We directly promote societal impact in four distinct ways:

Dissemination of scholarly findings

This involves activity to share and spread AISSR researchers’ core research findings to a broader audience of stakeholders, beyond our academic peers.  We want the research to be seen, heard and listened to. This includes press releases, interviews to the press, videos, animations, social media and the annual AISSR Harvest Day: our landmark event that brings together social scientists and organizations to showcase and discuss the 'harvest' of their research.

Direct societal education

This involves various educational seminars, lectures, roundtables, media appearances and other events in which AISSR academics educate broader audiences — usually the general public but sometimes more targeted stakeholder audiences distinct from our academic peers — about our work and expertise. The AISSR is, for example, an active member of the academic-cultural platform SPUI25.

Network memberships

This involves formal or informal networks, where research is carried out in direct cooperation with stakeholders. All externally funded research projects and all research related events are published on this website.

Spinoffs and new organizations

This involves taking research enterprise and intellectual property and using it to start-up a new activity or organization beyond basic AISSR university affiliations. An example of such a spinoff is the Public Mediation Initiative.