About

The BUILD Research Network connects researchers, policymakers, and funders working to improve housing, energy, and transportation systems.

The Better Urbanism, Infrastructure, and Land-use Decisions (BUILD) Research Network is a nonpartisan network of researchers dedicated to improving state capacity and accelerating strong, sustainable infrastructure development and economic growth. Our focus is housing, energy, and transportation infrastructure. BUILD connects researchers across disciplines to policymakers and funders in order to generate research that helps policymakers make better, evidence-informed decisions.

The BUILD Research Network’s overarching goal is to improve the quality of public decision-making in housing, energy, and transportation infrastructure by producing policy-relevant research and facilitating its uptake by decision-makers.

BUILD will:

  • Incentivize and enable academic researchers to produce research and associated public goods, such as datasets and policy briefs, with high expected social value
  • Connect researchers with policymakers and funders to identify, answer, and disseminate findings about priority research question
  • Grow the next generation of researchers through curriculum development, mentoring, and professional development
  • Maintain openness to researchers and policymakers without regard to political affiliation


The BUILD Research Network is funded by Arnold Ventures and is administered by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). For inquiries, contact build@ssrc.org.

Funded by Arnold Ventures

A Program of the Social Science Research Council