Research
Overview
The +Policy Network sponsors two competitive funded research programs, the flagship +Policy Fellow program and the newer Policy Scholar award. Applicants' proposals are reviewed and ranked by a group of stakeholders and affiliates based on their proposals' fit to the call, intellectual merit, interdisciplinary scope, likelihood of success and future potential for external funding. A key component of both research calls is the extent to and the ways in which the Fellow or Scholar extends policy-based thinking to new fields, new research teams, or develops new competencies that extend the applicant's domain of expertise related to policy.
Research Calls
The 2025-2026 call for policy research applications is currently open. | Click here to view
Research Products
Explore publications, presentations, white papers, and other works created by +Policy Fellows, Scholars, and affiliates. | Click here to access
+Policy Fellows
Structures and Machines: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Mapping the Policy Implications of Generative AI in Higher Education.
- Andrew Katz, Assistant Professor of Engineering Education
- Collaborator: Aditya Johri, Professor, Department of Information Sciences and Technology (George Mason University)
Increased Accessibility and Usability of Flood Hazard Models and Maps for Local Flood Hazard Policies, through Knowledge Co-Production
- Yang Zhang, Associate Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning
- Collaborator: Dr. Jennifer Irish, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Pain and Risk Assessment for Aging Rural Populations: Implications for Clinical Practice and Health Policy
- Huaiyang Zhong, Industrial Systems Engineering
A Policy Analysis Tool for Measuring the Effectiveness of Cycling Infrastructure in Blacksburg Area
- Md Sami Hasnine, Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Collaborator: Junghwan Kim (Geography)
Exploring AI Ethics Policy Concerns and Career Pathways of the AI Professionals with Policy Training Experience.
- Dayoung Kim, Engineering Education.
- Collaborators: Qin Zhu (Engineering Education) and Hoda Eldardiry (Computer Science).
Remotely sensed data, climate change and poverty: A Zimbabwean study.
- Jeffrey Alwang, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
- Collaborator: Brianna Posados (School of Plant and Environmental Sciences)
- Stakeholders: World Bank, Government of Zimbabwe.
Responsible innovation and governance of climate smart irrigation technologies in the Hindu Kush Himalayas.
- Maaz Gardezi, Sociology.
- Collaborators: Sumit Vij (University of Geneva, Sz); Ryan Stock (Northern Michigan University); Asif Ishtiaque (University of Michigan); Megan Schaefer.
Allotment and Individual Bank Accounts: Using Financial Records to Understand Land Dispossession.
- Melinda Miller, Economics & History.
- Collaborators: Matthew Gregg (Center for Indian Country Development, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis).
Understanding Incentives to Plant Trees in Urban Settings Using a Framed Field Experiment Approach.
- Stella Schons, Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation.
- Collaborator: Eric Wiseman (FREC).
Visualizing Policy: Making Chemical Governance Legible Through Deep Mapping.
- Jennifer Lawrence, Political Science.
- Collaborator: C.L. Bohannon (Landscape Archiecture).
- Theo Lim, Urban Affairs and Planning.
- Collaborators: John Fike, Ryan Stewart (School of Plant and Environmental Sciences); John Little, Sarah Fletcher (Compuer and Electrial Engineering); Quinn Thomas (Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation); (Morgan Rae Edwards, U Maryland Public Policy); Kyle Landseth (Langseth Engineering), Amanda Cuellar (B&D Engineering and Consulting LLC).
Advancing Invasive Species Science, Policy & Management.
- Todd Schenk, Urban Affairs and Planning.
- Collaborators: Jacob Barney, David Haak (School of Plant and Environmental Sciences); Scott Salom (Entomology); Bryan Brown (Biological Sciences).
Redistricting Analytics at Virginia Tech (RAVT).
- Nicolas Goedert, Political Science.
- Collaborators: Robert Hildebrand (Industrial and Systems Engineering); Laurel Travis, (Business Information Technology); Peter Sforza, Matthew Pierson (Center for Geospatial Information Technology).
Vibrant Virginia: Advancing community and economic development across urban and rural Virginia.
- Maggie Cowell, Urban Affairs and Planning
- Collaborators: Dr. John Provo, Dr. Scott Tate, Albert Alwang (Office of Economic Development); Conaway Haskins (Virginia Cooperative Extension); Sarah Lyon Hill.
Whole-body Exoskeletons for Advanced Vocational Enhancement (WEAVE) (Policy supplement to NSF CONVERGENT grant).
- Suquin Ge, Economics
- Collaborators: Divya Srinivasan, Maury Nussbaum, Nathan Lau (Industrial and Systems Engineering); Alex Leonessa, Alan Asbeck (Mechanical Engineering), & Zhou, Y.
Redistricting Analytics at Virginia Tech (RAVT).
- Nicolas Goedert, Political Science.
- Collaborators: Robert Hildebrand (Industrial and Systems Engineering); Laurel Travis, (Business Information Technology); Peter Sforza, Matthew Pierson (Center for Geospatial Information Technology).
+Policy Scholars
Framing the Intersections of Policy with Security and Privacy in the Future of XR Technology.
- Brendan David-John, Computer Science.
- Policy Mentor: Saul Halfon (Science, Technology and Society).