Low Library Column

Centers & Institutes

Translating knowledge into action

SIPA’s interdisciplinary research centers serve as hubs of study and innovation, generating new knowledge and convening prominent academics, policymakers, business leaders, and other experts to help translate knowledge into action.

Centers & Institutes

Center for Development Economics and Policy (CDEP)

One fifth of humanity lives on less than $1.25 per day, and two-fifths on less than $2 per day, with the frequent hunger, chronic health problems, and everyday indignities that such poverty entails. How can the living standards of the poor be raised? The Center for Development Economics and Policy (CDEP) supports microeconomic research to investigate the sources of poverty and to inform practical interventions to address them.

Center for Environmental Economics and Policy (CEEP)

The Center for Environmental Economics and Policy (CEEP) undertakes original research into the causes of environmental change, the consequences of this change for humanity, and the policies that can prevent and—where possible—reverse harmful environmental change to ensure sustainable development. CEEP’s goal is to share this knowledge with policymakers, fellow researchers, students, and concerned citizens worldwide. A defining feature of the Center's research is the integration of analytic approaches from economics with the natural sciences and engineering.

Center on Global Economic Governance (CGEG)

Founded by Jan Svejnar in 2012, the Center on Global Economic Governance (CGEG) is a premier Center for producing a new wave of policy-oriented research on global economic governance, stressing excellence and recognition. In doing so, CGEG brings into sharp focus key issues, sets the highest academic standards in research, and brings together key players from the academic, policy and business world. This approach combines internal and external talent. 

Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP)

We are at a transformational moment in energy history: new technologies are unlocking new resources and devising new ways to get energy as climate change impacts are being felt with more frequency and severity. The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) provides independent, balanced, data-driven analysis to help policymakers navigate the complex world of energy. We approach energy as an economic, security, geopolitical, and climate concern. And we draw on the resources of a world-class institution, faculty with real-world experience, and a location in the world’s finance and media capital.

Deepak and Neera Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies (CIEP)

The mission of the Deepak and Neera Raj Center on Indian Economic Policies (CIEP) is to promote economic prosperity in India, by improving understanding of the Indian economy through research undertaken by leading scholars, by disseminating this knowledge to practitioners, policymakers, students and scholars worldwide and by sustaining ongoing dialogues on major policy issues facing India. The Center’s research will also include comparative analysis of the experience of India and the United States in policy-relevant areas such as climate change and federalism, so as to provide scholarly support for multilateral and bilateral (US-India) initiatives.

Institute of Global Politics (IGP)

Through a dynamic program of initiatives—from policy reports to signature speaker series—The Institute of Global Politics (IGP) develops insights and actionable solutions to global challenges. IGP is also preparing the next generation of policy leaders, providing opportunities for Columbia students to gain hands-on experience in policy making and unparalleled access to experts in the field.

Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies (SIWPS)

Founded in 1951 under the sponsorship of Dwight D. Eisenhower, during his tenure as president of Columbia University, the Institute of War and Peace Studies (SIWPS) was renamed the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies (SIWPS) in March 2003. Created to promote understanding of the "disastrous consequences of war upon man's spiritual, intellectual, and material progress," the institute has become one of the leading research centers on international relations in the United States. 

Affiliated Centers

Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies

Established in 2001, the Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies was created to offer a place for scholars and students to pursue and share research and scholarship on Brazil. The center also attracts Brazilian academics, students, and faculty for periods of up to a year in which they focus on their research, interact with their counterparts at Columbia, as well as speak publicly about their research results. Finally, the center serves as a focal point for American students and faculty with deep interest in, and knowledge of, Brazil.

Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies

The Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies is the foremost academic research center in Iranian studies in the United States with an active publication program. 

Institute on East Central Europe

The Institute on East Central Europe, which was established in 1954 with the aid of the Carnegie Corporation, trains students in the knowledge of peoples and problems of the nations lying between Germany and Russia and between the Balkan and Aegean seas. Renamed the Center on East Central Europe in 1997, it is the oldest academic unit in any major U.S. academic institution to deal exclusively with East Central Europe.

European Institute (EI)

Founded in 1948, the European Institute (EI) is Columbia’s interdisciplinary center for teaching and research on Europe. It takes a continent-wide perspective on the region and its relations with the world. The EI organizes events on and off campus, supports faculty and student research, and manages an MA program in European History, Politics, and Society.

Harriman Institute

The Harriman Institute at Columbia University is one of the world’s leading academic institutions for the study of Russia, Eurasia, and East Central Europe. Our mission is to serve our community at the university and beyond by supporting research, instruction, and dialogue, sponsoring vibrant and multidisciplinary events that bring together our extraordinary resources of faculty, students, and alumni. We are committed to training the next generation of regional specialists to play leadership roles in setting the academic and scholarly agenda, making policy and challenging accepted truths about how we study our rapidly changing world.

Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD)

Founded in July 2000 by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) stimulates a heterodox policy dialogue on major issues in international development. IPD is a global network of leading economists, political scientists, and premier academic and policy centers in the global South and North. IPD brings the issues of developing countries to academics and the fruits of academic research to policymakers.

Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP)

The Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP) is the research arm of the social sciences at Columbia University. ISERP organizes a vibrant intellectual community at Columbia through its Faculty Fellows program as well as its workshops, conferences, research centers, and projects. Participation in ISERP spans Columbia's social science departments as well as Barnard College, the Columbia Earth Institute, Columbia Teachers College, and the schools of architecture, business, international and public affairs, law, public health, and social work. 

Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR)

The Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR) promotes interdisciplinary human rights research, education, and training at Columbia and overseas. The Institute convenes faculty, students, grassroots activists, policymakers, private sector actors, and other stakeholders from diverse fields and perspectives to interact and address pressing human rights issues. The Institute is particularly committed to the education and training of emerging human rights leaders worldwide.

Institute of African Studies (IAS)

Founded in 1959, the Institute of African Studies (IAS) provides an intellectual forum for Africa-related activities, outside the classroom. It brings speakers and visiting scholars to the campus, organizes conferences, and serves as a resource center for students seeking opportunities to work, study, and travel in Africa. The institute concentrates on sub-Saharan Africa, while North Africa is included in the programs of the Middle East Institute.

Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS)

The Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) is the center for Latin American policy development and research at Columbia University. The institute provides its students and faculty with access to the resources of one of the major policy institutions in the world. ILAS also serves as a focal point for a network of Latin American and U.S. scholars engaged in dialogue on a wide range of issues.

Middle East Institute (MEI)

The Middle East Institute (MEI) of Columbia University, founded in 1954, has helped to set the national pace in developing an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the Middle East, from the rise of Islam to the present, with a primary focus on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Fostering an interregional and multidisciplinary approach to the region, the Institute focuses on the Arab countries, Armenia, Iran, Israel, Turkey, Central Asia, and Muslim diaspora communities.

South Asia Institute (SAI)

The South Asia Institute (SAI) coordinates activities at Columbia University that relate to the study of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.  SAI administers the Master of Arts in South Asia Studies, the Certificate Program in South Asia Studies, and the Specialization in South Asia at the School of International and Public Affairs.

Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI)

The Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI) is a hub for the study of modern and contemporary East, Inner, and Southeast Asia at Columbia University. An integrated center for research and teaching, the Institute brings together faculty, research scholars, and students from across the university, and advances knowledge and understanding of the region through academics, research programs, renowned publications series, and a robust calendar of public events.