In collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, Pitt has opened the Pittsburgh Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC), a flagship federal program overseen by the U.S. Census Bureau, in the Cathedral of Learning. The FSRDC program consists of 37 centers nationwide, which provide access to detailed federal data in a secure environment, enabling researchers to investigate questions that cannot be answered with publicly available datasets. This restricted-access census and survey data comes from multiple federal agencies and supports cutting-edge research in economics, public health, business, social policy, political science, demography and related fields. Faculty co-directors are Randy Walsh, Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, and Brian Kovak, CMU’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy. Rob Cunningham, Vice Chancellor for Research Infrastructure, is executive director, and Emily Greenman, Pennsylvania State University FSRDC, serves as interim facility director.
“One requirement of the program is that research performed using the FSRDC must support the public good. Here at Pitt and at CMU, our researchers study a wide range of societal challenges, including low-income housing assistance, disparities in colorectal cancer screenings and factors affecting how firms choose locations,” said Walsh. Since 2017, collaborations among FSRDCs across the country have roughly quadrupled, greatly increasing quality research outputs. The addition of the Pittsburgh FSDRC will facilitate and allow for expanded development of even more evidence-based research.
“The Pittsburgh FSRDC will provide opportunities for researchers from Pitt, CMU and other regional institutions to collaborate on cutting-edge work that can only be implemented using the confidential data available through the Center,” said Kovak.
“We are extremely excited to offer researchers the opportunity to access data that can provide the resources they need to develop quality, evidence-based solutions. Opening of the Pittsburgh FSRDC marks a significant investment in sustaining high-impact research in both institutions and beyond,” said Cunningham.
For more information, visit the FSRDC website; to submit a proposal to access data or to reserve time in the conference room, log into iLab. For other requests, faculty co-directors can be reached at walshr@pitt.edu or bkovak@andrew.cmu.edu.