/ Areas of Focus

Shaping Policy That Moves the World Forward

From health and economic systems to entrepreneurship and innovation, Batten scholars tackle today’s most pressing challenges with data-driven insight and leadership in action.

Focus On
Tackling the Challenges That Matter Most
Our research and teaching span the critical policy domains shaping
communities locally and globally — from social policy and economic
inequality to health care, national security, and democratic institutions.
  • city in West Virginia
    Social Policy & Economic Inequality

    Rigorous, data-driven research on how social programs shape economic opportunity, reduce inequality, and improve the well-being of families and communities.

  • Staff sit on a bench with the U.S. Capitol in the background
    Democratic Institutions & Lawmaking

    Examining the structures, actors, and formal mechanisms through which governments operate and how laws, institutions, and the people within them shape democratic life.

  • voting booth
    Political Behavior & Public Opinion

    Examining what citizens believe, how they participate, and why, and what those forces mean for the health of democratic institutions.

  • coworkers in a meeting
    Organizational Behavior, Decision-Making & Behavioral Science

    Understanding the human and psychological forces that shape institutions, leadership, and collective action, and applying those insights to improve organizational performance and public outcomes.

  • teacher instructing k-12
    Education Policy, Labor Markets & Economic Mobility

    Examining whether educational institutions and workforce systems deliver on their promise of economic opportunity, and identifying the interventions that most reliably close mobility gaps.

  • adult-directing-children-safely-across-crosswalk
    Public Safety & Community Well-being

    Studying how communities and public institutions can work together to promote safety, trust, and well-being through policing reform, civic engagement, and cross-sector collaboration.

  • Appalachian mountains and river at dusk
    Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Technology Policy

    Working at the intersection of policy, entrepreneurship, and community engagement to design innovative solutions to public challenges, from impact investing to industrial policy to AI.

  • Doctors dressed in blue scrubs performing a surgery in an operating room.
    Health & Healthcare Policy

    Analyzing the financing, institutional structures, and behavioral dimensions of American healthcare, and asking whether the system’s design choices ultimately improve health and share benefits equitably.

  • Environmental Policy & Regulation

    Bringing rigorous policy analysis and governance expertise to the defining environmental challenges of our time, from climate and energy to infrastructure, public health, and environmental inequality.

  • two people sitting down examining plants in a netted area
    Global Development & Humanitarian Policy

    Partnering with governments, UN agencies, and NGOs worldwide to build evidence-based strategies that improve welfare, strengthen resilience, and address crises affecting the most vulnerable populations.

  • cybersecurity professionals in front of screen
    National Security, Defense & Foreign Policy

    Producing original research and policy analysis on the vital national security questions facing the United States, connecting scholars and government practitioners to address deterrence, conflict, intelligence, and emerging threats.