SSRI brings together researchers with interests in various social and behavioral science research areas and promotes multidisciplinarity by assisting faculty working on important social problems. Since opening its doors in the summer of 2003 and becoming one of Duke's seven signature University Institutes, SSRI has continued to grow. In order to best serve the broad range of research centers and initiatives, an infrastructure of support teams organized into cores was created. 

• administrative
• grants management
• data/IT services
• education

SSRI’s core mission is to catalyze pioneering social science research and methods across the social and behavioral sciences by:

• creating new knowledge relevant to contemporary social problems
• facilitating access and creating data sources relevant to understanding these social problems
• enhancing the skills of researchers, strengthening research teams, and training the next generation of social science researchers
• translating new research findings so that they can influence contemporary understanding of social problems influencing policy debates and solutions

Current research interests and projects include:

• how do people make decisions and what they are willing to sacrifice to get what they want?
• do at-risk students perform better academically when taught as if they were gifted?
• what are the possibilities for reducing the environmental impact of coal-fired power plants and stimulating the development of new technologies that move beyond coal?
• how to help young minority faculty find their place in academia do higher levels of self-control in children translate to better health and higher income than for peers with less self-mastery?