The Director's responsibilities include: (1) advancing a vision for Penn State's social and behavioral sciences, university-wide leadership, and catalyzing translational research excellence at the interfaces of the social and behavioral science and other science disciplines; (2) building interdisciplinary collaborations across the social and behavioral sciences and beyond including by developing policies and incentives for faculty engagement and creating an atmosphere of inclusion of diverse expertise and perspectives; (3) chairing SSRI's Executive and Steering Committees, which advise on SSRI investments, policies, and programs; (4) chairing the SSRI Deans, Associate Research Deans, and Department Head Advisory Committees, which provide input and insights on both strategic and operational matters; (5) identifying new funding opportunities; (6) promoting interdisciplinary, collaborative, and translational research through seed funding and research infrastructure support; and (7) serving as a liaison between the University's social and behavioral science research initiatives and state, national, and international organizations. As one of Penn State's seven, university-wide interdisciplinary institutes in the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research (OSVPR), the Social Sciences Research Institute (SSRI) supports and promotes innovation and excellence in the social and behavioral sciences and contributes to a University-wide culture of interdisciplinary collaborative research.