The Scale of IQSS: By the Numbers
IQSS is a university-wide research institute with a footprint in every Harvard school and numerous constituent projects, programs, centers, services, products, and collaborations, along with activities in more than 100 countries. The Institute operates under a simple, unified leadership structure, with a large staff supported by dozens of funding sources, including visionary philanthropists, foundations, funding agencies, corporations, multiple Harvard units, and others.
Our staff can be thought of as organized into a set of concentric circles, all of which are critical to our mission. At the center is our core team of 121 staff who live IQSS every day and keep the Institute running. Surrounding them is our extended team of 82 staff who work closely with us but sit in our programs and initiatives or other units. Beyond that are our 99 academic appointments – faculty, fellows, and researchers whose primary research home is IQSS. Around all of these is a larger group of 582 affiliates who participate in our seminars, use our platforms, collaborate on projects, and contribute to our intellectual life. Staff of course have normal employment contracts (of many types); we define the affiliate group as researchers involved in the life of the institute (you don’t need to apply: if you participate, we include you; if you no longer do, we remove your name from the list). Together, as of today, we are a vibrant 884‑person community.
We design IQSS programs and services so that everyone, in all of these circles, are part of a single social science community. Everyone contributes, and everyone is welcome. Formal reporting lines do not matter, as long as they contribute to work and the collaborations that define IQSS. The leadership of IQSS is responsible for directing, organizing, and fostering this community. In a sense, IQSS is “open source”: our people, practices, and community‑building model are designed to be shared, scaled, and extended well beyond our walls. Come join us.
*After the FAS Workforce Planning changes take effect in the fall of 2026, we expect these changes: core team: -15; extended team: +7 (including FAS‑assigned resources); academic appointments: no change; affiliates: no change; totaling 875 (with confidence intervals about as large as the changes). If it works as designed, the primary change will be shifting which funding source provides which staff person’s paycheck, without a change in the services, products, and activities provided by IQSS.
