The Empirical Studies of Conflict Project (ESOC) launched in 2009 to support research on insurgency, civil war, and other politically motivated violence, worldwide. Today, ESOC identifies and compiles a wide range of micro-level data to empower scholarship and to help address pressing security threats. Beyond supporting research, we are committed to enabling policy responses to challenges related to political violence, ranging from civil war to economic development to misinformation campaigns.

Specifically, ESOC has four objectives:

• Collect, sanitize, aggregate, and modify data to facilitate research on political violence and related questions.
• Maintain a repository of quality micro-level data across multiple conflicts and make these data available to a broader community of scholars and policy analysts.
• Harness the expertise of leading scholars and empower them with detailed conflict data so they can conduct cutting-edge studies and policy analyses useful to government agencies and NGOs.
• Maintain a network of relationships linking scholars and practitioners, through conferences and other activities, which enable an exchange of policy priorities, policy-relevant research insights, and relevant data.