The UChicago Crime Lab announced on Thursday that it has received a $1 million award from the MacArthur Foundation. The Lab is one of seven nonprofit organizations to receive the prestigious grant this year, called the “MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.”

The Crime Lab, founded in 2008, uses scientific research methods to develop policies targeting crime and violence. It also informs policymakers on the effectiveness of their policies in reducing crime and partners with institutions such as the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Police Department.

“Our work is motivated by the idea that it is not a lack of innovation, good ideas, or hard work that has hindered long-term progress on urban crime and violence and the related problem of school dropout, but rather it is a lack of rigorous scientific evidence about what works, for whom, and why,” Crime Lab Co-Director Jens Ludwig said in a University press release.

According to the release, the Crime Lab will use the grant to establish an “innovation fund” for the creation of new projects.

Other recipients of the grant this year include NatureServe, a conservation group based in Virginia, Women’s Rights and Protection Alternative, a Nigerian human rights organization, and ProPublica, an investigative journalism nonprofit.