The Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS, 上海社会科学院) was founded in 1958 and is China's oldest institution for the humanities and social sciences. It is the country's second largest such institution, after the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing. Besides funds from the municipal government of Shanghai, the academy draws financial support from various non-governmental sources at home and abroad. As a leading think-tank and distinguished academic institution in China, its research findings and publications have been particularly influential with policy-makers as well as with the wider public. SASS has 15 institutes and 19 interdisciplinary centers which conduct theoretical research and applied studies in the humanities and social sciences. Through the institutes and interdisciplinary centers, SASS conducts studies in economics, national economy, world economy, law, literature, history, philosophy, information science, journalism, sociology, youth and juvenile studies, religion, demography, international relations, national strategy, and regional development.
SASS currently has more than 700 employees, including 465 research staff, of whom 287 are women. Among SASS researchers there are 124 research professors, 133 associate research professors, and 130 assistant research professors.