The Northwestern Main and Advanced Causal Inference Workshop will hold its 15th annual meeting on Research Design for Causal Inference at Northwestern Law School in Chicago, IL. The  main workshop takes place Monday – Friday, August 3-7,  and the advanced workshop follows, Monday – Wednesday, August 10-12, with an optional machine learning primer on Sunday afternoon, August 9.

What is special about these workshops:

Detailed information on the workshops

Workshop Overview:  We will cover true randomized experiments and contrast them to natural or quasi experiments and pure observational studies, where part of the sample is treated, the remainder is a control group, but the researcher controls neither which units are treated vs. control, nor administration of the treatment.  We will assess the causal inferences one can draw from specific “causal” research designs, threats to valid causal inference, and research designs that can mitigate those threats.

Most empirical methods courses survey methods.  We will begin instead with the goal of causal inference, and how to design a research plan to come closer to that goal, using messy, real-world datasets. The methods are often adapted to a particular study.

Advanced Workshop Overview:  The advanced workshop provides in-depth discussion of selected topics, beyond what the main workshop covers.  The principal topics for 2026 are application of machine learning methods to causal inference; advanced difference-in-differences methods, and advanced instrumental variable methods.

We will assume knowledge, at the level of an upper-level undergraduate econometrics or similar course, of multivariate regression, including OLS and logit; basic probability and statistics; and basic understanding of instrumental variables.  This course should be suitable both for empirical researchers with PhD-level training and for those with reasonable but more limited training.

IUSSP and its co-organizes invite papers for a workshop focused on “Aftermath of a Pandemic: Changes in Mortality and Health.” Post-pandemic periods can reveal or amplify existing health inequalities, and the effects of pandemics often extend beyond the acute phase of infection, influencing long-term patterns of mortality and overall population health. This workshop will focus on these poorly understood effects.

The workshop will be hosted by the Oslo Metropolitan University on January 28-29, 2027. Submit a 300-word abstract and include a title, author(s), affiliation(s) via this form by September 11, 2026. Abstracts should be written in English. Attendance to the workshop is limited to 25 participants. Following the workshop, the organizers plan to pursue a special issue of a scientific journal.

This international workshop is organized by the University of Zurich, Oslo Metropolitan University, Roskilde University and the IUSSP Scientific Panel ‘Epidemics and Contagious Diseases: The Legacy of the Past’, with support from COST-Action GREATLEAP (CA22116).

Description:

Pandemics are transformative events that leave lasting marks on population health, mortality, and social structures. While immediate impacts such as short-term infection-related impact on health and mortality are well documented, far less is known about the aftermath of a pandemic in the mid- to long-term both in direct and indirect health and mortality impact.

Mortality and disease patterns may shift and survivors may face lasting physical and psychological consequences, including post-viral syndromes, mental health challenges, or worsening of chronic conditions. Health systems may adapt by placing greater emphasis on surveillance, preventive care, and preparedness for future crises. Demographic effects may also occur, e.g., on life expectancy, birth rates, and age-specific mortality rates. Pandemic mitigation strategies may also have disrupted normal disease patterns and affected population immunity to non-pandemic diseases, with out-of-season epidemics as a consequence. Furthermore, in-utero exposure to a pandemic can have long-term effects on the future health of those born during a pandemic. Post-pandemic periods can reveal or amplify existing health inequalities, and the effects of pandemics often extend beyond the acute phase of infection, influencing long-term patterns of mortality and overall population health.

This workshop will focus on these poorly understood effects. We invite submissions that engage with questions related to the aftermath of a pandemic, such as:

• How do mortality patterns change, and which causes of death increase or decrease?
• Are mortality changes influenced by socio-demographic or socio-economic factors?
• What demographic effects arise following a pandemic?
• How do pandemics interact with the epidemiology of other infectious diseases?
• How are healthcare systems impacted or restructured?
• Is there an increase in hospitalizations for specific diseases?
• What are the short- and long-term health and mortality effects for individuals born during a pandemic?

If you are interested in participating in this workshop, please submit a 300-word abstract and include a title, author(s), affiliation(s) via the form https://forms.gle/3KxXwCKxMVQUjt8S6

Abstracts should be written in English. Attendance to the workshop is limited to 25 participants. Following the workshop, we plan to pursue a special issue of a scientific journal.

• Deadline for submissions: 11 September 2026
• Notification of acceptance: 1 October 2026

For information on Oslo, see https://www.visitoslo.com/en/

Questions? Contact: Katarina Matthes, katarina.matthes@iem.uzh.ch

Scholarship: Limited funding for travel and accommodation is available to members of the COST-Action GREATLEAP. To apply, please briefly explain your need for a scholarship in the form. Priority will be given to early career researchers presenting at the workshop.

Organisers:

• Katarina Matthes, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich
• Svenn-Erik Mamelund, Centre for Research on Pandemics & Society (PANSOC), Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
• Maarten van Wijhe, Department of People and Technology & PandemiX – Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Pandemic Signatures, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark
• Harris Bendel, Department of People and Technology, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

Studies in Family Planning is calling for submission for a special issue on “Pandemic and Epidemic Impacts on Reproduction, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Family Dynamics: Longer-Term Consequences and Cross-Crisis Perspectives,” due September 15, 2026. The special issue aims to broaden the field by situating COVID-19 within a broader landscape of pandemics and epidemics with demonstrable implications for reproduction, family life, and SRHR. In addition to longer-term analyses of the COVID-19 pandemic, we invite research that explicitly engages with other health crises—such as the Zika epidemic or the mpox (monkeypox) outbreak—that have had well-documented sexual and reproductive health consequences. Please submit to wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/SIFP. 

We welcome studies employing diverse methodological approaches, including quantitative analyses using administrative or survey data, mixed-methods research, comparative and cross-national designs, and innovative uses of new data. Research may focus on fertility intentions and realizations, partnership
formation and dissolution, contraceptive behaviors, abortion access and uptake, relationship dynamics, maternal and reproductive health risks, household time use and labor division, parenting and childcare arrangements, or related reproductive, family, and SRHR processes in the context of pandemic or
epidemic disruptions.

Authors should adhere to the journal’s author guidelines when preparing manuscripts. We particularly value clear, concise writing and encourage authors to remain at or below 8,000 words. Submissions should include robust empirical evidence or substantial theoretical contributions, situate findings within relevant literatures, and clearly articulate implications for scholarship and policy. Tag your paper as part of this special issue and indicate this in your cover letter. Please contact rfriedman[@]popcouncil.org with any questions.

In a recent article in Environmental Sociology, CSDE Affiliate Patrick Greiner (Sociology) and co-authors explore the relationship between financialization and the material footprint of nations — a measure of the raw material requirements needed to sustain a population’s consumption. Using panel regression and comparative analyses of affluent nations, the study finds that financialization helps uphold unsustainable consumption patterns, and that high-consuming nations tend to exhibit lower rates of economic growth and higher rates of financialization relative to lower-consuming nations in the sample. The authors argue that additional theorizing is needed to characterize the linkages between economic inequality, exploitation, and intensified environmental withdrawals in the world’s wealthiest nations.