• Supporting release time from duties during which time the awardee writes and submits an application in the area of early childhood mental health to the NIH. This support compensates the awardee’s unit/department for the work from which the awardee is released. Having adequate time to develop and submit a grant application is essential for early career success. [Applicants must provide institutional and department assurance signifying acceptance of this guideline.]
• Providing travel funds for a trip to NIH to meet program staff. This support helps the awardee develop meaningful contacts with NIH program staff who can guide the application preparation and revision (funding usually requires two application submissions).
• Providing a pre-review of the application. The opportunity to hire a distinguished scientist to review the application in advance of submission to NIH heightens the chances of early success. In addition to providing a critique, the reviewer can also advise the new scientist, which NIH review panels cannot do.

• Be a current member in good standing of the Society for Research in Child Development
• Be employed at a nonprofit institution, either in the United States or abroad. In most instances, these organizations will have 501(c)(3) tax exempt status, set up to receive and process grants and awards. However, in rare cases, colleges or universities (such as Arizona State University) will not have 501(c)(3) tax exemption. If your institution fits into this category, we can instead accept an IRS determination letter which states that it is classified as a school under sections 509a1 and 170b1Aii of the IRS Code;
• Be committed to submitting a major NIH application (e.g., R or K mechanism);
• Show evidence of experience conducting research that addresses issues of compelling relevance for early childhood mental health theory, policies or practices. In keeping with Vicki’s passionate interest in the sensitive and formative nature of early childhood for the development of mental health, and the need for scientific research that informs early intervention both preventive and therapeutic, applications should clearly articulate their relevance to the development of mental health in early childhood. All applications and especially those involving research with individuals beyond the elementary school years must explain the pertinence of the planned research to the first years of life. Longitudinal research is of high interest to the Foundation, as is experimental work with typically developing or atrisk children. In all cases, the proposed research must have clear application to the promotion of mental health or the prevention of mental disorders in young children;
• Have received a doctoral degree (or equivalent) within ten years of submitting the application. In many scholarly disciplines this translates to a maximum of ten years following the Award of the doctoral degree and includes time spent as a post-doctoral fellow. In medicine, the ten-year maximum is dated from the completion of the first residency;
• Have a mentor who is an established investigator in NIH-funded early childhood mental health research. Applicants are advised to select as a mentor an individual other than their dissertation supervisor. The mentor will often not be at the same institution but may be. There must be clear evidence of the mentor’s role and commitment to supporting the awardee’s application

The program, which takes place from June to August, is designed for PhD students (ideally about 2 years prior to receiving their PhD) working on a topic compatible with ongoing research at IIASA and a wish to explore the policy implications of their work. Participants will be working under the direct mentorship of an experienced IIASA scientist in a unique interdisciplinary and international research environment. They will produce a paper (serving as first step towards a publishable journal article) and will get the opportunity to build up contacts for future collaboration within the institute’s worldwide network. YSSP particularly welcomes applications of candidates interested in human-centered and population-based approaches to understanding drivers of population change, sustainable development, and wellbeing.

The call for papers is now open for the upcoming conference “Kinship Structures, Dynamics, and Inequalities,” which will take place on June 8-9, 2026 at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock, Germany. The event is organized by the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Kinship Structures, Dynamics and Inequalities; MPIDR; NYU Abu Dhabi; Pennsylvania State University; and the National University of Singapore. Extended abstracts (maximum two pages, PDF) must be submitted via the conference website by January 12, 2026.

The conference will bring together researchers from across disciplines to examine how changing family and kinship systems shape social and economic inequalities in diverse contexts. The organizing committee invites submissions on a wide range of topics, including kin availability and inequality, caregiving and intergenerational transfers, bereavement, LGBTQ+ and chosen kinship, and innovative data and methods for studying kin relations within and outside the household.

This issue on “The New Asylum Seekers: Subnational Dynamics of Migration Governance in the United States” underscores how in-land asylum seekers occupy a distinctive position at the intersection of legality and illegality. As they increasingly concentrate in US cities, subnational governments and institutions face urgent practical and political challenges that have become central to the national immigration debate. This issue of RSF examines the ways in which contemporary asylum seekers to the US resemble and differ from other immigrants, past and present; it considers how rising asylum-seeking shapes subnational responses among diverse state and non-state actors; it compares the experiences of asylum-seeking newcomers with long-term unauthorized immigrants; it analyzes the relationships of these groups with the US-born population; and, in turn, it assesses their influence on broader US immigration policies.

We seek original, empirical contributions across a range of social science disciplines and methodologies that respond to the questions below. We encourage contributions that carefully consider potential methodological and data limitations that hinder the advancement of understanding in this field, as well as the opportunities they present for advancing inquiry and theory. For more information, see full ad.

Deadline: January 7, 2026

See full ad: https://www.russellsage.org/publications/rsf-journal/call-for-papers/new-asylum-seekers