Request for Proposals

The Eurasian Migration System is one of the most active global migration networks, including registered and unregistered labor migrants, recognized and unrecognized displaced populations, and victims of trafficking. On June 11-15, 2018, the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be hosting a Sponsored Summer Workshop for Researchers interested in the many questions surrounding this region in motion. We encourage early career and experienced scholars to apply to join us for this Workshop, made possible by funding from the Department of State’s Program for the Study of Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (Title VIII).

At the workshop, researchers will have an opportunity to share work in progress, build networks, pinpoint potential partners for collaboration in the region, and gain knowledge of available data (state statistics and surveys) and legislation on migration related issues. Ethical and reporting issues related to migration research, generally and in Eurasia specifically, will serve as a core topical focus.

The Workshop will open with two days of collective discussion, led by Professor Cynthia Buckley (Department of Sociology, University of Illinois) and featuring noted consultants from the US and region. Participants will also have the opportunity to join hands-on instructional sessions using the latest digital applications and databases for the study of migration in Eurasia. Alongside this collective work, researchers will also receive housing for a stay of up to ten additional days, allowing for extensive independent research time with Illinois’s rich collection of library and electronic resources. The staff of Illinois’s famous Slavic Reference Service will also be available to provide bibliographical and reference support.

To offset the costs of attending our workshop, participants will receive:

• Stipends for travel to Illinois
• Grants for dormitory housing on the Illinois campus, for up to 12 days
• Generous research stipends of up to $1000

Application Procedures

All applicants must be U.S. citizens. To apply for the workshop, please contact Prof. Cynthia Buckley (buckleyc@illinois.edu) to express your interest. Then please use the 2018 SRL Application and check the box “The Eurasian Migration System: A Sponsored Workshop for Researchers” on the application form. You will not need to pay a registration fee.

The William T. Grant Scholars Program supports career development for promising early-career researchers. The program funds five-year research and mentoring plans that significantly expand junior researchers’ expertise in new disciplines, methods, and content areas. We recognize that early-career researchers are rarely given incentives or support to take such risks, so this award includes a mentoring component, as well as an emphasis on community and collaboration.

Scholars Program applicants should have a track record of conducting high-quality research and an interest in pursuing a significant shift in their trajectories as researchers. Proposed research plans must address questions of policy and practice that are relevant to the Foundation’s focus areas.

The online application will open on April 23. All applications must be received by July 5, 2018 at 3:00 PM EST.

• Download the Scholars Program Application Guide (Updated January 2018)

Focus Areas

We fund research that increases understanding in one of our two focus areas:

• programs, policies, and practices that reduce inequality in youth outcomes, and
• strategies to improve the use of research evidence in ways that benefit youth.

We seek research that builds stronger theory and empirical evidence in these two areas. We intend for the research we support to inform change. While we do not expect that any one study will create that change, the research should contribute to a body of useful knowledge to improve the lives of young people.

Awards

Award recipients are designated as William T. Grant Scholars. Each year, four to six Scholars are selected and each receives up to $350,000, distributed over five years.

Awards begin July 1 and are made to the applicant’s institution. The award must not replace the institution’s current support of the applicant’s research.

Capacity-Building

The Foundation holds annual meetings during the summer to support the Scholars’ professional development. These summer retreats are designed to foster a supportive environment in which Scholars can improve their skills and work. Scholars discuss works-in-progress and receive constructive feedback on the challenges they face in conducting their projects. The retreat consists of workshops centered on Scholars’ projects, research design and methods issues, and professional development. The meeting is attended by Scholars, Scholars Selection Committee members, and Foundation staff and Board members. Scholars are also invited to attend other Foundation-sponsored workshops on topics relevant to their work, such as mixed methods and the use of research evidence in policy and practice.

In years one through three of their awards, Scholars may apply for additional awards to mentor junior researchers of color. The announcement and criteria for funding are distributed annually to Scholars. Our goals for these two-year awards are to build Scholars’ mentoring skills and understanding of the career development issues faced by junior colleagues of color. We also seek to expand their mentees’ research assets and increase the number of strong, well-networked researchers of color doing work on the Foundation’s research interests. The Foundation convenes annual workshops to strengthen these mentoring relationships and support career development.

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicant received his/her terminal degree (e.g., PhD, MD) within seven years of submitting the application. For PhDs this is the date the doctoral degree was conferred. In medicine, the seven-year maximum is dated from the completion of the first residency.
• Project advances the Foundation’s interest in understanding programs, policies, and practices that reduce inequality or improving the use of research evidence.
• Applicant is employed at a tax-exempt organization.

Recruitment Period

Description

Job location

Requirements

Documents

• Curriculum Vitae/Resume
• Cover Letter – Describe your interest in demographic research and how your background, skills and experience relate to this position.
• Statement of Contributions to Diversity (Optional)

References

We are pleased to announce a two-day conference and workshop at UC Berkeley, June 14-15, on the new UC Berkeley Social Networks Study (UCNets). 

• Introduction
  Claude Fischer and Leora Lawton, UC Berkeley
• Cohort-dependent health outcomes of personal networks
  Miranda Lubbers, Autonomous University of Barcelona; and Başak Bilecen, University of Groningen &
  Harvard University
• Religious attendance, substance use, and network satisfaction: differences across age groups
  Tuba Dagdas, University of Alabama-Birmingham
• Racial and political diversity within personal networks: The promise and peril of embracing
  difference in a politically polarized age
• Mark Pachucki and Anthony Paik, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
•  Lunch & Networking
•  Migrant Health Outcomes and Social Support Networks
  Leslie Cofie, University of Texas, Galveston Medical Branch
•  Migration and social support: a comparative study of immigrants’ and natives’ support networks
  Başak Bilecen and Raffaele Vacca, University of Groningen & Harvard University; University of Florida
•  Discussant: Barry Wellman, University of Toronto

• Data Structure
• Documentation issues
• Creating aggregate variables from the names file
• Statistical Methodologies (to be determined).

Prof. Rami Rahamimoff (1937 – 2008) was a world renowned scientist who played a key role in the leadership and governance of the BSF, and was the recipient of numerous BSF grants before joining its Board.

Prof. Rahamimoff was a professor of physiology at the Hebrew University, and was awarded the Israel Prize in Medicine in 1998. Born in Sofia in 1937, Prof. Rahamimoff earned his M.D. in 1963 from the Hebrew University, where he continued to become a full professor and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Hebrew University – Hadassah Medical campus. He served as Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Health from 2001 until his death, and won international recognition for his pioneering work on calcium regulation of synaptic transmission.

In light of this contribution, and his life’s work in science and medicine, the BSF has decided to honor Prof. Rahamimoff’s memory by naming its travel grants program for young scientists after him.

The program

• The Prof. Rahamimoff Travel Grants Program is open to PhD students doing research that requires facilities or expertise not available in their home countries.
• The program will have two CALLS annually, and each will support 10 trips. Grants are for $4,000 each.
• The trips will be only to a higher education or a research facility in the U.S.A. (for Israelis) or Israel (for Americans). The program will not support participation in conferences or trips by late-stage PhD students.
• Each trip will be for a maximum length of 2 months.
• Travel should be taken within one year of notification of award.
• Applications for trips that have already occurred will not be accepted.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be U.S. or Israeli citizens.
• The applicant, rather than his thesis advisor, must write the application.
• Applicants must be conducting supervised research towards a PhD in an accredited higher education institution, or in a non-profit research institution (government or other, including hospitals).
• Submitting an application before the PhD research program/plan is formally approved by the university is not recommended.
• Students in their last year of PhD studies are not eligible to submit applications to the program.
• The BSF will only accept applications that are in the scientific fields it supports. For a full list, see Eligible Areas of Research. The split program does not apply to Travel Grants; applications in all fields supported by the BSF can be submitted each year.
• Applicants must be 35 years old or younger.
• Israeli and American students doing research in the other country are not eligible to apply.
• A student who was previously awarded a grant in this program is not allowed to submit again.

Selection Criteria

Applications will be evaluated by a special committee on the basis of their merit in light of the overall aim of the program, and the qualifications of the candidates. In particular, the significance of the trip to the candidate’s research will be estimated.

One of the criteria frequently used by the panel is the stage of the research program. Trips planned very early or very late in the research program are often not approved.

Budget

• The budget for each trip is fixed at $4,000 and will cover travel costs and per-diem expenses. Trips are limited to 2 months.
• The BSF will not provide funding for institutional overhead.

Submission Instructions

• Both Israeli and American students must submit through the university from which they will graduate. Students who are doing their research at a hospital or other research institution must also submit their applications through the university from which they will graduate.
• Each university will be limited to no more than 5 applicants.

Required material

• Cover and signature page (to be downloaded from the BSF website in the Guidelines and Forms section). The form must be completed in 12-point font and 1.5 line spacing. Since it is not protected, the applicants are requested to make sure that the top and bottom letterheads are not lost.
• Signatures
  The cover page must be signed in the proper places by:
  1. The applicant
  2. The institutional authority of the university (must also include email address!)
• Letter of support from the applicant’s supervisor.
• Letter of acceptance and support from the intended host scientist.
• CV of the applicant.
• All items should be submitted as one complete Word or PDF file.
• Submission must be made through the appropriate office in the applicant’s university. Applications must be submitted by email to (bsf@bsf.org.il) with all of the required material as an attachment in Word or PDF format.

The Department of Health Services at the University of Washington seeks to fill one full-time faculty position with a focus on Health Disparities and Inequities as an Assistant Professor (WOT*) on a 12 month service period, with an anticipated start date in fall 2018.

We are looking for individuals with a PhD degree or equivalent terminal degree in public health or a related discipline, including but not limited to health services, health behavior, health policy, demography, economics, sociology, anthropology, political science, social work, social epidemiology, geography, gender studies, ethnic studies and cultural studies.  We are especially interested in candidates with experience in health care disparities, social determinants of health, health informatics, implementation science, or health policy.

Faculty members in our department are expected to: (a) conduct an independent research program that complements department, School, and University research initiatives and programs, (b) participate in collaborative research programs as appropriate to his/her interests, (c) teach in the department’s educational programs, and (d) mentor undergraduate, Masters and PhD students.

Applicants for this position should have research interests focused on populations in the United States whose health status is impacted by social and structural inequities, such as racial and ethnic minorities, immigrant populations, people with lower socioeconomic status, rural communities, and sexual or gender minorities.  More specifically, we are interested in candidates with the following skills:

• Strong methodologic skills, including quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods research approaches.
• Experience working in collaborative interdisciplinary research teams.
• Ability to establish and maintain research ties to underserved communities.
• Potential to generate external funding for research over time.
• Experience in teaching, mentoring, and diversity and equity issues in higher education. This includes the ability or potential to involve undergraduate and graduate students in faculty-directed research and/or mentor diverse undergraduate and graduate students in independent research.

How to Apply

To be considered for this position, please submit the following:

• A letter of interest describing your research interests and teaching experience
• A diversity statement that describes your experience related to diversity, inclusion and equity, as well as your potential to contribute to our diversity mission and commitment to being an anti-racist institution
• Curriculum Vitae
• Four references or four letters of recommendation

Review of applications will begin March 31, 2018. The position is open until filled.

Send application materials via email to:

Holly Bergstrom, Manager of Faculty Human Resource:  hb2@uw.edu

Department of Health Services, University of Washington