Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

Demographer/Statistician – Supporting UNICEF Activities for Mortality Estimation

Purpose

The main objective of this consultancy is to conduct a desk review of existing data sources, case studies and peer-review literature on major mortality crises, to compile a public use reference dataset on mortality by age and sex for each major types of mortality crisis, and to generate model patterns of age and sex distributions of excess deaths by type of mortality crises to be used in future revisions of UN IGME work on child and adolescent mortality. The consultancy will be conducted under the supervision of the Statistics and Monitoring specialist in the Data and Analytics Section, Division of Data, Research and Policy in consultation with other UN IGME partners working on such information (e.g., UN Population Division and WHO).

Expected Results
For each type of mortality crisis such as (1) conflicts (battle-deaths, insurgency and civil wars, mass killings and genocide, direct vs. indirect deaths), (2) famines, (3) natural disasters: earthquake, flood/tsunami/hurricane/cyclone/landslides, droughts, (4) major types of epidemics – excluding HIV/AIDS):

Expand and update (by type of mortality crisis and country/periods) existing collection of articles, case studies, grey literature, book chapters, etc. already accumulated by IGME partners, and complement/update literature review based on Google Scholar and reversed search of relevant citations;
For each relevant data source, review and extract information about mortality by age and sex upon its availability (counts, rates, excess);
In coordination with relevant IGME partner(s), analyze supplementary relevant public use datasets (HMD, and possibly LAMD, natural disasters, and additional data on epidemics from WHO mortality database and relevant retrospective mortality surveys for excess mortality during crisis period);
Update and expand structured dataset with its associated metadata to produce a public use reference dataset for further research;
Perform a meta-analysis of this information with the aim to generate model patterns of age and sex distributions of excess mortality by type of mortality crises.
Explore different statistical modelling approaches to estimate patterns of age and sex distributions of excess mortality by type of mortality crises including uncertainty.
Prepare a synthesis paper providing an overview of the key concepts, main relevant data sources, key findings of the meta-analysis about mortality by age and sex for each major types of mortality crisis, computation of model patterns of age and sex distributions of excess mortality by type of mortality crises, and a discussion of the strengths and limitations of this analysis, data and modelling.

Key competences, technical background, and experience required

Advanced Degree in demography or equivalent in relevant sociology or public health related field.
Minimum 5 years of professional experience in the area of demographic and statistical analysis.
Professional experience in methods of demographic analysis and child mortality estimation.
Solid data analytical and research skills.
Advanced experience in statistical programming with R.
Excellent communication and writing skills.
Detail-oriented.
Ability to take initiatives and work independently.
Creativity and enthusiasm.
Ability to work well in a team environment.
Fluent in English.

You can learn more about the position and apply at the link below.

UW Ranks Fifth in the Nation for Social Science Research Funding

According to rankings recently released by the Consortium of Social Science Associations, the University of Washington—which in FY 2016 had over $38.6 million in social science funding—is number five on the list of academic institutions for Federal Social and Behavioral Science R&D. This marks an improvement from UW’s previous seventh place ranking, and this year, it is the only west coast institution in the top five. The rankings are based on a combination of federal research and development expenditures for disciplines including communications, law, psychology, the social sciences, and social work. As a population science center, CSDE both contributes to and benefits from UW’s ability to garner funding for social science research. You can read more about the rankings at the link below.

Kyle Crowder Discusses New Book, “Cycle of Segregation”

Affiliate and Professor of Sociology Kyle Crowder was recently interviewed by Colorlines about his new book, “Cycle of Segregation,” which he co-authored along with fellow sociologist Maria Krysan. In the book, Crowder and Krysan—Professor and Department Head of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago—take a critical look at the systems that continue to reinforce residential segregation five decades following the passage of the Fair Housing Act. The authors examine these systems through analysis of data from the American Housing Survey and Panel Study of Income dynamics, along with interviews with residents of various races in the Chicago area.

UW International Research and Study Fellowships

These one-quarter grants provide support to UW graduate students doing international research or study. Successful applicants are awarded either a Chester Fritz Fellowship or a Boeing International Fellowship.

The fellowships are available to fund research and/or study periods of one quarter (three full months) abroad during the 2018-2019 year (autumn 2018 – summer 2019). These awards DO NOT support faculty-led UW study abroad programs.

Awardees will receive a stipend of $2,400 per month, and paid health insurance (GAIP). During the quarter of their award, fellows are required to register for an independent learning program through UW Study Abroad. The program fee is covered by this fellowship. No extra money is included for airfare.

Eligibility

Must be a currently enrolled student in a UW master’s or doctoral tuition-based program at the time of application and receipt of fellowship. Students who are on academic leave are not eligible.
Students in fee-based programs are not eligible.
Students who have already received a previous Graduate School Fritz or Boeing fellowship are ineligible.

For complete information about this opportunity, including how to apply, click here.

American Indian Endowed Scholarship

The American Indian Endowed Scholarship helps financially needy students with close social and cultural ties to an in-state American Indian community pursue undergraduate and graduate studies.

Scholarship awards range from about $500 to $2,000. Approximately 15 students are selected each year to receive the awards. These students are eligible to receive their scholarships for up to five years, although renewal scholarships are not automatic and require submission of the application each year.

To be eligible, you must meet the following criteria:

Have demonstrated financial need based on a completed FAFSA
Be a Washington State resident.
Intend to enroll full-time as an undergraduate or graduate student at a public or private college or university in Washington State.
Not pursue a degree in theology.
Intend to use your education to benefit the American Indian community in-state.
Have not yet received a total of five years of this scholarship.

For complete information about this opportunity, including how to apply, click here.

Henry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Dissertation Fellowships

Call for Applications: Data Science for Social Good Summer Program

The University of Washington eScience Institute, in collaboration with the Cascadia Urban Analytics Cooperative, is excited to announce the 2018 Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) summer program. The program brings together data and domain scientists to work on focused, collaborative projects that are designed to impact public policy for societal benefit. Sixteen DSSG Student Fellows will be selected to work with academic researchers, data scientists, and public stakeholder groups on data-intensive research projects.

This year’s projects will aim to extract and understand valuable, actionable information from data in urban topic areas such as: public health, sustainable urban planning, crime prevention, education, transportation, and social justice. Click for summaries of projects from the Summer 2015, Summer 2016 and Summer 2017 DSSG programs.

Who: Graduate students and advanced (junior/senior) undergraduate students are invited to apply. Spring graduates are eligible for this program. Students who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible to apply as long as their visa status allows them to work in U.S. We cannot sponsor student visas for this program.

What: Each student will be part of a team working full-time on a research project that has concrete relevance and impact. Students are expected to work closely and collaboratively with team members onsite for the duration of the 10-week program. Projects will involve analysis and visualization of data on topics such as public health, sustainable urban planning, environmental protection, disaster response, crime prevention, education, transportation, governance, commerce, and social justice. Projects involve a range of stakeholders, including government officials, academic researchers, non-profit organizations, and the general public.

Where: Most work will be conducted on the UW campus in the WRF Data Science Studio, but some field excursions in the City of Seattle or King County may also be involved.

When: This is a 10-week long, full-time program beginning June 11th and ending August 17th 2018.

Compensation: Students will be given a stipend of $6,500 for the 10 weeks.

Desired qualifications:

Demonstrated experience in issues related to social good
Research experience with quantitative or qualitative tools
Strong academic record
Previous programming experience

For complete information about this opportunity, including how to apply, click here.

Scientific Director – GRID3 Project

The WorldPop programme,based at the University of Southampton, in close collaboration with the Flowminder Foundation, is embarking on a significant new program to support low income countries and their statistical offices in the production of geospatial demographic data. Funded by DFID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the GRID3 (Geospatial Reference, Infrastructure and Demographic Data for Development) programme includes partnership between WorldPop/Flowminder, UNFPA and CIESIN in developing novel approaches to data integration from satellite imagery, GIS data, surveys and census data for supporting governments in the production of data on population distributions and characteristics at high spatial resolution.

We are seeking to recruit a world-leading researcher to become the Scientific Director for the GRID3 program within WorldPop/Flowminder. You will provide scientific direction and oversight of the technical work undertaken, leading a team of 15+ researchers, and working in close collaboration with WorldPop/Flowminder Director, Professor Andrew Tatem. You will also be expected to contribute to the design of methods, reproducible code, strategies for data inclusion, processing pipeline, internal training and data dissemination. The program will focus initially on supporting ongoing and new analyses in up to five African countries, building on work undertaken recently in integrating satellite, survey and GIS data through statistical modelling to estimate population distributions, numbers and characteristics in the absence of national census data. You will lead engagement on technical matters with project partners and national governments in low income countries. The position represents an exciting and varied challenge, translating cutting-edge research into valuable data and insights to support governments in their operations and meeting development goals. As well as joining the vibrant and well-connected WorldPop and Flowminder Foundation teams, you will have opportunities to lead high-impact publications and develop their own research and funding portfolio.

You will have a strong track record in leading research groups, managing research projects, engaging with governments/international agencies in low income settings and producing high impact publications. The focus of the research work also means that experience in quantitative demographic methods, spatial statistical analysis, computer programming, Bayesian statistics, and GIS are a significant advantage.

You will have a PhD (or equivalent professional qualifications and experience) in a relevant discipline, or have relevant industry experience. The work will be highly interdisciplinary and as such there is some flexibility to accommodate expertise from a range of cognate disciplinary backgrounds (e.g. geography, demography, statistics, computer science, ecology, epidemiology etc). A willingness to travel overseas to low income countries is also required.

You will work under the management of Professor Andrew Tatem at the University of Southampton, in offices in the centre of Southampton. The position is for a period of 21 months, with a strong likelihood of extensions to this subject to further funding.

Upon appointment, your University title will be Principal Research Fellow.

Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Andrew Tatem.

Application procedure:

You should submit your completed online application form at www.jobs.soton.ac.uk. The application deadline will be midnight on February 9, 2018. If you need any assistance, please call Charlene Tyson (Recruitment Team) on +44 (0) 23 8059 6803. Please quote reference 959218WR on all correspondence.

Call for Submissions: 2018 Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science (IAPHS) Conference

Submissions are invited for the IAPHS 2018 conference, “Pushing the Boundaries of Population Health Science: Social Inequalities, Biological Processes, and Policy Implications.” This 4th annual interdisciplinary population health research conference will convene October 3-5, 2018 at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine in Washington, DC.

Please see the Call for Submissions for more details and information on how to submit. The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2018 and those submitting will be notified of decisions by June 15, 2018. Registration for the October conference will open April 1, 2018 for members of IAPHS and May 15 for non-members. Follow the links for further information about the conference and membership in IAPHS.

Call for Papers: World Social Science Forum

The call for papers to be presented at the 2018 World Social Science Forum (WSSF) is now open. The Forum will take place in Fukuoka, Japan, from September 25-28, 2018. The theme of WSSF 2018 is “Security and Equality for Sustainable Futures.”

Deadline for submissions: March 17, 2018 (Midnight, Japan Standard Time)

The Call is open for three different types of contributions:

Specific Panels: Following the Call for sessions, certain panels are looking for one or more participants.
Topical Sessions: Interactive sessions involving four to five presenters, each providing an initial input of a maximum of 10 minutes, followed by a discussion between the presenters and the audience.
Poster Presentations: Poster proposals are invited at http://www.wssf2018.org/outline.html

Further details about the Forum and submission are available at the link below.