Call for applications:

Computational Social Science Summer School on Data-Driven Modeling of Migration
Santa Margherita di Pula (Sardinia), Italy, 10-21 June 2019

Deadline for applications: 17 February 2019

See attached PDF flyer.

The Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS) Computational Social Science summer school cordially invites junior researchers (advanced MA students or higher*) to apply for participation in the CSS summer school on data-driven modeling of migration to take place in Santa Margherita di Pula on Sardinia, Italy, from June 10-21, 2019.

Women are especially encouraged to apply!

The CSS summer school serves as a research incubator aiming at fostering the use of data-driven methods in the social sciences and developing a contribution to the research field of migration. During the summer school, you will work in one of eight teams of five people on a specific research project. Each team consists of three junior researchers and two senior experts/supervisors, with strong methodological expertise in CSS and the field of migration research. Each team will work through the whole research process with the aim to prepare a manuscript for scientific publication. Each project combines CSS methods with a research focus on migration. This involves data-driven modeling of migration and making use of simulation or prediction techniques. The projects may look, for example, into the consequences of migration and its relation to conflicts and social cohesion.

Learn more about the general summer school concept, the focus on migration and CSS methods of the 2019 school, as well as check out our expert team and the pre-defined projects they offer:
https://bigsss-css.jacobs-university.de/calls/call2019/

Venue and accommodation
The 2019 summer school will be in Santa Margherita di Pula on Sardinia, Italy from June 10-21, 2019. The summer school hotel will be announced soon.

All participants are offered accommodation in shared double rooms in the summer school hotel including half board (breakfast buffet and dinner).

Travel grant
Applicants may apply for a travel grant within the limits regulated by the Volkswagen foundation. If your application is successfull, you will get reimbursed for your travel expenses only after the summer school has ended and you have handed in all original receipts and tickets. Find a list with reimbursement caps here.

You are only eligible for the travel grant if your home institution does not cover your travel expenses.

If you apply for a travel grant, indicate this in the EasyChair application form and add a cover letter in which you explain your need of a travel grant briefly and give proof that your home instoitution does not cover your travel expenses.

Registration fee
The registration fee is of 250 Euro per participant. The fee can be waived for participants from low-income countries.

Application
Follow the link to apply: https://bigsss-css.jacobs-university.de/calls/application/ The deadline is February 17, 2019.

*Eligibility criteria
There are no strict eligibility criteria. We recommend applicants to have finished at least their undergraduate studies (BA degree). However, PhD students are the main target group. Scholars even further in their career (e.g. postdocs) are welcome to apply, too,

The aim of the special issue is to present cutting-edge innovations in the methodology and applications relevant for official population statistics, in order to help the users of statistical products better address the challenges of the 21st century.

We invite submissions especially in the following areas, the list of topics being non-exhaustive: Key concepts in population statistics, Methods for demographic estimation and forecasting, Specific areas of application, Production of official population statistics and Cross-cutting methodological themes.

Special Issue Guest Editors:

• Jakub Bijak, Professor of Statistical Demography, University of Southampton, United Kingdom
• John R Bryant, Senior Researcher, Statistics New Zealand, Christchurch, New Zealand
• Elżbieta Gołata, Professor and Pro-Rector, Poznań University of Economics and Business, Poland

Other editors to be confirmed.

Special Issue: Population statistics for the 21st Century:

Reliable population statistics are indispensable for many crucial areas of public policy and planning worldwide. At the same time, the world is changing rapidly, with population processes gaining pace and acquiring new forms, such as the increasingly fluid mobility and migration. Novel technologies, data sources and analytical methods offer new, better than ever opportunities to deal with the demographic challenges of the future. The role of official population statistics in addressing these challenges – from aiding humanitarian relief for victims of wars and environmental catastrophes, to ensuring sustainability of social security systems for the decades to come – is fundamental.

The aim of the special issue is to present cutting-edge innovations in the methodology and applications relevant for official population statistics, in order to help the users of statistical products better address the challenges of the 21st century.

We invite submissions especially in the following areas, the list of topics being non-exhaustive:

1. Key concepts in population statistics
   To make the official demographic statistics fit for the 21st century, the key concepts related to populations and their dynamics need to be revisited and updated. To that end, we welcome rigorous papers or letters, addressing the conceptual issues related to defining populations, residence, migrants and migration events, urban and rural areas, and so on. We envisage that successful papers in this category would include concrete recommendations that can form a base for further discussions on international statistical fora.
2. Methods for demographic estimation and forecasting 
   We invite methodological papers dealing with various aspects of official population statistics. Specific topics regarding estimation under this theme include: methods for small area statistics, the design and use of methods for register-based and census-based estimates, as well as census methodology as such – from full count to register-based or sample-based enumeration. We also invite contributions on forecasts or projections of populations, households, as well as individual components of demographic change. Papers exploring innovative methods, such as offering statistical versions of indirect demographic estimation, the use of administrative sources, ‘Big data’, and data linkages in population statistics are also welcome.
3. Specific areas of application
   On the applied side, we encourage submissions offering specific solutions to key challenges of official statistics in specific areas of demographic and population-related applications. They may include methods for the individual components of demographic change, specific populations or subpopulations, as well as studying populations across different dimensions (such as health, education, migration or ethnic background, and so on).
4. Production of official population statistics 
   We welcome submissions concerned with the statistical infrastructure, production and dissemination of population statistics. This broad category can include papers looking into the practical aspects of making efficient use of new data sources, increasing data availability to the users, integration of different data, geo-referencing, or visualisation of population statistics. Papers demonstrating practical solutions to specific computational, organisational and practical challenges are particularly encouraged.
5. Cross-cutting methodological themes
   Finally, we encourage papers on cross-cutting methodological themes in official population statistics. These can include, but are not limited to, comparisons of statistical approaches for different demographic applications, such as Bayesian versus frequentist, or model-based versus design-based methods. More broadly, papers on various applications of methods of statistical demography in official statistics, with their challenges and opportunities, are welcome.

Submission guidelines and deadlines:

• Manuscripts should be submitted through the JOS Manuscript Central site: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/joffstats

• All manuscripts must adhere to the JOS submission and peer review rules and will go through the usual JOS review process. Instructions for authors are available at https://www.degruyter.com/view/supplement/s20017367_Instructions_for_Authors.pdf

• JOS is an open access journal. For more information about JOS, see https://www.jos.nu

• For all articles of JOS, see the JOS-archive at https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/jos/jos-overview.xml

 

The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) was created by Congress in 1993 in recognition of the importance of behavioral and social sciences to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) mission. For more than two decades, the OBSSR has been instrumental in advancing and coordinating the behavioral and social sciences at the NIH.

To address the foundational process of training, the OBSSR and participating Institutes plan to support another four years of Short Courses on Innovative Methodologies and Approaches in the Behavioral and Social Sciences (RFA-OD-19-012). This program will support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs.

This funding opportunity is designed to fill educational gaps and needs in the behavioral and social sciences research community that are not being addressed by existing educational opportunities. Proposed educational programs should be integrative, both in the transdisciplinary nature of the skills and approaches taught and in applicability across a wide range of BSSR areas. The content of the course should focus on knowledge and skills necessary for the advancement of behavioral and social sciences and/or the integration of BSSR with other areas of science and technology. Content should not be limited to specific disease applications but rather focus on generally applicable research methodologies and analytics crucial for more advanced BSSR.

The goal for the short courses supported by this FOA is to build the capacity of the field across career stages. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate methods and models that have the potential to reach an audience that is broader than the attendees. Opportunities for attendees to sustain and continue learning beyond the course is strongly encouraged.

There is an expectation for communication and interaction among successful short course programs through investigator meetings and other opportunities. This will allow programs to share best practices and challenges, benefitting from the knowledge of the larger group.

Read the Request for Application (RFA)

The SEAxSEA Film Festival is back in 2019!  The SEAxSEA Film Festival is part of the Southeast Asia Center’s mission to actively organize Southeast Asia-related programs, and features films that explore Southeast Asia in its diversity, emphasizing underrepresented communities and youth-produced visions of the past, present, and future.

We are screening fifteen films from Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian America with discussions to follow each night. Please drop by for some free popcorn, drinks, and most of all, great films!

Please RSVP here.

Apply today to receive up to $3,000 to cover your travel to this year’s OSSD meeting. Please see below for details and share with your colleagues.

The Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), located within the National Institutes of Health, is offering a Science Policy Scholar Travel Award to a junior investigator whose work focuses on women’s health or sex/gender differences, as well as on policy. The award will be available to support travel to the annual meeting of the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD) on May 5–8, 2019, in Washington, DC. Attendance at the OSSD meeting will provide an opportunity for a junior investigator to network with leading scientists and clinicians working to advance sex and gender research and policy.

ORWH requests that interested applicants submit an abstract on a policy-related matter connected to women’s health or sex/gender differences for consideration as a poster, oral session, or symposium at the 2019 OSSD annual meeting. A panel of experts will review the abstracts to determine the recipient of the travel award.

One award of up to $3,000 will be made. OSSD will accept abstracts on the OSSD website beginning December 1, 2018, through February 1, 2019.

For more information, including eligibility criteria, see the award announcement.

To be considered for this award:

1. Submit an abstract via the OSSD website.

Send all required information and documents to ORWH, following the steps in the “How to Apply” section of the ORWH award announcement.

We are pleased to announce the 11th annual IPUMS Research Awards competition. We are looking for papers that use innovative approaches, comparative analyses, and multiple IPUMS datasets. In short, we are looking for papers that use the data to its full potential.

We have two new categories this year with awards for published papers and graduate student papers in each category.

• USA: Best paper using data from IPUMS USA and/or IPUMS CPS
• International: Best paper using data from IPUMS International and/or the North Atlantic Population Project (NAPP)
• Health Surveys: Best paper using data from IPUMS NHIS or IPUMS MEPS
• Spatial: Best paper using data from IPUMS NHGIS and/or IPUMS Terra
• Global Health: Best paper using data from IPUMS DHS and/or IPUMS PMA
• Time Use: Best paper using data from IPUMS Time Use

Deadline for submission is February 13, 2018. For more information on eligibility and the submission process, visit the IPUMS Research Awards page.

The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) is now taking applications for its Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (SRE). The program will be held June 4-July 26, 2019, on the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, campus. Undergraduate majors in biology, math, and related fields will live on campus and work in teams with UT professors, NIMBioS researchers, and collaborators to conduct research at the interface of mathematics and biology. Participants receive free university apartment-style housing, a stipend of $4500, and up to $650 of support for travel to/from Knoxville.

2019 Projects: This year’s research projects are modeling biochemical pathways for aerotaxis in motile bacteria; modeling climate as a driver of change in human-wildlife interactions; investigating viral infection rates of marine phytoplankton; modeling cell differentiation; and modeling networking and the opioid epidemic . Applicants will be asked to select their first, second and third project choices.

Who may apply?
Students enrolled in an undergraduate program and not scheduled to graduate prior to August 1, 2019 may apply. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the US. NIMBioS is committed to promoting diversity in all its activities. Diversity is considered in all its aspects, social and scientific, including gender, ethnicity, scientific field, career stage, geography and type of home institution.

Application Deadline:  February 11, 2019

For more information, visit http://www.nimbios.org/sre/

The 2019 NIMBioS Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program is funded, in part, by the National Security Agency Mathematical Sciences Program.

For more information about NIMBioS, visit http://www.nimbios.org or contact Greg Wiggins, NIMBioS Education and Outreach Coordinator, at wiggybug@nimbios.org or Suzanne Lenhart, NIMBioS Associate Director of Education and Outreach, slenhart@tennessee.edu

 

 

October’s IAPHS Conference “Local, national, global impacts on population health” promises an exciting and diverse set of offerings:

– Posters featuring the latest in population health research, practice, theory, methods, and more;

– Oral presentations, comprised of investigator-driven panels as well as of individual abstracts, which address various topics of population health science, including practice, theory, methods, student training, or technological innovations.

Be a part of the action!

Please visit the Call for Submissions to find out how and submit your ideas by March 11, 2019.

PS: This year will again feature awards for the best posters!

Key dates:  

Submission Deadline:  March 11, 2019
Registration Opens:  April 1, 2019
Conference:  October 1-4, 2019

Conference Location:

Sheraton Seattle Hotel
1400 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101

Conference Website:

https://iaphs.org/conference/

PUBPOL 570: Foundations of Social Policy

Winter 2019

Professor Bill Zumeta

Mon-Wed. 4-5:20 PM in Condon 110B

This new course is an introduction and overview of the broad field of social policy (within the U.S. primarily but with some comparative framing). It is designed for Evans MPA students in the new Social Policy Program Option but other interested students, including PhD students and students from other departments, are welcome to enroll. The seminar-style course will provide an overview of structural factors affecting the nature and evolution of social policies in the U.S. as well as some coverage of recent developments in demography, the economy, inequality and politics that are affecting social policy issues and policymaking today.

We will consider the role of specific policy analysis tools and instruments in the social policy sphere and offer an integrated overview of American approaches in the various specific policy areas that fall under the broad umbrella of social policy including: income transfer and antipoverty policies including the current emphasis on “workfare”; policies relating to families and social services; health policies including the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid; housing policies; and education policies and systems from early childhood through postsecondary education. The course will draw upon other Evans and UW faculty expertise in addition to the instructor and will thereby provide a taste of what other Evans courses in the social policy program option have to offer.

Readings:

Most of the course readings will be available on the course Canvas site. The only book to purchase is: John Iceland’s, A Portrait of America: The Demographic Perspective (University of California Press, 2014). This paperback book is available from the University Bookstore or on Amazon for about $25 (less for a used copy).

Assignments:

A research-based policy paper and presentation due at the end of the term; a 4-5 page reflection piece on one of the course topic areas and readings; some Canvas postings on week-to-week readings.