Master’s level Biostatistician in the Study Design and Biostatistics Center (SDBC) at the University of Utah
The Study Design and Biostatistics Center (SDBC) at the University of Utah is seeking a MS level biostatistician to play leadership roles in collaborations with clinical and translational investigators. The successful candidate will work effectively in a multidisciplinary group setting in areas of design of data collection instruments, study design, statistical programming, management and analysis of data, graphical presentation of data and writing of reports which include explanations of the statistical methods used and interpretation of results. The duties require skills in data analysis, interest in new statistical methods, and mastery of at least one statistical programming language.

This position will support the Center of HOPE, which houses multiple intensive longitudinal datasets including ecological momentary assessments, streaming physiology, and GIS tracking. An ideal candidate will have the ability to work under the direction of PhD level statisticians to master current methods for analyzing intensive longitudinal data and conduct analyses of micro-randomized trials and sequential multiple assignment randomized trials (SMART). Solid knowledge of statistical methods including multiple regression, longitudinal data analysis, categorical data analysis and survival analysis is required.

Please attach the following when applying: 1) Resume, 2) Cover letter, 3) Transcript and 4) Names and email addresses for three professional references.

MEASURE Evaluation, funded by the United States Agency for International Development, is pleased to announce the international workshop on “Impact Evaluation of Population, Health and Nutrition Programs,” for English speaking professionals. The workshop is sponsored by the Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR) at Mahidol University and MEASURE Evaluation, in collaboration with the Global Evaluation and Monitoring Network for Health (GEMNet-Health). The two-week course will be held from October 1-12, 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Taught in English, the course is designed for mid-level health and population researchers, administrators, program managers, and other professionals involved in the implementation and evaluation of population, health, and nutrition programs. The course provides intensive, hands-on training in impact evaluation with an emphasis on statistical methods for professionals currently involved in related activities.

The total course fee is USD 3,975 inclusive of the workshop tuition, accommodation, partial board (breakfast daily and lunch on days when the workshop is in session), and round-trip airport transfers.

Applications must be submitted to the Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR) by August 10, 2018.

The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) will fund five bursaries for qualified Asian candidates, with preference given to those working in 3ie member organizations in Asia.

Under the direction of the Principal Investigator (Prof. Peter Bearman), the successful candidate will play an integral role in a large-scale research project on labor migration to Gulf Coast Countries. The Research and Empirical Analysis of Labor Migration (REALM) research program is designed on a PO1 model: An administrative and data core at Columbia University supports a series of substantively interlinked projects, all of which seek to understand an aspect of low-skilled labor migration, ranging from recruitment processes to impacts on sending communities. The primary task will be analysis of original survey data arising from REALM projects based in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. These surveys include information on socioeconomic and health outcomes of general interest and unique to the migration process, as well as detailed data on social networks, recruitment pathways, migration financing, and risk perception. Candidates should hold a doctoral-level degree in the social sciences or a related field.  Ideal candidates will have a background or interest in migration, the sociology of labor, or social network analysis, and have the capacity to be self-directed. Strong statistical skills, documented experience in analyzing large data sets, and a record of peer-reviewed publications are highly preferred qualifications. Although the candidate will dedicate most of their effort to the project’s research activities, they will be encouraged to pursue independent research interests.

Objectives: The long term persistence of our human dominated global system requires meeting the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Threats to sustaining our societies include climate change, anthropogenic extinctions, depletion of non-renewable resources, deteriorating ecosystem services, potential failures to maintain infrastructure, educational and health achievements, and security threats posed by unstable political systems. Sustainability is a major intellectual challenge in addition to being a practical policy challenge. Answering these challenges requires a true multi-disciplinary approach.

The complexity of the earth system makes precise forecasting of the future impossible, so any decisions we take to favor (or not) sustainability are taken under great uncertainty. Future technological tools to manage human impacts are uncertain. Thus we don’t know the possibilities for substituting human capital for depleted natural capital. The response of global temperature to greenhouse gas forcing, perhaps the most intensively studied sustainability issue, is estimated with coupled ocean-atmosphere climate models that give a large range of predictions. They also have to leave out many feedback processes that may be important due to computational and data limitations. The political institutions to manage global scale sustainability issues are weak, with nation-states being the strongest actors. Nation-states themselves often are not particularly stable or competent to manage their own commons issues. Issues of intra- and international inequalities can vex decision-making. Many social scientists, natural scientists and mathematicians are actively working on theoretical and empirical topics related to sustainability. For example, recent mathematical modeling suggests that the natural-human capital substitutability problem is more tractable than thought a few years ago. Cultural evolutionary modeling and empirical work to understand the processes of social and political change has advanced quickly in recent years and can potentially provide useful tools to understand the human dimensions of sustainability.

Building on earlier efforts, including NSF’s workshop Toward a Science of Sustainability (2009), and DIMACS’ workshop Mathematical Challenges for Sustainability (2010), this workshop will review the state of sustainability theory. Major themes of the workshop include the role of cultural evolution, the role of evolving technology and R&D investments, diffusion of technology, uncertainty in ecosystem management, models of institutional change, and non-autonomous dynamics of important socio-environmental processes, e.g. climate change. We will convene approximately 40 participants drawn from a broad range of active scholars from the fields of economics, socio-political evolution, the natural sciences and mathematics to present the latest developments in their fields. Based on these presentations, the participants will discuss where the most promising areas for new research lie. We will look for gaps in the modeling enterprise, particularly ones opened up by disciplinary divergences and new empirical findings.

The Social and Behavioral Context for Academic Learning (Social-Behavioral) topic supports research on social-behavioral competencies (i.e., social skills, attitudes, and behaviors) that improve student achievement and progress in the K to 12 education system. The long-term outcome of this research investment includes a richer understanding of ways to improve or assess students’ social-behavioral competencies, and teacher practices that support them, that over time will improve student academic achievement and successful progression through school.

International Conference on Health, Wellness, and Society attendees include leaders in the field, as well as emerging scholars, who travel to the conference from all corners of the globe and represent a broad range of disciplines and perspectives. A variety of presentation options and session types offer opportunities for attendees to share their work, discuss key issues in the field, and build relationships with attendees.

The Centre for Population Change at the University of Southampton is looking to recruit two researchers with interests in family demography and/or quantitative sociology. The project will explore factors associated with partnership formation, union dissolution, and childbearing.

One post-doc will work for 18 months under the direction of Dr. Brienna Perelli-Harris, who has been awarded an ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative grant. You will undertake research on relationship quality and partnership transitions by analysing complex survey data from the UK Household Living Survey, and the European Generation and Gender Surveys.

The other post-doc will be funded for 27 months through the Centre for Population Change and supervised by Prof. Ann Berrington and Dr. Brienna Perelli-Harris. You will use the UK Household Living Survey to study partnership, fertility, housing, and labour market transitions across the lifecourse.

You will have a PhD* or equivalent in a quantitative social science and experience with advanced quantitative methods, excellent knowledge and solid practical experience in the use of STATA or a similar software program and good written and oral communication skills. Prior experience with analysing the UK Household Living Survey is desirable.

*Applications for Research Fellow positions will be considered from candidates who are working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification.  The title of Research Fellow will be applied upon successful completion of the PhD.  Prior to the qualification being awarded the title of Senior Research Assistant will be given.

Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison seeks to support researcher-practitioner partnerships committed to analyzing existing program, administrative, and other data to inform the effectiveness of policies or programs targeted at or likely to affect low-income populations. This initiative has been generously funded by The JPB Foundation. Proposals are invited from researcher-practitioner teams in which at least one partner is an affiliate of a U.S. Collaborative of Poverty Centers (CPC; see sidebar) institution or a member of one of IRP’s Thematic Research Networks. IRP anticipates funding two to four projects, with total funding (including direct and indirect costs) ranging from $50,000 to $175,000 per project, over a one- to two-year award period beginning September 1, 2018. The proposal deadline is August 1, 2018.