Research Assistant, MIGRADAPT Project
About The Hugo Observatory
The Hugo Observatory is a new research structure devoted to the study of the interactions between environmental changes and human migration. The Observatory is hosted at the SPHERES Research Unit of the Faculty of Sciences. It is a young and dynamic structure, involved in different international research projects and policy processes. It conducts both theoretical and empirical, field research and puts a high value on collective work.
About the MIGRADAPT Project
MIGRADAPT stands for ‘La migration au service de l’adaptation aux changements environnementaux. Analyse en Belgique’ and is a collaborative project funded by the Belgian Federal Scientific Policy (BELSPO). It associates the University of Liège (coordinator), the Free University of Brussels (ULB), the University of Antwerp and Royal Museum of Central Africa (MRAC). The project seeks to document the role played by migration for the adaptation to climate impacts and environmental degradation in the migrants’ communities of origin, with a specific on the transnational ties that exist between Belgium, Senegal, Morocco and DR Congo.
Position Advertised
The Hugo Observatory is seeking an outstanding candidate for a position of Research Assistant to assist with the development and management of the MIGRADAPT project. The successful candidate will be responsible for:
• Conducting interviews with migrants residing in Belgium;
• Assisting in the day-to-day management of the project;
• Drafting research reports based on the project’s results;
• Facilitating the interactions between researchers from the four project partners;
• Assisting in the preparation of a portal of databases on environmental migration;
• Disseminating the project’s results through conferences, seminars and social media;
• Supporting the overall development of the project and of the Observatory (assistance to the drafting of research proposals, liaison with partners, etc.)
• Assisting the team of the Observatory with administrative and communication tasks.
Requirements
The successful candidate must:
• Hold at least a Master’s Degree in social sciences (political science / sociology / anthropology /international relations preferred), with an interest for environmental issues;
• Demonstrate a keen interest for environmental issues and interdisciplinary work;
• Have excellent communication skills, both written and verbal;
• Be able to work independently and as part of a team, in a highly inter-disciplinary environment, under limited supervision;
• Be fluent in English and French, the command of Dutch being an asset;
• Be enthusiastic about the development of a new research project, and committed to its advancement.
In addition to these tasks, the candidate will be encouraged to develop his/her own research agenda.
Location and Type of Contract
The position is a 1-year contract, full-time, and will be based at the University of Liège. The successful candidate will make frequent travels within Belgium to conduct interviews. The successful candidate is expected to travel abroad occasionally for conferences and missions.
The position should be filled as soon as possible. The salary shall be commensurate with experience. The University of Liège is an equal opportunity employer.
How to Apply
Interested candidates should send a CV and cover letter by noon on January 31st, 2018. They should also indicate the names of two referees who can be contacted upon request. Interviews will be conducted on Tuesday February 6th, 2018, and only shortlisted candidates will receive a feedback on their application.
Applications should be sent by email to the project’s coordinator, F.Gemenne@ulg.ac.be, and copied to sara.vigil@uliege.be and caroline.zickgraf@ulg.ac.be.
PERN Cyberseminar: People and Pixels Revisited – 20 Years of Progress and New Tools for Population-Environment Research
Twenty years ago the National Research Council published the ground-breaking People and Pixels: Linking Remote Sensing and Social Science
(NRC, 1998). The volume focused on emerging research findings that linked population dynamics and human activities to changes in land use and land cover, revealing the many ways that human activities affect landscapes from the Latin America to Southeast Asia. Separate chapters also addressed health- and famine-related applications of remote sensing. Since that time, new research opportunities are opening because of the increasing array of social science data from both traditional (e.g. censuses, surveys) and new sources (e.g., mobile phone and social media data), the growing variety of satellite and aerial data sources (e.g., high resolution, VIIRS nightlights, radar, UAVs), and the access to computation cyberinfrastructure for the analysis of massive spatiotemporal datasets.
This cyberseminar aims to identify and review the primary research breakthroughs and future directions opened by this digital revolution. The “people and pixels” move in geography shed light on the concerns of sustainability, human livelihoods, land use planning, resource use, and conservation, and led to practical innovations in agricultural planning, hazard impact analysis, and drought monitoring. What will the next 20 years bring?
Key future directions for human-environment interactions that build on original People and Pixels research priorities include:
- Integration of RS and survey data: combining spatially expansive satellite imagery with nationally or regionally representative household surveys, and with censuses;
- Integration of RS and big data: use of data from portable digital devices to achieve new research objectives, such as population downscaling, and “poverty mapping.”
- Breakthroughs in RS-based product development: global analysis of co-located landscape processes over long periods of time using recently developed satellite-derived data products (e.g. global human settlements, forest change, and surface water data sets).
- Computational advances: advances in computation and GUI platforms for implementing machine learning, deep learning, pattern recognition, anomaly detection, large-scale unsupervised mapping/clustering, etc.
- Remote sensing as validation technique: confirming high impact hypotheses around disaster impacts, land grabbing, violent conflict, famine, and illicit economies through their interaction with landscapes.
In this Cyberseminar, we will assess where we’ve come since 1998, identify key extensions of the People and Pixels foundation, and their significance for the demographic aspects of local to global sustainability problems: disasters, famine, drought, war, poverty, climate change, and migration.
Call for Papers: 2018 Add Health Users Conference
Abstract submission is now open for the 2018 Add Health Users Conference, which will be held on July 23-24, 2018 at the National Institutes of Health’s Natcher Conference Center in Bethesda, MD. The Call for Papers is available online and additional information about the conference can be found at the 2018 Add Health Users Conference page. The conference page will be updated as new information is available. Submissions must be received by 11:59PM EST on March 31, 2018.
The principal goal of the conference is to provide researchers who are working with data from Add Health an opportunity to share research goals, experiences, and results. In addition to the paper sessions, the conference also features several methodology-focused presentations which are led by Add Health project investigators and staff. These methodology-focused sessions convey information about best practices for using Add Health data.
Travel stipends will be available to presenters and awarded on the basis of scientific merit, with preference given to special emphasis areas and underrepresented topics. Eligibility information is included on the Abstract Submission Form.
Questions? Please email the conference organizers at addhealth_conference@unc.edu
Sponsored by Add Health at the Carolina Population Center,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health &Human Development
Post-Doctoral Position in Network Epidemiology and HIV Prevention Research
The Department of Medicine and the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination announces a post-doctoral position at the University of Chicago, focusing on quantitative data sciences and HIV/STI prevention research.
The position is under the direct supervision of John Schneider MD, MPH, Aditya Khanna PhD, and in collaboration with other Center faculty (http://hivelimination.uchicago.edu/people/faculty) to support a skilled computational social/health scientist interested in developing a career in quantitative data analysis and computational health modeling. The position includes opportunities for conducting and publishing original research, leadership roles on ongoing projects, grant writing, developing an independent area of research, and intellectual support in the form of didactic course work. The position will focus on analyzing quantitative data and publishing empirical papers from ongoing studies in the United States and other global research sites.
A central theme in our research is the integration of network data collection, visualization, analysis and simulation modeling with HIV/STI prevention as we utilize novel data sources. These include online social media (e.g. Facebook), egocentrically collected sexual network information, and phylogenetic data. Combining network data sources for improving health outcomes is a novel area of computational social research, with many opportunities to develop independent career paths. Projects, data and community engagement are heavily concentrated among networks of men who have sex with men and transgender populations in South Chicago. Ongoing projects include cross-sectional surveys, large longitudinal cohort studies, venue-based surveys, Department of Public Health interventions, and multisite network-based interventions funded by several institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIAID, NIMH, NICHD, NIDA).
Requirements for this position include completing of a doctoral degree by the start date with demonstrated computational skills (PhD in Statistics, Computational Social Science, Computational Epidemiology, Applied Mathematics, or related quantitative discipline), evidence of published scientific articles, and a strong interest in publishing network-based HIV/STI prevention research. A requirement includes the ability to integrate work within a diverse set of academic and professional partners across the University including the Department of Sociology, National Opinion Research Center, Social Services Administration, Harris School of Public Policy, Pritzker School of Medicine, the Booth School of Business, and partner institutions nationally. This position offers a competitive stipend/salary, benefits, office space, access to internal sources of pilot project support, travel support to research conferences and access to internationally based University of Chicago Academic Centers, including the university centers in New Delhi and Shanghai. The University of Chicago also offers excellent career development opportunities for postdoctoral scientists, tailored to their specific future goals, including academia, government, and industry.
Interested candidates should email a current CV, 2 representative papers/publications, and names of at least two references to Dr. John Schneider, Departments of Medicine and Health Studies, University of Chicago.
Call for Proposals: Royalty Research Fund
CSDE is willing to provide a letter of support for any CSDE affiliate who plans a submission to the Royalty Research Fund grant program. We would provide a promise of ‘in-kind’ matching support for those applications that are successfully funded under this mechanism.
If you are interested in a letter of support or a more detailed description of provided services, please send an email to: jmkemner@uw.edu and scurran@uw.edu.
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This is to announce the Spring 2018 round of the Royalty Research Fund (RRF) grant program. The RRF proposal submission and review process is electronic – all proposals are submitted using SAGE (System to Administer Grants Electronically). Proposals are due Monday, March 5, by 5:00 PM. Awards will be announced by June 15, 2018.
Unlike agency-funded grants, RRF grants are not awarded to supplement or continue existing successful research programs. The purpose of the RRF is to advance new directions in research, particularly:
- in disciplines for which external funding opportunities are minimal, and/or
- for faculty who are junior in rank, and/or
- in cases where funding may provide unique opportunities to increase applicants’ competitiveness for subsequent funding.
Proposals must demonstrate a high probability of generating important new creative activities or scholarly understandings, new scholarly materials or resources, significant data or information, or essential instrumentation resources that are likely to significantly advance the reputation of the university, lead to external funding, or lead to developing a new technology. Proposals from all disciplines are welcome, with well-justified budgets up to $40,000.
All proposals will be peer reviewed through one of the three RRF Review Committees. The evaluators are faculty colleagues and therefore will not necessarily be specialists in the applicant’s subfield. Thought should be given, therefore, to crafting the proposal so that a wider audience may understand it. Although technical field-specific information will be expected, the major features of the proposal should also be accessible to non-specialists.
The RRF application instructions, including specific directions for completing the eGC1, are currently available at the Office of Research website.
As a reminder, Deans, Directors, and Chairs should only approve RRF applications for faculty and professional staff with PI status who are eligible for the program. Faculty with acting, affiliate, or visiting appointments are not eligible. In addition, if a UW faculty member holds an eligible rank but is based at another institution (e.g. Seattle Children’s or Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center), all of his/her extramural grants must be run through the UW in order to be eligible for an RRF award.
Should you elect to apply, please note the following additional details:
- Carefully read and follow all instructions. Applications that do not adhere to program rules will be returned for immediate correction and resubmission if time permits; otherwise they will not be considered for funding.
- Find out how much lead time is required by each unit which needs to approve your proposal and monitor it throughout the approval process. (For example, the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s office requires that proposals reach them via SAGE by 5:00 pm on the Thursday prior to the RRF deadline.) Applications not fully approved by the deadline will not be accepted – NO EXCEPTIONS.
- On the Details page of the eGC1, please make sure that you choose the Research Area that is most appropriate for your specific project. This will not necessarily match your official departmental affiliation, so you should review the membership of the three RRF committees (each of which covers two Research Areas) to confirm that you are making the best choice. Your proposal has a better chance of being successful if it is appropriately aligned with the expertise on the committee.
- Use the sample budget template on our website as a guide when preparing your proposal budget, making sure that a) you round all figures to whole dollars, b) you group items by object code, and c) you provide a subtotal for each object code.
Don’t hesitate to contact the RRF administrative staff if you have questions about the program; new applicants should contact Peter Wilsnack, doogieh@uw.edu, (685-9316) and existing awardees should contact Barbara Thompson, bthompso@uw.edu, (616-9089). Questions about SAGE and the eGC1 should be directed to oris@uw.edu, (685-8335).
Segregated Seattle: From Redlining to Gentrification
Seattle is a segregated city. While redlining is now illegal, our city is currently grappling with the racial divides caused by gentrification and economic displacement. Learn about the ongoing impacts of historic segregation in shaping the experiences of all who live in this region.
This program is presented in partnership with the Northwest African American Museum.
This conversation will be moderated by James Miles, Executive Director of Arts Corps.
Panelists include:
Andrea Caupain, Chief Executive Officer at Byrd Barr Place
James Gregory, UW History Professor
Vivian Phillips, Arts and Communication Consultant
Sean Riley, Seattle Public Schools Teacher
Cost: $5 MOHAI and NAAM members / $10 general public
Call for Applications: Fourth Annual Workshop on Formal Demography
The Berkeley Population Center at the University of California Berkeley And the Center on the Economics and Demography of Aging Present
Workshop and Conference on Formal Demography: Special Emphasis Topic – Mortality
June 4‐8 2018
To be held at the UC Berkeley Clark Kerr Conference Center
Speakers
Joshua Goldstein, Professor, Departments of Demography, UC Berkeley Magali Barbieri, Scientist, Department of Demography, UC Berkeley and INED And more to be announced
Join us for an educational program designed to train the next generation of population researchers in the methods in formal demography. This week‐long program, with funding by NICHD R25HD083136 consists of three days of hands‐on training followed by two days of research presentations by invited faculty. Trainees may choose to take part in a mentored research project and present a poster at the 2019 Population Association of America annual meeting.
The workshop is targeted to advanced graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, assistant professors and other early career researchers. We are particularly interested in supporting underrepresented minorities. Those studying aspects of mortality, health disparities, economics, sociology, and public health will particularly benefit, but those with other interests should also apply. Financial Support: Trainees’ expenses for materials, lodging and meals will be covered. Need‐based support for travel is available. We regret that we cannot cover travel from outside the United States.
Application materials and more information about the program and formal demography can be found on the Workshop website: http://www.populationsciences.berkeley.edu/populationcenter/programs/formal‐demography. Apply by March 5, 2018.
Sociology Colloquium: The Long Shadow – War, Migration, and Community in Tajikistan
Armed conflict has a lasting impact on its survivors. In this talk, Michelle O’Brien will discuss her recent fieldwork in Tajikistan. She will preset the preliminary results of her article titled, “The Long-Term Consequences of Armed Conflict on Migration: The Case of Tajikistan,” and show how her qualitative work in-country has framed the interpretation of these results.
Michelle O’Brien is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology, and an affiliate with CSDE and the Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies.
Sara Curran Addresses Challenges Involved in Avoiding Deportation
CSDE Director Sara Curran was quoted in a New York Times story on Jorge Garcia, the Michigan resident and father of two who was deported to Mexico last week after almost three decades in the U.S. Garcia, who came to the country illegally when he was just 10 years old, has been trying to obtain a green card since 2005, confronting numerous difficulties along the way. “The interviews and processing of green cards is extraordinarily slow and challenging,” said Curran, also a Professor at the Jackson School of International Studies. “Not only could you put yourself at risk, but if you don’t have a good enough attorney, then it’s pretty hard to get through the system without being caught up by a technicality.” As Curran goes on to discuss, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which President Obama created at the end of his first term, does not protect individuals like Garcia—who are above its age limit—from deportation. The full article is accessible below.