We are gearing up for another excellent academic year and a fantastic Brown Bag seminar series.
Please join us for a Welcome Back Lunch on Wednesday, September 2. The lunch will be held at noon in our Seminar Room, 310 Social Sciences, during our regular Brown Bag slot. We are delighted to welcome new and returning faculty, affiliates, staff, and students for the 2026–2027 academic year. Food and drink will be provided.
Our first Brown Bag of the semester is on September 9, featuring Mathew E. Hauer (Florida State University) and Tyler H. McCormick (University of Washington) on the use of AI in demography. Event details. The fall Brown Bag schedule is also available and will continue to be updated.
We are hiring. The Department of Demography is recruiting a tenure-track Assistant Professor, open field. The department occupies a distinctive niche in the population studies landscape, with a strong focus on formal demography, population theory, and the relationship between demographic dynamics and social, cultural, epidemiological, and economic dynamics. Areas of expertise include but are not limited to economic demography, computational demography, environmental demography, the demography of health and aging, the demography of fertility and family change, and migration and population dynamics. The search is not restricted by subfield, and scholars with interdisciplinary interests are encouraged to apply. Applications are due October 15, 2026. Position details and application (JPF05488). Please share widely.
PAA 2027 Call for Papers. The Call for Papers for the 2027 Population Association of America annual meeting is now available. The meeting will be held in Seattle, March 31 – April 3, 2027. The submission system is open and the deadline for submissions is September 20, 2026. See the Call for Papers (PDF), and all details and important dates on the PAA 2027 website.
PAA 2027: Seeking Chairs and Discussants. The PAA Program Committee is seeking volunteers to serve as chairs and discussants at the 2027 Annual Meeting. Complete the interest form to be added to the list given to session organizers, who will contact chairs and discussants as needed. Submitting the form does not guarantee selection, and you must be registered for the meeting to serve.
HHS Request for Comment: Update to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease. HHS is seeking input on opportunities, gaps, and priorities in Alzheimer’s disease and AD-related dementias research, care, and services. The National Plan, updated regularly since its initial release in 2012, will guide federal efforts through 2035. Comments are welcome from all interested stakeholders and are due August 15, 2026 via the electronic submission form.
NIH Webinar: Understanding NIH’s Unified Funding Strategy. NIH leadership will explain the goals, rationale, and implementation of the Unified Funding Strategy announced by NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya in August 2025, which empowers Institute and Center Directors to weigh peer review assessments of scientific merit alongside Institute priorities, scientific opportunity, program balance, geographic balance, and workforce needs (NOT-OD-26-099). Panelists include NIH Principal Deputy Director Matthew Memoli, Deputy Director for Extramural Research Jon Lorsch, and the directors of the Center for Scientific Review, NIDA, NIBIB, and NIDDK’s Division of Extramural Activities. The webinar takes place August 14, 2026, 10:00–11:00 a.m. ET. Registration has closed, but is not required to watch: the live broadcast will be available on NIH Videocast, and a recording will be posted afterward. Questions may be submitted in advance to Coord_PlanNIHOD@mail.nih.gov.
NIH Request for Information: Measuring and Rewarding Scientific Impact. NIH is seeking public input on the defining features of modern science that should be measured, recognized, and incentivized, in recognition of research that increasingly relies on transparent reporting, rigorous replication, careful interpretation of methods, and iterative refinement (NOT-OD-26-087). Comments are due August 19, 2026 and may be submitted electronically.
NIH Policy Update: Data Management and Sharing Plans. Beginning October 1, 2026, NIH will require all existing awards and applications subject to the DMS Policy to align with the 2026 DMS Plan format (NOT-OD-26-100). Many existing awards will need to submit a new plan in the updated format at the time of their next RPPR or Just-in-Time submission.
NIH Policy Update: Letters of Support Replaced by Letters of Collaboration. NIH is eliminating traditional Letters of Support and replacing them with short, standardized Letters of Collaboration, following a format similar to NSF’s (NOT-OD-26-094). Endorsements from individuals or organizations without intent to collaborate or provide material support will no longer be permitted, letters must not exceed 100 words, and NIH strongly encourages a standardized single-sentence format. An implementation date has not yet been announced.
Change to CMS Data Purchasing for NIA Award Recipients. Under NOT-AG-26-006, NIA award recipients are no longer required to use an Inter-Agency Agreement to pay for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data purchases, and their awards will not be restricted or reduced. Recipients should follow CMS processes directly, and those with restrictive language in a Notice of Award should contact their Grants Management Specialist to request its removal, copying NIACMSDataRequest@mail.nih.gov.
NIH Proposal Development Resource. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya has outlined three principles to keep in mind when writing NIH grant proposals for social science and economics research: that proposals be in-scope, rigorous, and actionable. A recording of his full talk to the NBER Coordinating Center on the Economics of ADRD is also available.
Using AI to Help Communicate Your Research. The Population Reference Bureau has published a guide on using AI to communicate research more effectively while maintaining accuracy, transparency, and control over how findings are interpreted. Written for researchers and analysts who need to convey complex findings clearly and responsibly to non-specialist audiences, the guide is organized around six steps: establishing your research foundation, configuring your AI tool, developing your message, creating communication products, preparing for adversarial contexts, and performing a final review. See the guide (PDF).
See further announcements and opportunities below.
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FUNDING
Call for Proposals: Clinical Trials on Behavioral Interventions in Aging. The Edward R. Roybal Centers for Translational Research on Aging, sponsored by the National Institute on Aging, are accepting applications to fund fully powered clinical trials of behavioral interventions in aging. Applicants must use the NIH Stage Model as a conceptual framework and articulate how the trial will progress through it. Fourteen Roybal Centers are participating in the 2026–2027 cycle, each with a distinct theme and its own eligibility criteria, budget, and application portal. Applicants identify the center whose theme best aligns with their proposed work and apply through that center’s link; investigators need not be affiliated with the center they apply to, though criteria vary by center and should be reviewed. Eligible applicants include early-stage, mid-career, and established investigators at academic, non-profit, and corporate institutions. Letters of intent are due 11:59 PM ET on October 1, 2026, and invited full applications are due December 7, 2026. Deadlines at one participating center run later, so check center-specific guidance. Center themes, eligibility, and application links.
CEND Catalyst Grant Program. Berkeley’s Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases is offering two inaugural $50,000 awards for collaborative research projects led jointly by a UC Berkeley faculty member and a UC Berkeley graduate student, advancing knowledge of infectious, emerging, and neglected diseases. Virtual information sessions will be held August 19 and September 16 at 1:00 p.m. Applications are due October 1, 2026. See program details here.
Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy: 2026–2027 Award Cycle. The Horowitz Foundation is accepting applications from PhD candidates in the social sciences whose work demonstrates relevance for contemporary social policy. Note that since the 2023–2024 cycle applicants may apply only once: those who applied in 2023 or later are not eligible to reapply. Applications are due December 1, 2026. Full details.
Call for Proposals: NHATS Dried Blood Spots. The National Health and Aging Trends Study is accepting applications for access to its repository of stored dried blood spots for novel projects that enhance NHATS’s value to the scientific community. Applications are due October 1, 2026. See the call (PDF).
NIA 2026 Mentorship Prize Competition. Current and former trainees can nominate NIA-funded mentors who shaped their careers. Nominations are open through October 15, 2026. Competition details.
NIA Short-Course Training in Behavioral Intervention Research. NIA is funding two short courses for doctoral-level early- to mid-career investigators conducting or planning behavioral intervention research using the NIH Stage Model. Cohorts meet virtually for instruction and coursework with expert faculty, and the courses are especially relevant for those preparing mentored career development award applications. See the STAGE Trials Program at Northwell Health, or contact bidtrainingprogram@cumc.columbia.edu about Columbia’s Behavioral Intervention Development Training (Winter 2026).
NIH Highlighted Topics
Research on Chatbots and their Usage
Posted Date: May 8, 2026
Expiration Date: April 15, 2028
Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research on HIV-Associated Co-occurring Conditions
Posted Date: July 28, 2026
Expiration Date: July 28, 2028
CALLS
Call for Nominations: 2027 Moynihan Prize. The American Academy of Political and Social Science is accepting nominations for the 2027 Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize, established in 2007 to honor the late Senator and AAPSS fellow. The recipient delivers the Moynihan Lecture on Social Science and Public Policy in Washington, DC, in the fall, an occasion for leading public intellectuals to address pressing public challenges. Nominations are due November 1, 2026. About the prize · Submit a nomination.
Call for Papers. PopDays 2027, the 16th edition of the Giornate di Studio sulla Popolazione, will be held June 9–11, 2027 at the University of Trento, Italy. Hosted by the Italian Association for Population Studies with the participation of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the conference welcomes submissions across fourteen strands spanning ageing and intergenerational relations, fertility, mortality and longevity, internal and international migration, families and households, environment and sustainability, historical demography, life courses, health and wellbeing, policy, and data and methods. Submissions are due October 9, 2026. Registration, submissions, and further information. The full call for papers is attached.
Call for Abstracts. Population Dynamics in a Changing Climate: Future Directions for Climate Demography will be held January 28–29, 2027 in hybrid format, online and in person at the University of Bologna, Italy. Organized by the University of Bologna’s ERC POPCLIMA project in collaboration with the EAPS Working Group on Climate and Demographic Change and the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Climate and Environmental Demography, the conference marks the close of five years of POPCLIMA and aims to set the next research agenda for climate demography. The program will feature keynotes, thematic paper sessions, and a multidisciplinary roundtable spanning demography, climate science, and economics. Topics include climate change and demographic processes (fertility, mortality, migration, health, ageing); population–climate–development feedbacks; population as a driver of climate change and mitigation pathways; climate measurement and causal inference; new data and computational methods, including geospatial approaches, AI, and microsimulation; and population projections and climate futures. Submissions require a short abstract of no more than 250 words plus a two- to four-page extended abstract or full paper, and are due September 20, 2026. There are no participation fees, and limited travel support may be available for early-career researchers and researchers from low- and middle-income countries. Learn more and apply here.
DATA AND RESOURCES
New Data Releases from NIA Population Studies. The National Health and Aging Trends Study has released its Round 1–14 final user guide, along with the National Study of Caregiving Round 11–14 guide, NSOC Round 12 and 13 longitudinal files, and new methodology files including seasonality weights and expanded NSOC Round 14 cross-sectional files. The National Dementia Workforce Study has released Wave 2 restricted-use survey files. NHATS · NSOC · NDWS
CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS
NIA Virtual Workshop: Big Data to Big Insights: Challenges and Opportunities in Aging and AD/ADRD Research. August 19, 2026, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. NIA has asked for a strong showing from the demography and economics of aging community. Details.
CACHE Webinar: Climate and Housing for Senior Tenants. Dr. Liv Yoon (School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia) will present “Using a qualitative approach to study climate and housing: A focus on senior tenants” on August 19, 2026, 9:00 a.m. Pacific / 12:00 p.m. Eastern. Rather than presenting findings, the talk examines the methodological decisions behind an ongoing mixed-methods study of housing and climate crises in British Columbia, and reflects on challenges and unexpected insights along the way. Though grounded in research on older adults and extreme heat, it offers practical lessons for researchers incorporating qualitative methods into aging, health, and environmental research. Register and see the CACHE seminar series.
Research Workshop on Comprehensive Dementia Care Models: GUIDE and Other Models. Virtual, August 28, 2026. The workshop examines CMS’s GUIDE model (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience) alongside other comprehensive approaches to dementia care. Registration.
What Is the Exposome? Meet the Gateway Exposome Coordinating Center. Virtual, September 15, 2026. Details are here.