Join us this week for our Brownbag Seminar on Wednesday, October 22nd, 12pm, with Felix Elwert, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Professor Elwert will present “A New Nonparametric Causal Decomposition of Group Disparities.” The event will take place in Room 310 in the Social Sciences Building and also available via zoom. See the full event details here. Our YouTube channel is here. Visit our event page for both past and upcoming talks here.

Call for PAA Annual Awards Nominations. Recognize a colleague (or yourself) who has contributed to the profession. Awardees will be honored at the PAA 2026 Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. Nominations for each award below are due January 31, 2026.

• Clifford C. Clogg Award for Mid-Career Achievement
• Early Achievement Award
• Mindel C. Sheps Award
• Sara McLanahan Award
• Dorothy S. Thomas Award

Impacts of Federal Shutdown on NIH Extramural Activities

• eRA Systems: eRA systems will be operational, but with limited support.
• Electronic submissions through Grants.gov: Grants.gov will be open and can accept electronic applications.  However, applications will not be processed by NIH until operations resume. 
• Electronic submission of multi-project applications through NIH’s ASSIST system: The ASSIST system will remain available and can accept applications. However, applications will not be processed by NIH until operations resume.
• See NOT-OD-26-004 for more information

Other resources:

National Institutes of Health Shutdown Website

National Science Foundation Shutdown Website

Featured affiliate research of the week: Demographic Differences in Responses to a Two-Step Gender Identity Measure. 2025. Christina Pao, Christopher A. Julian, D’Lane Compton, Danya Lagos, Lawrence Stacey. Sociological Science. 10.15195/v12.a13 

See further announcements and opportunities below.

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EVENTS

October 20 | 12-1:30pm | Goldman School of Public Policy | Melanie Morten, Associate Professor of Economics, Stanford University. “The Effects of Legal Short-term Migration: Evidence from the H-2A Program” (with Beatriz Magaloni-Kerpel). Room 105 (2607 Hearst). 

October 20 | 4:10-5:30pm | Seminar 271, Development Seminar | Paul Niehaus (UCSD) presenting “What Would it Cost to End Extreme Poverty?“, joint work with Roshni Sahoo, Joshua Blumenstock, Leo Selkar, Stefan Wager. 648 Evans Hall. 

October 21 | 9:30am-1:30pm | Urban Institute + Opportunity Lab | Join the Opportunity Lab and the Urban Institute on October 21st for a day of conversations about the long-term impacts of safety net investments in children. Featuring conversations with Maryland Governor Wes Moore, MSNBC Anchor Catherine Rampell; Utah Department of Health and Human Services executive director Tracy Gruber; and former Chairs of the Council of Economic Advisors Cecilia Rouse and Douglas Holtz-Eakin – in addition to some of the country’s leading researchers on childhood economic security, this hybrid event will provide a high-level overview of current research on the benefits of investing in children, as well as exploring where there may be opportunities for policy movement, more research, or new political approaches. Hybrid event. Register here.

October 22 | 12-1:05pm |  UC Berkeley Demography Seminar Series | Felix Elwert, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “A New Nonparametric Causal Decomposition of Group Disparities.” The event will take place in Room 310 in the Social Sciences Building and will also be available via zoom. 

Meeting ID: 985 2901 0198 Password: DEMOG_BB 

See the full event details here. 

CALL FOR PAPERS

Journal of Human Capital: Family, Fertility, and Human Development. The Special Issue of the Journal of Human Capital invites submissions for a special multidisciplinary issue dedicated to advancing theoretical and empirical research on fertility, family formation, human capital formation, and human development. Submissions of theoretical, empirical, or mixed-methods contributions from scholars in economics, demography, biology, and all other social science disciplines that address one or more of the specified areas are welcome.  Draft submission: May 31, 2026. Learn more. 

FUNDING

UNICEF Evaluation has an open call under the Impact Catalyst Fund on Adaptive Social Protection. Objective: Fill knowledge gaps on what works, how, and at what cost to allow families and children to prepare for, cope with, and recover from shocks via social protection in settings of fragility. Selected innovative programs will receive:

• Full technical support to conduct rigorous impact evaluation
• Matching grants of up to US$200,000 to support primary data collection (at least two rounds)
• Be part of a larger evidence & learning portfolio w/ a focus on fragile contexts in Middle East and North Africa, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa.

Deadline to apply: November 15, 2025.  Learn more. 

WEBINARS

Future of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Webinar. The Friends of BLS steering committee invites you to a member webinar from noon to 1 pm ET on Thursday, October 23. Former Commissioners Erica Groshen, William Beach, and Erika McEntarfer will offer updates, describe strategies, and offer a menu of concrete ways for interested members to engage with Friends of BLS. Members of the press may attend and all proceedings will be on the record. Register here and share with others who care about the future of BLS.

Learn About the National Neighborhood Data Archive (NaNDA). November 3. 12-2pm ET. Virtual. Register in advance. Presenters: Grace Noppert, Philippa Clark, and Lindsay Gypin