Weekly News, September 8, 2025

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Join us for our next Brownbag Seminar on Wednesday, September 10th, 12pm, with Nathan Lo,  Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases at Stanford University. Nathan will present, “Modeling Re-emergence of Vaccine-Eliminated Infectious Diseases Under Declining Vaccination in the United States.” The event will take place in Room 310 in the Social Sciences Building and will also be available via Zoom. See the full event details here. Our YouTube channel is here. Visit our Brownbag event page for both past and upcoming talks here.

From the NIH:

  • Supporting fairness and originality in NIH research applications. This policy notice outlines NIH’s new guidance on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in grant applications. NIH will not consider grant applications that have been substantially developed using AI. Additionally, NIH will only accept six grant applications from a PI in a calendar year, with the exception of T32 and R13 applications. Learn more.
  • No-cost extension requests. NIH has re-enabled the no-cost extension (NCE) functionality within eRA Commons. As a reminder, NIH grant recipients are generally able to initiate a one-time NCE of 12 months or fewer without prior approval. NCE requests that require prior approval can be found in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. Learn more.

Featured affiliate research of the week: Midlife Cognitive Testing in Africa: Validity of the Harmonised Cognitive Assessment Protocol in the Kenya Life Panel Survey. BMJ Open. 2025. Alden L Gross, Madeline Duhon, Eric Ochieng, Jean N Ikanga, William H Dow, Jinkook Lee, Michael W Walker, Michelle Layvant, Anthony Ngugi, Joshua R Ehrlich, Edward A Miguel.

See further announcements and opportunities below.

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EVENTS

September 8 | 2-3:30pm | UC Berkeley Sociology Panel Discussion |  with Martín Sánchez-Jankowski, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley, and Jonathan Simon, the Lance Robbins Professor of Criminal Justice Law at UC Berkeley School of Law. The discussion is moderated by Sociology PhD Candidate Cathy Hu. Topic: “Is There a Future for Abolition?” As mass incarceration persists and carceral logics continue to shape surveillance and control in the U.S., this panel will convene scholars working on poverty, penalty, and law. Together, they will examine the current state of policing, carceral practices, and their role in perpetuating social inequality. 402 Social Sciences and via zoom, link here.

September 9 | 12:30-2pm | UC Berkeley Health Policy Colloquium Series | with Dan Zeltzer, Associate Professor of Health Economics at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Division of Health Policy and Management. “AI-Augmented Clinical Decision-Making: Evidence from Virtual Urgent Care.” 2121 Berkeley Way West, Room 1104. Event details are here.

September 10 | 12:10-1:05pm |  UC Berkeley Demography Seminar Series | Nathan Lo, Assistant Professor of Infectious Diseases, Stanford University. “Modeling Re-emergence of Vaccine-Eliminated Infectious Diseases Under Declining Vaccination in the United States.”  Social Sciences, Room 310 and zoom. See the full event details here. Zoom ID: 985 2901 0198 Passcode DEMOG_BB

FUNDING

WORKSHOPS 

Topics in Digital and Computational Demography. Apply now for a five-day doctoral course on Topics in Digital and Computational Demography with Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, which will take place in hybrid (Rostock, zoom) format, November 3-7, 2025. Find more details here. Application deadline is September 28, 2025.

ECHO Symposium: Translating Science to Action. The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program is a research program supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to enhance the health of children for generations to come. The goal of the ECHO Program is to understand the effects of a broad range of early environmental influences on child health and development. This virtual and in-person event offers a unique opportunity to connect with thought leaders, learn from child health research, and take actionable steps toward enhancing children’s health. Whether you’re a child health professional, advocate, policymaker, researcher, parent, or member of the media, this symposium provides tools and insights to enhance the health of children for generations to come. Sunday, September 15, 9:00am – 5:00pm ET. Register for this event here.

Call for Virtual Workshop Applicants: Using the Census and ACS in Undergraduate Courses by SSDAN.

Population Studies Center – Institute for Social Research

University of Michigan – Ann Arbor

Workshop Dates: October 2nd and 16th (Thursdays), 2025, 3pm ET

This virtual workshop will assist undergraduate faculty in the development of course modules and approaches that integrate US Census and American Community Survey (ACS) analysis into a broad range of social science courses. It will feature US Census-based teaching resources – accessible datasets and classroom modules – available with the Social Science Data Analysis Network  (SSDAN) at the University of Michigan’s Population Studies Center. Participants will learn about how to use these resources and adopt them in their courses, as well as ways to assess student proficiency. Videos and materials will be provided to assist adoption. Early career faculty members and future faculty are encouraged to apply. Workshop participants should come prepared to develop one or more class modules to enrich a course they already teach.  Participants who successfully create and use a module for a class will receive a $400 stipend and certificate of completion. The workshop will consist of two virtual sessions on Thursday, October 2 from 3-4 pm ET and Thursday October 16 from 3-5 pm ET as well as more informal follow-up sessions to provide further assistance to faculty. Workshop instructors are William Frey, director of SSDAN, Jill Bouma of Berea College, and Esther Wilder of Lehman College CUNY – who are well versed in integrating data-driven course exercises into a wide range of undergraduate courses. Click here for additional information and to apply.  Applications due on Friday, September 19, 2025.

OPPORTUNITIES

John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science. Awarded every two years, to recognize noteworthy and distinguished accomplishments in any field of science within the National Academy of Science’s charter. The award is presented with a medal and a $25,000 prize. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company established the award to honor the memory of their Chief Engineer, Vice President, and general telecommunications innovator, John J. Carty. The Carty Award will be presented in 2026 in the social sciences (excluding economics). Nominations will be accepted online through Monday, October 6, 2025.

The American Sociological Association Population Section is seeking members to run for election and to serve on committees. Please consider running for election or serving on a section committee this year. It is a great way to get more involved in the section and meet other members. The section will elect four positions this year: chair-elect, two council members, and one student representative. Information for students considering running for election: Attendance at the ASA conference is not required. The main responsibilities include helping to organize the roundtable session and providing feedback to the leadership team on how to best meet the needs of students in the section. To volunteer to run for election and/or serve on a committee, see here. 

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