Columbia Population Research Center - Development Core

Abstract - Development Core The overall goals of the development core (DC) are to increase the scientific impact, innovation, and productivity of CPRC's population dynamics researchers, increase their competiveness for peer-reviewed external funding, and support the professional development of junior scientists. To achieve these goals, the specific aim of the DC is to design, implement, and monitor a comprehensive set of services and activities to advance the aims of the center, which are to: (1) nourish a vibrant cross-campus intellectual community of population researchers at Columbia, fostering the development of junior population scientists and encouraging collaborations among population scientists and between population scientists and scientists in other disciplines; (2) advance population research in CPRC's four primary research areas: children, youth, and families; reproductive health and HIV/AIDS; immigration/migration; and urbanism; (3) continue to be a leading population center focused on research on inequalities in the health and well-being of vulnerable populations, and on public policies relevant to those populations; and (4) take advantage of Columbia's location in New York City by partnering with city policy makers and practitioners to address mutual research interests. The DC, co-chaired by Neeraj Kaushal (Social Work) and Matthew Neidell (Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health), two highly qualified researchers who have led the core since 2015, provides the following services and activities: 1) The seminar series, which represents the heart of the CPRC's intellectual community; 2) Primary research area (PRA) groups whose activities generate multiple cross-campus collaborations to advance population science; 3) Working groups, clusters of researchers organized around a specific research topic or problem and committed to developing either a research project or a CPRC-wide initiative; 4) Conferences and workshops that bring together researchers across CPRC, providing an opportunity for researchers to interact and to develop plans for new collaborations or projects; 5) A seed grant program that galvanizes population research at Columbia by providing strategic support for small scale, innovative projects that lay the groundwork for larger studies to advance population dynamics research, with priority for junior scientists and for new collaborations across disciplines and/or across campus; 6) A junior scientist mentoring and support program that promotes the development of junior faculty and research scientists conducting population research through a range of services including a new editing service; 7) A visiting scholars program that welcomes visitors whose work ties in closely with CPRC's PRAs; and 8) A proposed new Invited Scholar program that will allow two CPRC seminar presenters each year to stay for a week to provide consultation and mentorship to junior scientists, and develop possible collaborations.