Student Research Affiliates
The nurturing and development of effective young professionals who will advance the field of population studies as they become teachers or researchers in academic or applied settings constitutes a high priority for the Maryland Population Research Center.
Kinds of Affiliation
Students can be affiliated with MPRC in one of two ways :
- As a Student Research Affiliate
- As a Sponsoring Student Research Affiliate
All Student Affiliates must meet the following criteria :
- An actively enrolled graduate student engaged in research related to population studies and demography
- Working with a current MPRC Faculty Associate who will agree to sponsor the student for affiliation
In the event that the student's Faculty Sponsor ceases to be a Faculty Associate of MPRC the student must identify and arrange to work under the direction of another faculty member who is a current Faculty Associate. See our people page for a full list of Faculty Associates.
Services
Student Research Affiliates receive a variety of support from the Center, including but not limited to :
- Access to the MPRC computing lab equipped with SAS, STATA, ArcGIS and other software
- Flexible work space and lockers in the graduate quadrant at MPRC
- Support for participation in the annual meeting of the Population Association of America in the form of financial grants to defray travel expenses, poster preparation, and other costs, when co-authoring with an MPRC Faculty Associate
- Interactive seminars - each semester focused on methodology and challenges to effective population research
- Journal Club Series - A student-directed initiative helping young scholars to review literature, connect with senior scholars, and develop research plans. See Journal Club page for more details.
- Preferred consideration when MPRC is hiring GAs to support Center work
Sponsoring Student Research Affiliates support the Center's mission through a monetary contribution of $50 or more per year. All funds collected from sponsorship contributions are used to further the Center's goals for developing young, professional researchers. Sponsoring Student Research Affiliates receive the same benefits as listed above, plus :
- Technical support for the installation of specialized statistical software on a computer of their choice for their own use (university-owned computers are not eligible)
- One current copy of STATA and SAS for use on this computer through an MPRC license¹
¹Subject to terms of MPRC license agreement. Installation is managed by the Computing Core and may take several days to complete.
Sponsoring Student Research Affiliate candidates must make an appointment with Jennifer Doiron - after filling out the online application form (see below) - in order to complete paperwork.
Maintaining Student Research Affiliate status
As an NIH-funded Population Research Center, MPRC is tasked with promulgating and promoting population research and interdisciplinary innovation. One of our requirements of students is that they demonstrate involvement by attending seminars and workshops, participating in working groups, and attending special events. We think it's reasonable to expect that students will attend at least two MPRC-sponsored events in a given semester. If you do not attend at least two seminars or workshops and you are not involved in a working group or other Center activity during a given semester, your status as a Student Research Affiliate will be reviewed.
If your graduate work requires you to be absent from campus or otherwise unable to fulfill this requirement, you can apply for a waiver through your Faculty Sponsor.
Duration
Student Affiliation is yearly, and students are reviewed each semester to assure compliance with the attendance requirement.
Application Form
You can apply online ! Just use our handy application form.
Info
For more information about becoming a student affiliate, please contact Jennifer Doiron.
For more information should you be interested in pursuing a Certificate in Population Studies to compliment your graduate studies degree, see this link.