Summer Funding

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MRDRC offers funding for summer workshops

Awards for either the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) Summer Workshop or the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) Data User Workshop and one award for an Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) session are available. The funding covers tuition and/or registration for the programs, with additional funds available to defray travel costs.  All are invited to apply for the funding; members of under-represented communities are encouraged to apply. Deadline for MRDRC’s funding applications is March 31, 2024.

Applicant requirements

  • Applicants must separately apply and be accepted to one of the two workshops or an ICPSR session in order to be considered for the funds. Each program may have a different deadline. MRDRC recommends applying to your session of interest as soon as its application opens as the programs have filled before our March 31 deadline in the past. 
  • The workshops/sessions are designed for faculty, research professionals, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students. MRDRC funding is directed at early career researchers, generally graduate to junior-faculty level.
  • To receive MRDRC funding, individuals must have demonstrated interest in retirement and disability topics that relate to the Social Security Administration’s research agenda. Topics include
    • the impact of Social Security program rules on individuals’ work and retirement decisions;
    • macroeconomic and financial effects of changes in Social Security policy on national saving, investment, and economic growth;
    • implication of trends in Social Security, private pensions, and private saving for future retirement income security;
    • interactions of Social Security with other public and private programs;
    • international research on pension and Social Security issues;
    • distributional effects of proposed Social Security reforms;
    • impact of demographic and social change on Social Security.

MRDRC funding is offered through a cooperative agreement with the Social Security Administration.

Questions regarding workshop funding should be directed to mrdrcumich@umich.edu.

We have compiled frequently asked questions here.

To apply for MRDRC funding: https://forms.gle/4cBk5y8F9JNDkkAv5

ICPSR session details

ICPSR session details

Dates: first session — June 10-July 5, 2024; second session — July 8-August 2, 2024

The 2024 Summer Program will be in a hybrid format, with in person classes for those who can attend in Ann Arbor and online access in either a synchronous or asynchronous mode. The ICPSR Summer Program provides rigorous, hands-on training in statistical techniques, research methodologies, and data analysis. ICPSR Summer Program courses emphasize the integration of methodological strategies with the theoretical and practical concerns that arise in research on substantive issues. The Summer Program’s broad curriculum is designed to fulfill the needs of researchers throughout their careers.

As in previous years, the 2024 Program will feature a broad curriculum ranging from introductory to advanced courses in a variety of methods and techniques. All courses will include opportunities for individual consultation with instructors. 

MRDRC offers funding for one person to attend a three-week session of their choice.  

More information on ICPSR’s Summer Program & registration:

https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/pages/sumprog/

Application deadline: Please apply by March 31, 2024, to qualify for MRDRC funding. 

Please note: The workshops have different dates, deadlines, and application procedures.

The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Summer Workshop (Online)

Dates: June 3-7, 2024, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (ET), online only

This online workshop is intended to give participants an introduction to the HRS that will enable them to use the data for research.

The HRS is a large-scale longitudinal study of the labor force participation and health transitions that individuals undergo toward the end of their work lives and in the years that follow. The survey collects information about income, work, assets, pension plans, health insurance, disability, physical health and functioning, cognitive functioning, and health care expenditures.

The HRS Summer Workshop features:

  • Morning lectures on basic survey content, sample design, weighting, and restricted data files
  • Hands-on data workshops every afternoon in which participants learn to work with the data under the guidance of HRS staff
  • Topics include (but not limited to) in-depth information on HRS data about:
    • Health insurance and medical care
    • Biomarkers, physical measures, and genetic data
    • Cognition
    • Health and physical functioning
    • Linkage to Medicare and Medicaid
    • Employment, retirement, and pensions
    • Psychosocial and well-being
    • Family data
    • International comparison data

For more information on the HRS workshop, visit: https://si.isr.umich.edu/courses/introduction-to-the-health-and-retirement-study-hrs-workshop-2/

To register for the HRS workshop, visit: https://si.isr.umich.edu/registration/. (The registration button is in the top, right corner of the page.)

Application deadline: Please apply by March 31, 2024, to qualify for MRDRC funding. Enrollment is limited and seats can fill before MRDRC’s deadline. We recommend applying as soon as registration opens.

Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) Data User Workshop

Dates: June 17-21, 2024, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., in person only

The Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), begun in 1968, is the world’s longest-running multigenerational household panel study. It is used widely in behavioral, social, and health sciences to investigate scientific and policy questions about life-course trajectories in health and well-being, intergenerational social and economic mobility, income and wealth inequality, family investments in children, neighborhood effects on opportunity and achievement, and many other topics.

This five-day workshop will cover the content and structure of the core PSID interview, its special topics modules, and its supplemental studies, including

  • the Child Development Supplement (CDS),
  • the Transition into Adulthood Supplement (TAS), and
  • the 2013 Rosters and Transfers Module.

Morning sessions will include lectures on topics such as

  • study design,
  • changes to content and sample composition over time,
  • rules for following sample members into new households, and weighting.

Classroom demonstrations using PSID data extracts will illustrate key concepts. In lab sessions, participants will develop their own analytic data files under the guidance of project staff.

For more information on the PSID workshop, search “Panel Study” here: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/pages/sumprog/courses/short-workshops.html

Application deadline: Please apply by March 31, 2024, to qualify for MRDRC funding. PSID’s deadline is April 15, but enrollment is competitive and limited and MRDRC recommends applying as early as possible. PSID notifies MRDRC about their accepted participants at the end of April.