Research and Project Assistant positions and Traineeships

Research Assistant (RA) and Project Assistant (PA) positions and Traineeships require roughly a half-time commitment. The current (2007-08) stipend is $19,032 annually for RAs and PAs and $20,772 for Trainees. Paid tuition and other benefits are also included.

For convenience, we have divided the positions available to Department of Sociology graduate students into two groups. The first group is positions loosely tied to the Center for Demography and Ecology and the Center for Demography of Health and Aging which are most appropriate for students in demography, stratification, public health, and family studies. The second group is the more heterogeneous group of "other" research positions.

Please note: this list does not contain all available positions, but rather only those for which information has been provided to the staff which maintains this page.

Demography, Health, Family, and Aging Related Positions

1. RA or PA postions funded by Center for Demography and Ecology (CDE). Up to two positions. Specific appointments will be made by faculty with pilot research projects in CDE. Appointments may be made of students at any level. Preference will likely go to students with strong quantitative skills and research interest in demography.

2. RA or PA positions funded by the Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA). Up to four positions. Specific appointments will be made by faculty with pilot research projects in CDHA. Appointments may be made of students at any level. Preference will likely go to students with strong quantitative skills and research interest in demography, health, and/or aging. Information about CDHA is available at http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cdha/

3. Traineeships in demography from the Center for Demography and Ecology (CDE). Eight positions. Traineeships are awarded to students with demonstrated interest in and qualifications for study in demography and related areas.

4. Traineeships in population and aging from the Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA). Four positions. Traineeships are awarded to students with demonstrated interest in and qualifications for study in demography, health and aging, and the life course.

CDE and CDHA appointment process

In the spring, CDE's training committee reviews files of admitted students with stated interests in demography and related areas for both CDE and CDHA RA/PA positions and traineeships. If you are seriously interested in studying demography, health, aging, and the life course, but feel that interest may not have been expressed in your application materials for some reason, you may send email to the Director of Graduate Studies (freeland@ssc.wisc.edu) who will forward your name to the CDE/CDHA selection committee. Note: Traineeships are open only to US citizens or permanent residents.

You can get more information about CDE and CDHA at their home pages: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/home.htm and http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cdha/
Information about training is posted at http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/brochure/home.htm and
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cdha/about/funding/announce.html

Contact: Professor James R. Walker, Director, CDE (walker@ssc.wisc.edu) or Robert M. Hauser, Director, CDHA (hauser@ssc.wisc.edu).

5. RA or PA positions with the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Specific appointments will be made by faculty investigators. Appointments may be made of students at any level. Preference will likely go to students in the Department of Sociology with strong quantitative skills and research interest in demography, health, and/or aging and the life course. Information about the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study is available at http://dpls.dacc.wisc.edu/WLS/wlsarch.htm.

Contact: Professor Robert M. Hauser, hauser@ssc.wisc.edu

Other Positions

The Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) hosts an Interdisciplinary Training Program (ITP) for Predoctoral Research in the Education Sciences. The purpose of the program is to encourage social science doctoral students to study practical problems in education with rigorous quantitative methods that allow causal inference. Particular emphasis is given to randomized controlled trials. Support is available for entry-level (first or second-year) students and advanced (dissertator) students. Students from economics, political science, psychology, sociology, and social work are eligible for the program. Due to requirements of the U.S. Department of Education, only U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible for funding, although all students are very welcome to take courses in the program and take part in any way. For more details, see http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/itp/ Questions may be directed to Molly Wesling, ITP Coordinator, at wesling@wisc.edu or (608) 265-9483.

Environmental Sociology: There are a wide variety of traineeships and research/project assistantships in environmental sociology and the sociology of agriculture. The environmental sociologists are located primarily in the department of Rural Sociology. The departments of Sociology and Rural Sociology run a wholly integrated graduate program so that students may readily combine interests in environmental sociology with other sub-fields in sociology. The Rural Sociology webpage at http://www.drs.wisc.edu describes the many different projects in this dynamic area.

Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS): COWS is a national policy center and field laboratory for high-road economic development -- a competitive market economy of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, and capable democratic government. COWS work is collaborative, experimental, and evidence-driven. Working with business, government, labor, and communities, we try out new ideas, test their effectiveness, and disseminate those with promise. We believe that the best way to predict the future is to start making it, particularly in our states and metro regions. Some areas of COWS program focus include, economic and workforce development, sectoral strategies and career pathways, clean energy and energy efficiency, labor markets and job improvement and strategies for improving low-wage work.

COWS is based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, famous for the "Wisconsin Idea" that the University should help informed democratic experiment. Since its founding 15 years ago, COWS has often been called "the Wisconsin Idea in action."

COWS hires graduate project assistants for a variety of positions involving research and project management. To learn more, go to www.cows.org
Contacts: Professor Joel Rogers (jrogers@ssc.wisc.edu), Laura Dresser (ldresser@ssc.wisc.edu)