Graduate Student Affiliate (GSA) Program
The Graduate Student Affiliate Program
The Graduate Student Affiliate (GSA) program at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies is designed to facilitate and supplement a student’s independent research toward a doctoral degree related to “population sciences” or “population health.” We welcome students from all disciplines with interests in at least one of our four Research Focal Areas.
The GSA Program is currently at capacity and is not accepting new applications at this time. Please check this page in Summer 2025 when there will likely be openings.
Harvard Pop Center Graduate Student Affiliate Policy
- Students must complete and submit an application (see form below) plus CV. These are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis
- Students must be pursuing a PhD, although they may not have reached candidacy at the time of application.
- Applicants must have a Harvard Pop Center faculty member willing to recommend and/or serve as a sponsor
- Students must be registered and in good standing in a doctoral program at Harvard University
- GSAs will be affiliated with the Pop Center until they have graduated or no longer enrolled at Harvard
- GSAs will be listed with their email address on the Pop Center website
- It is expected that GSAs participate as much as possible in our Thursday Social Demography Seminar (SDS) series, our Population Research Exchange, and other events and gatherings
- GSAs are highly encouraged to present their research at least once at the Pop Center, especially those in the latter years of their doctoral programs
Benefits to becoming a Pop Center GSA
- Funding: GSA mini grants are available to support travel to facilitate presentations at professional conferences as well dissertation research. Calls for Applications are circulated in January of each year.
- Center involvement: GSAs are urged to become involved in the Pop Center community and research projects. GSAs are informed, often first, of all open research assistant positions and are given preferential access to invite-only events.
- GSAs can apply to participate in the Doctoral Traineeship in Demography and Population Sciences at the Center.
- Presentations: GSAs are encouraged to present at least once at either the Thursday Social Demography Seminar (SDS) series or the Population Research Exchange seminar series. This is a great opportunity to garner feedback from an interdisciplinary audience.
- Promotion: Publications by GSAs will be promoted in the news section of the Pop Center website as well as via our social media channels.
- Residence: The Pop Center offers part-time, private “hoteling” (flex) workspace to all of our GSAs. If accepted into the program, GSAs should contact Deputy Director Laura Price (lprice@hsph.harvard.edu) for more details.
See our list of current GSAs here.
Do you have questions about the Harvard Pop Center Graduate Student Affiliate Program? Feel free to contact Director of Research Elyse Jennings (ejennings@hsph.harvard.edu).
Apply to become a Graduate Student Affiliate by completing the form below.
The Doctoral Traineeship in Demography and Population Sciences
The Doctoral Traineeship in Demography and Population Sciences at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies is a program aimed at providing students (current graduate student affiliates of the Center are eligible to apply) interested in demography with professional development and methods training that are specific to the field of demography and population sciences and not available elsewhere at the university. Each year (beginning the 2024–25 academic year), a handful of students are recruited to join the cohort for a two-year commitment. During these years, monthly sessions are held that cover topics in professional development, methods training, and preparation for submission and attendance at the annual Population Association of America (PAA) conference. Students commit to attend weekly seminars at HCPDS and attend PAA in the spring (with financial support from the Center).