NextGenPop has been awarded a five-year renewal by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health (2R25HD105602, PIs Marcy Carlson and Kelly Musick). NextGenPop is a collaborative undergraduate training program designed to bring young scholars into the field of population research. The cohort-based program includes a two-week summer experience that rotates across universities, subsequent virtual components throughout the academic year on research and professional development, and opportunities for mentorship and networking at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America (PAA), the nation’s leading professional association for population scholars.
Over its first five years (summers 2022-2026), the NextGenPop program has supported 93 undergraduate fellows from colleges and universities across the U.S. The renewal supports the coming five years (2027-2031), with summer programs hosted by Wisconsin, Cornell, Johns Hopkins and Duke, Minnesota, and UCLA. It builds on a strong demonstrated record of success on multiple metrics, including the size and quality of its applicant pool, program evaluations, and the early career outcomes of participants. It will continue to draw broad support from the PAA and a consortium of 27 population research centers. Over the 10-year span of the program, NextGenPop promises to have significant and sustained impact on the population field by broadening the pipeline and ultimately expanding the kinds of questions, tools, and conceptual frameworks engaged to advance the science, providing a richer perspective on human health, development, and well-being.