Graduate Student Affiliate (GSA) Program

The Graduate Student Affiliate program at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies (the Harvard Pop Center) 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.


Harvard Pop Center Graduate Student Affiliate Policy

  • Students must complete and submit an application plus CV. These are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis
  • Applicants must have an 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.
  • 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 Laura Price, deputy director, 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 at ejennings@hsph.harvard.edu


Apply here…