Seed Grant Program

As part of our NICHD Population Dynamic Branch (PDB) P2C Population Center Infrastructure Grant, we have funds to support CCPR faculty-initiated population research. The goal is to help develop nascent research ideas into larger-scale projects that will eventually obtain extramural funding from the NIH or other extramural funding sources. Seed Grant awards are expected to be around $20,000. Proposals will be considered up to the amount of $40,000, but larger proposals should justify costs carefully. The amount of each Seed Grant award will vary and some proposals may be only partially funded depending on the number, size and quality of applications. We expect to have one call for seed grants per year.

The ideal use of these funds is to help develop new ideas and conduct preliminary research that is likely to result in successful applications for extramural funding. Funds may be used for graduate student research assistant, statistical consulting, or other research-related expenses. Due to NIH restrictions, funds may not be used for subcontract and foreign payments.

Applicant must be a CCPR faculty affiliate.

Click here to apply.

  • 2025-2026

    Tools Tools

    Funded Seed Grants

    “Deportation Data Project”, Graeme Blair (Political Science), David Hausman (UC Berkley)

    “Barriers to Reproductive Health Services and Their Effects on Health”, Juliana Londono-Velez (Economics)

    “Credit Access for Responsible Extraction (CARE): Using Conditional Credit to Address Poverty and Population Health Risks in Sierra Leone’s Artisanal Mining Communities”, Darin Christensen (Public Policy and Political Science), Kevin Grieco (IST)

  • 2024-2025

    Funded Seed Grants

    “Mapping Patient Stories (MaPS): Documenting abortion care-seeking journeys among people living in abortion ban states”, Jessica Gipson, May Sudhinaraset (Community Health Sciences)

    “Acceptability of Biomarker Assessment Among People Experiencing Homelessness”, Benjamin Seligman (Medicine) and Randall Kuhn (Community Health Sciences)

    “Extending and applying tools for evaluating non-randomized school-based programs using pre-intervention data: an application to early childhood education”, Chad Hazlett (Political Science, Statistics)

    “Discrimination and Substance Use Among People Experiencing Homelessness”, Angie Verissimo (CSU,San Bernardino), Randall Kuhn, Gilbert Gee, Courtney Tobin (Community Health Sciences)

  • 2023-2024

    Funded Seed Grants

    • “The Impact of Abortion Denials on Women’s Socioeconomic Outcomes.” Juliana Londoño-VĂ©lez (Economics)
    • “The Geography of Race, Poverty, Crime, and Policing” Felipe Goncalves (Public Policy) and Emily Weisburst (Economics)

  • 2022-2023

    Funded Seed Grants

    • “Contraceptive method switching and discontinuation: Quality of care for women in Burkina Faso, Pakistan and Tanzania.” Corrina Moucheraud (Health Policy & Management), Jessica Gipson (Community Health Sciences), and Manisha Shah (Public Policy).
    • “Interpretable Machine Learning for Neuroimaging Analysis under Heterogenous Population” Xiaowu Dai (Statistics)

  • 2019-2020

    Funded Small Grants

    • “The Causal Effects of Long-Term Air Pollution Exposure.” Adriana Lleras-Muney (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Do Arrests Deter or Promote Offending.” Emily Weisburst (Dept. of Public Policy)  and Felipe Goncalves (Dept. of Economics)

  • 2018-2019

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Estimating Real World Causal Effects under Self-Selection.” Chad Hazlett (Dept. of Political Science and Statistics)
    • “Longevity and intergenerational correlations in longevity over multiple generations in the U.S.” Adriana Lleras-Muney, Joseph Price, and Sandra Black (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Adapting to Climate Change: Extreme Heat, Occupational Injury Risk, and Health Equity.” Jisung Park (Dept. of Public Policy and Public Health)
    • “Child-Care and Female Labor Market Participation: Evidence from Fiscal Federalism in Italy.” Michela Giorcelli, Bianchi, Nicola Martino, and Enrica Maria (Dept. of Economics)

  • 2017-2018

    Funded Small Grants

    • “The Effects of Higher Education Institutional Environments on Student Mental Health.” Michael Gaddis (Dept. of Sociology)
    • “Understanding Men’s and Women’s Perceived Risk of Pregnancy: An In-Depth Exploration in Rural Malawi.” Jessica Gipson (Dept. of Community Health Sciences)
    • “Access to Health Care for Non-Communicable Diseases in Malawi: New Insights Using Geospatial Analyses of Facility- and Household-level Data.” Corrina Moucheraud (Dept. of Health Policy and Management)
    • “The Racial Self-Awareness Framework of Race-Based Stress, Coping, and Health: Evaluating Bio-Psychosocial Pathways among African Americans.” Courtney Thomas (Dept. of Community Health Sciences)
    • “Measuring Protester Demographics from Social Media Images.” Zachary C. Steinert-Threlkeld (Dept. of Public Policy)

  • 2016-2017

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Trauma and Attitudes toward Conflict among Displaced Populations in the Boko Haram Conflict in Nigeria” Graeme Blair  / Chad Hazlett (Dept. of Political Science)
    • “Socio-Economic Disparities and Development of the Infant Interstinal Ecology: A Longitudinal Cohort Study” Molly Fox (Dept. of Anthropology)
    • “Provider Incentives and Overspending in Long Term Care” Martin Hackmann / Vincent Pohl (Dept. of Economics)

  • 2014-2015

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Social Context and Fertility: The Filipino Couples Survey”
      Jessica Gipson (Dept. of Community Health Sciences)
    • “Measurement Development for Demography Research to Understand Intersectionality Among Racial/Ethnic Minority LGBT Populations”
      Ian W. Holloway (Dept. of Social Welfare) and Bianca Wilson (The Williams Institute, Law School)
    • “Estimating the Mortality Rates of Unauthorized Mexican Immigrants in California”
      Liu, Kayuet (Dept. of Sociology)

  • 2013-2014

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Selection and Cognitive Transformation in the Population Dynamics of Culture”
      Jacob G. Foster (Dept. of Sociology)
    •  “Examining the Role of Epigenetics in Health Disparities in a National Longitudinal Study”
      May Wang (Dept. of Community Health Sciences)
    •  “The British Demographic Transition: A Microeconomic Analysis”
      William Walker Hanlon (Dept. of Economics) and Nico Voigtlaender (Anderson School of Management)
    • “Should Schools Recognize or Award Achievements”
      Leonardo Bursztyn (Anderson School of Management) and Robert Jensen (Dept. of Public Policy)
    •  “Occupational Coding in the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A.FANS)”
      Anne Pebley (Dept. of Community Health Sciences)
    •  “To What Extent Do Lifestyle Practices Ameliorate the Detrimental Impact of Stressors on Allostatic Load in Young Adulthood?”
      Dawn Upchurch (Dept. of Community Health Sciences) and Teresa Seeman (Sch of Medicine)
    •  “Time, Risk and Social Preferences after the Cambodian Genocide”
      Patrick Heuveline (Dept. of Sociology), Adriana Lleras- Muney (Dept. of Economics), and Manisha Shah (Dept. of Public Policy)

  • 2012-2013

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Trends in Smoking Among Mexicans in the U.S. and Mexico: Distinguishing Effects of Aging, Immigrant Arrival Cohort, and Duration of U.S. Stay”Steven Wallace (Dept. of Community Health Sciences) and Georgiana Bostean (Dept. of Public Health)

  • 2011-2012

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Studying the Impact of the Great Recession and the International Food Crisis on Food Insecurity, Obesity and Diabetes Risk Among Recent Mexican Immigrants in the U.S.”
      Arturo Vargas Bustamante (Dept. of Health Sciences)
    • “The Native American Economy”
      Christian Dippel (Anderson School of Management)
    • “Social Context and Fertility: An Analysis of Filipino Young Adult Couples”
      Jessica Gipson (Dept. of Community Health Sciences)

  • 2010-2011

    Funded Small Grants

    • “The Global Context of Progress in Health-Related Millennium Development Goals: Africa and Global Context of Health Study”
      Onyebuchi Arah (Dept. of Epidemiology)
    • “Assimilation and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration”
      Leah Boustan (Dept. of Economics) and Ran Abramitzky (Stanford Univ)
    • “Cognitive Ability and Retirement Planning: Is There a Need for Policy Intervention?”
      Maria Casanova (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Assessing Population Impacts and Recovery from Disasters through Satellite Imagery”
      Thomas Gillespie and Joey Perman (Dept. of Geography)
    • “The Impact of Childhood Income Transfers on Long-Term Health”
      Adriana Lleras-Muney (Dept. of Economics) and Anna Aizer (Brown Univ)
    • “Mixed Income Housing in Context: An Integrated Study of Families and Neighborhoods”
      Robert Mare (Dept. of Sociology) and Robert Sampson (Harvard Univ)
    • “Socioeconomic Standing and Variability in the Timing of Marriage, Union Formation, and Parenthood across the 20th Century”
      Megan Sweeney (Dept. of Sociology)
    • “Developing an Instrument for Assessing the Food Environment in China”
      May Wang (Dept. of Community Health Sciences)

  • 2009-2010

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Kin Associations in Demographic and Socioeconomic Outcomes”
      Cameron Campbell (Dept. of Sociology)
    • “Are High Housing Costs Delaying First Births?”
      William Clark (Dept. of Geography)
    • “Racial/Ethnic Identity, Perceived Racism and Blood Pressure Outcomes”
      Chandra Ford (Dept. of Community Health Sciences)
    • “Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Autism Spectrum Disorders in Los Angeles County”
      Beate Ritz (Dept. Epidemology), et. al.
    • “Social Stressors, Perceived Discrimination, and Racial and SES Differences in Allostatic Load Among Midlife Women”
      Dawn Upchurch (Dept. of Community Health Sciences) and Gail Greendale (Sch of Medicine)

  • 2008-2009

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Geographic Dispersion and the Well-Being of the Elderly”
      Suzanne Bianchi (Dept. of Sociology), Judith Seltzer (Dept. of Sociology), Kathleen McGarry (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Human Capital and the US Growth Take-Off: How Positively Selected Were Immigrants During the Age of Mass Migration?”
      Leah Boustan (Dept. of Economics), et al.
    • “Promoting Health Investments through Informal Saving Networks”
      Pascaline Dupas (Dept. of Economics) and Jonathan Robinson (Dept. of Economics, UCSC)
    • “Developing a Study of the Effects of Environmental Changes on Health-Related behaviors and Chronic Metabolic Conditions in Chinese Populations”
      May Wang (Dept. of Community Health Sciences), et al.

  • 2007-2008

    Funded Seed Grants

    • “Gendered Lives and Health in Late Life”
      Carol Aneshensel (Dept. of Community Health Sciences), et al.
    • “The Determinants of College Success”
      Moshe Buchinsky (Dept. of Economics) and William Zame
    • “The Causes and Consequences of Corruption in Education and Health”
      Fred Finan (Dept. of Economics) and Claudio Ferraz
    • “Accent and Name Discrimination in Health Care: A Pilot Study”
      Gilbert Gee (Dept. of Community Health Sciences) and Richard Lichtenstein
    • “From Cross-Section to Panel Study: Tracking Respondents in China for Future Interviews”
      Shige Song (Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China)
    • “Uncertainty, Fertility Control, and Family Change”
      Megan Sweeney (Dept. of Sociology)

  • 2006-2007

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Using the Civil Rights Act and Desegregation Plans to Explore the Political Motivations Behind White Flights: 1960-1980”
      Leah Boustan (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Population Heterogeneity and the Casual Effects of HeadStart”
      Jennie Brand (Dept. of Sociology)
    • “A New Model for the Delivery of Well Child Care for Young Children”
      Tumaini Rucker Coker (Dept. of General Pediatrics)
    • “Migrant-NonMigrant Health Differentials in China”
      Peifeng “Perry” Hu (Dept. of Geriatrics Medicine)
    • “Investing in Enduring Resources with the Earned Income Tax Credit (LA Site)”
      Mignon R. Moore, (Dept. of Sociology) et. al.
    • “Work and Health among Mexican Migrant Women in Hermosillo and Los Angeles: Health Care Strategies in Transition?”
      Jane Rubin-Kurtzman (visiting Research Scientist, CCPR) and Catalina A. Denman (Professor, El Colegio de Sonora)

  • 2005-2006

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Discrimination in the Credit Market: An Experiment Approach”
      Fred Finan (Dept. of Economics) and Wes Yin
    • “Ethnicity and Social Disparities in Health: Socioeconomic Status and Health in the Tibetan Population in China”
      Anne Pebley (Dept. of Community Health Sciences) and Kunchok Gyaltsen
    • “The Health Effects of Air Pollution: Evidence from Forest Fires”
      Sarah Reber (Dept. of Social Welfare) and Seema Jayachandran (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Partnership Rates and Partnership-Based Selection among Same-Sex Couples”
      Gary Gates (School of Law)
    • “The Causes and Consequences of Consanguineous Marriage”
      Seema Jayachandran (Dept. of Economics)

  • 2004-2005

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Investing in Patience”
      Mattias Doepke (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Toxic Releases and Infant Health”
      Janet Currie (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Daily Adaptation in Mexican Immigrant Families”
      Andrew Fuligni (Dept. of Psychology/Psychiatry)
    • “Acupuncture Use in the US: An Analysis of the 2002 National Health Interview Survey”
      Dawn Upchurch (Dept. of Community Health Sciences)

  • 2003-2004

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Empirical Dynamic Structural Models of Retirement and Disability”
      Moshe Buchinsky (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Developing New Measures of Interpersonal and Intertemporal Preferences”
      Joseph Hotz (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Neighborhood Choice and Neighborhood Change: Dynamic Models of Residential Segregation”
      Robert Mare (Dept. of Sociology)
    • “Choosing Houses and Choosing Communities: Measuring and Evaluating Neighborhood Effects”
      Michael Shin and  William Clark (Dept. of Geography)
    • “Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from Norway”
      Sandra Black and  Paul Devereux (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Designing Optimal Disability Insurance: A Case for Asset-Testing”
      Aleh Tsyvinski (Dept. of Economics)

  • 2002-2003

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Air Pollution, Health, and Socio-Economic Status: Evidence from the Port of Los Angeles”
      Enrico Moretti (Dept. of Economics)
    • “Social and Economic Effects of the Bombing in Bali”
      Elizabeth Frankenberg (Dept. of Sociology)

  • 2001-2002

    Funded Small Grants

    • “Pilot Study of Internal Migration in China”
      William Mason and Donald Treiman (Dept. of Sociology)
    • “Poverty and Ethnicity during the Market Transition in Central and Eastern Europe”
      Rebecca Emigh (Dept. of Sociology)
    • “Inter-Generational Socio-Economic Mobility among the Mexican American People: A Generation Later”
      Vilma Ortiz and Edward Telles (Dept. of Sociology)
    • “Antioxidants and Inflammation and Socioeconomic Differences in Mortality: MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging”
      Peifeng (Perry) Hu (Dept. of Geriatrics Medicine)