National Research Center on Poverty and Economic Mobility Early-Career Mentoring Institute

IRP co-hosts, with the University of California, Davis’s Center for Poverty & Inequality Research (CPIR), a biannual week-long National Research Center on Poverty and Economic Mobility Early-Career Mentoring Institute (ECMI). Held in Davis, California, the ECMI provides valuable mentoring and career development opportunities to poverty and social mobility scholars who are in the early stages of their research careers and who have the potential for leadership in supporting members of populations that are underrepresented among academic researchers.

An interdisciplinary roster of four distinguished faculty mentors, four featured speakers, and up to twelve ECMI participant scholars will attend the week-long institute. In addition, ECMI participants will receive guidance on writing a research grant proposal that will be eligible for consideration to receive one of two $25,000 research grants on policy relevant human services research on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Institute activities provide participants with opportunities to develop skills that will support policy relevant human services research. The Institute will address a wide range of mentoring and professional development topics, such as:

• Becoming an effective mentor
• Key topics in human services research
• Building and managing a research team
• Developing effective writing habits
• Engaging with media, community organizations, and lawmakers
• Grant writing strategies
• Including participant voice in research
• Studying hard to reach populations
• Conducting policy relevant research
• Incorporating a racial equity lens in research
• Secondary data sources: promises and pitfalls

The workshop is supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Attendees are competitively selected in a biannual call for applications. IRP and UC Davis plan to host the workshop in summer 2022, 2024 and 2026. Calls for these workshops will be released the prior fall.