REU at the PRC

The Population Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin in collaboration with the Department of Sociology and the Initiative for Law, Societies, and Justice, is pleased to announce the 2023 Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program, contingent on funding from the National Science Foundation. The REU program offers talented undergraduates the opportunity for classroom training and hands-on research experience during an 8-week session on The University of Texas at Austin campus. Becky Pettit coordinates the REU program. 

The REU program hosts twelve very select undergraduates from around the United States for 8 weeks during the summer and introduces them to careers in social science through an intense program to conduct research that contributes to our scientific understanding of race and ethnicity and the demography of the criminal justice system with relevance for research, policy, and practice.

• Program pays for room and board, and computing and research-related expenses
• REU students receive a $4,000 stipend for participation in the 8 week program
• Students collaborate with demographers working outside the academy, in state and local research institutes
• Student papers are presented in the fall at a professional conference or as policy briefs to local stakeholders
• This program is specifically geared toward students with junior standing who are seriously thinking about attending graduate school in the social sciences and, particularly, in sociology or demography
• Students from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply

We are no longer taking applications at this time. Please check back December 2023.

2022 Cohort

Nia Thompson - Wake Forest University

Anne Flanagan - Univeristy of North Carolina

Jameelah El - Cornell University

Elizabeth Kuhlman - Rice Universtiy

ThuyMi Phung - Southwestern University

Priscille Osias - Brown University

Noor Amanullah - Rutgers University

Arianna Bollens - University of Southern California

2021 Cohort

Lin Ang - University of Pennsylvania - "Interracial Relationships and Parent-Child Bonds"

Aryele Jackson - Western Washington University - "How School Discipline and Sense of Belonging Motivate Black Educational Attainment"

Margarita Obregon - University of Southern California - "Financial Transfers Between Parents and their Adult Children: A Focus on Immigrant Families in the United States"

Clarisse Manuel - The University of Texas at Austin - "Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and the Likelihood of Teen Pregnancy"

Isabel Levin - The University of Massachusetts - "Intergenerational Closure and Educational Attainment in Young Adulthood"

Erika Folgar - Vassar College - "The Association Between Adolescent Intimate Partner Violence and College Graduation"

Soren Starkey - Ohio University - "Power, Violence, and Identity: Effects of Abstinence Pledges on Romantic Relationships"

Olivia Howard - University of Michigan - "Inheriting Financial Exclusion: How Family Structure History Influences Banking in Early Adulthood"

2019 Cohort

Hannah Bills - Southwestern University - "Dating Violence among U.S. High School Students: Differences across Sexual Identity and Sexual Behavior"

Sofia Depner - University of Arizona - "Immigration Policy and Education: Arizona Test Scores after SB 1070"

Benjamin Gonzalez - Trinity University - "Disparities in Context: Health Insurance Coverage in Texas Latinx Populations"

Jada Kissi - Cornell University - "Sexual empowerment and family planning use among Ghanaian Women"

Siriruay "Ploy" Methakitwarun - Northern Kentucky University - "Immigrant generations in home leaving: Do parents and peers matter"

Athena Owirodu -  The University of Texas at Austin - "Parental Health and its Impact on their Child’s College Trajectory"

Meena Pyatt -  The University of Texas at Austin - "Multiracial Identity and Adolescent Sexual Debut"

Zachary White - Southwestern University - "How Long is this Gonna Last?’ Using the National Couples Survey to Measure Confidence in a Relationship"

Notable mentions and awards

Siriruay "Ploy" Methakitwarun - recipient of the 2019 Southern Demographic Association best undergraduate student paper award

Athena Owirodu - selected as a recipient of the Undergraduate Research Fellowship for her paper, "Parental Health and its Impact on their Child’s College Trajectory"