The A. Regula Herzog Young Investigators Fund of the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan was established by the students, colleagues and friends of Regula Herzog to honor her as a mentor for young investigators and as a survey researcher of older populations.

The goals of the Fund are to support the research and training activities of junior researchers at the Survey Research Center, with a special preference given to women and to those who are engaged in research on older populations.

Junior researchers, including Research Scientists, Research Investigators, Research Associates, Postdoctoral Fellows and Predoctoral Students are eligible. Applicants must be affiliated with the Survey Research Center or one of its projects.

Applicants with a commitment of $4,000 in matching funds from an SRC research program will be given priority. However, matching funds are not required in order to apply.

In 2009, the Herzog Fund will make up to two awards of up to $4,000.

Allowable expenses may include research supplies and services, conference expenses, training opportunities, travel (related to conferences, workshops and training or to support research collaborations across institutions), and memberships in professional organizations. Predoctoral Students and Postdoctoral Fellows may include participation in summer courses offered by SRC and ICPSR.

Awards are intended for use within one year, but may be extended upon request for six more months.

Applications will be due on Friday, April 24th at 5:00 p.m. Applications will be reviewed according to the procedures that have been established by the SRC Senior Staff Advisory Committee. Final decisions will be made by Friday, May 22nd. Funds will be available as early as June.

Applications must include:

• A brief (3-page) description of the proposed activities and their intellectual relationship to a Survey Research Center project
• A description of the proposed uses for the money and how these uses will assist in meeting the goals outlined in the prospectus
• An up-to-date Curriculum Vitae
• Letter of support from the project’s Principal Investigator stating how this work relates to the project and, if relevant, committing a $4,000 match if the proposal is funded.

Applications should be sent to:

Director’s Office
Survey Research Center
University of Michigan
1355 ISR, P.O. Box 1248
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106-1248

• Jennifer Barber, University of Michigan
• Mary Beth Ofstedal, University of Michigan
• Jacqui Smith, University of Michigan
• David Weir, University of Michigan

2003 - 2004

Gwenith Fisher’s research examines the complex interrelationships between work, health and retirement choices. The study, which utilizes longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study, will advance our understanding of the role of occupational experience in the aging and retirement process and have implications for job design for older workers. Fisher is a Senior Research Associate in the Survey Research Center. The project builds on her graduate training in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and prior research on quality of work life.

2005 - 2006

Ayse Uskul’s research examines whether there are systematic differences in how questions influence responses in different cultures, with a particular focus on rating scales. To address this question, Uskul will undertake data collection in Hong Kong, Turkey and the U.S. The study will help inform questionnaire design for cross-cultural and cross-national research. Uskul has a Ph.D. in Social/Personality Psychology and is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD). Her primary collaborators on the study are Daphna Oyserman (RCGD) and Norbert Schwarz (SRC and RCGD).

Leticia Marteleto’s study is on “Divorce and Intergenerational Transfers in the Health and Retirement Study.” The research focuses on the influence of marital instability and its timing on intergenerational relations and exchanges in later life, and whether this influence differs by parents’ gender. Marteleto did her graduate work in Sociology and Demography and is a Research Investigator in the Population Studies Center and Survey Research Center.

2006 - 2007

Elena Gouskova’s research draws on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to investigate the relationship between commuting time on health. Gouskova investigates the roles of selection, heterogeneity in preferences and health behavior, and time constraints as potential mechanisms underlying this relationship. Gouskova’s graduate training is in Economics and Statistics and she is a Research Investigator in the Survey Research Center.

Sonja Ziniel’s research examines the influence of cognitive aging on response strategies, with specific attention to behavioral frequency measures. A key goal of the study is to develop and validate interventions that can be used to improve estimation accuracy in survey questions. Ziniel is a Ph.D. student in the Survey Methodology Program in SRC. Her primary collaborators on the project are Fred Conrad (SRC) and Norman Brown (University of Alberta).

2007 - 2008

Jessica Faul's research examines the influence of lifecourse socioeconomic position on cognitive function and change in older age. Using longitudinal data from Health and Retirement Study (HRS) the goals of this work are to estimate the effects of childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position on trajectories of cognitive change and to determine whether accumulation of socioeconomic disadvantage and social mobility from childhood to adulthood affects cognitive function in later life. Faul is a Ph.D. student in Epidemiology in the School of Public Health.

2008 - 2009

Ishtar Govia's research uses multiple waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the longitudinal associations between women's relationships and their health. The first goal of the project is to explore the social determinants of the mental and physical health of aging women. The second goal is to investigate the extent to which stressors and role conflicts that women experience are associated with their mental, physical, and cognitive health outcomes and their adoption and maintenance of health risk behaviors over time. Govia is a Ph.D. candidate in Personality and Social Contexts Psychology in the Department of Psychology.