2008 Interdisciplinary Doctoral Seminar in Global Health Research

(2 credits, Fall term)

Return to Fellowship Call and Application

With support from the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health and the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, the UM Global Health Research and Training Initiative announces a doctoral seminar for students at the pre-candidacy level intending to pursue field-based research in global health on topics relevant to the needs of low and middle-income countries outside the United States.

This seminar is open to students in the early stages of graduate training with interests in global health research relevant to the needs of low and middle-income countries who can demonstrate goals of completing training and research through the doctorate. Graduate students from across the University whose research interests are consistent with the objectives of the seminar are invited to apply.

The Interdisciplinary Doctoral Seminar in Global Health Research offers students the opportunity to develop pre-dissertation proposals and dissertation prospectuses, together with their peers, in an interdisciplinary setting. Through critical readings and presentation of dissertation research proposals, students will have an opportunity to develop their research prospectuses. The goals of the seminar include:

• Increasing students’ capacity for understanding research designs and systems of evidence developed in other professions and disciplines;
• Examining issues of ethics and values in the development and conduct of cross-cultural and cross-national research;
• Encouraging high-level critical discussion of methodology and epistemology;
• Discussing challenges of data collection in a range of international settings and cultural contexts; and,
• Developing a broader understanding of the role for multi-sectorial engagement in priority global health research.

The seminar will be lead by Dr. Harlow, Director of the UM Global Health Research and Training Initiative and Professor of Epidemiology. The seminar will meet once a week for 2 hours in the Fall term and will be organized around student presentations of their research plans. Several sessions will also be devoted to the discussion of papers, research proposals, and faculty and visitor presentations.

Each student admitted to the Graduate Seminar will have access to a restricted research fund of $3,000, to be used for a preliminary visit to the prospective foreign research site and for dissertation research. Follow-up reports and an evaluation are required after completing preliminary research/training activities and the seminar.

Eligibility: Social science, science, area studies, and professional school students enrolled in a doctoral program, and students enrolled in a Master’s program and admitted to a UM doctoral program beginning Fall 2008, are eligible to apply.

Deadline: March 4, 2008 for admission to the seminar in September 2008.

Please send questions to: ghrt@umich.edu