Overall: Project Summary The Population Research Center (PRC) of The University of Texas at Austin requests NICHD support from its population research infrastructure program. The overarching mission of the PRC is to promote the development of innovative, ambitious, and high-impact research in population dynamics that will ultimately advance knowledge in the field. Continued infrastructure support is essential in helping the PRC leverage extramural and university resources to provide outstanding services and sustain a dynamic interdisciplinary culture geared toward facilitating the highest level of population-related research among its faculty members. The PRC's specific aims are: (1) to foster an environment that promotes intellectual exchange, development of ideas, and interdisciplinary research with an emphasis on mentoring and supporting early-stage population scientists; (2) to enhance and promote innovative research strategies vital to developing and conducting policy- relevant research in population dynamics at all stages of the research project life cycle; and (3) to provide high- quality and efficient services to promote and support outstanding population research. Over the next five years, PRC researchers will lead scientific advances in four interconnected research areas in population dynamics: Family Demography and Intergenerational Relationships; Education, Work, and Inequality; Reproductive Health; and Population Health. P2C support is requested for 3 infrastructure cores. The Administrative Core sets programmatic and service priorities; builds an interdisciplinary community of population scientists at the University; provides outstanding services that facilitate the development of large- scale population research; and ensures coordination across cores. The Development Core promotes scientific development of early stage investigators as well as established scientists developing new lines of inquiry; fosters evolution of nascent ideas into proposals for extramural funding; and promotes an institutional culture wherein interdisciplinary collaboration is valued and common. The Scientific & Technical Core provides the methodological and statistical support, technical services, and computing infrastructure essential to the development of ambitious and high-impact research in the field of population dynamics.

Project Narrative – Public Health Relevance This application requests support for infrastructure support to promote innovative research on the causes and consequences of population health. In particular, The University of Texas Population Research Center (PRC) will advance research that is key to the mission of the Population Dynamics Branch of NICHD. PRC associates will produce new data and cutting-edge research on systemic inequalities in reproductive health and population health, and the social and demographic factors (e.g., family, education, health care, economic contexts) that give rise to these inequalities.