The Public Policy Lab (PPL) in the College of Liberal Arts at Temple University and the Population Studies Center (PSC) at the University of Pennsylvania are excited to announce a new collaboration. PPL Director Judith Levine and PSC Director Emilio Parrado recently signed a General Collaboration Agreement between the two centers to promote academic research and training opportunities around policy-relevant population issues. A primary, but not exclusive, theme of the collaboration will be demographic change in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and its policy implications.

Levine explains, "We are excited to build formal structures around the vibrant informal exchanges that take place between our two faculties. This new collaboration will allow us to bring more members of both communities into conversation with each other. Our ultimate goal for these interactions is to jointly produce exciting new research addressing the pressing issues facing our city and beyond."

An overarching objective is to combine the demographic and policy expertise of the two centers to build academic research capacity, train emerging scholars interested in interdisciplinary approaches to social demographic issues, and provide policy-relevant analyses useful for relevant organizations and stakeholders.

Parrado added, "This is a long overdue collaboration. We have had many informal interactions over the years but the partnership adds an institutional structure to expand demographic research in the Philadelphia area and elaborate on its academic and policy implications."

Some specific goals of the collaboration will include:

• Identifying opportunities for academic exchange between faculty and students across both institutions, including the development of joint research projects,
• carrying out joint professional and academic events including colloquiums, workshops, and conferences,
• publishing the results of affiliated research in a dedicated on-line working paper series,
• mutually lending advice, technical support, and services, including grant proposal preparation,
• sharing and disseminating information related to the fields of population studies and public policy to members of both institutions,
• facilitating exchanges with scholars from other institutions interested in the interchanges between population studies and public policy,
• promoting diversity within the fields,
• and serving as a vehicle for the development of partnerships with local-area institutions and stakeholders.

This is an exciting initiative to enhance research and training through local collaboration. The centers look forward to sharing details about upcoming events in the near future.