Faculty and graduate students are invited to a May 13 presentation on how establishing a U.S. Census Bureau Research Data Center at UNL could enhance research. RDCs are partnerships between research institutions and the Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies.

Representatives of federal agencies will present information about RDCs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Nebraska Union’s Regency Suite with lunch provided. Online registration is due May 9.

UNL is developing a competitive proposal to host a RDC. The session will outline the potential and assess faculty interest.

Presenters include Shawn Klimek, assistant center chief for research, and Barbara Downs, RDC lead administrator, Center for Economic Studies, Census Bureau; and Peter Meyer, director of the Research Data Center at the Centers for Disease Control/National Center for Health Statistics.

A RDC would help enhance research productivity in the social sciences and help UNL achieve its institutional research goals, said Regina Werum, associate vice chancellor for research. Researchers at the 15 RDC-affiliated institutions across the country have access to restricted-use data maintained by the Census Bureau and other federal agencies, including full population counts, and the ability to collaborate with Census Bureau researchers and other RDCs.

The Survey, Statistics and Psychometrics Core Facility and the Office of Research and Economic Development are hosting the meeting. For more information contact Mindy Anderson-Knott, SSP core facility manager, Bureau of Sociological Research, at mandersonkott2@unl.edu or 472-7218.