Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research

Training the University of Notre Dame's social science doctoral students in research design, implementation, and analysis.

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

PIER is thrilled to welcome Dr. Fernanda Soares Jones to speak this Friday, 10/9 at 1pm!
Dr. Soares Jones is an education researcher and assistant research professor with the Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child in ND's Institute for Educational Initiatives.

[Center For Research On Educational Opportunity @nd_creo]

CREO is excited to welcome Dr. Corey Moss-Pech to speak at @NotreDame about his book "Major Trade-Offs"!

Dr. Moss-Pech is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Florida State University who studies how individuals navigate both educational and labor market organizations.

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

ND PIER is thrilled to introduce nine new PhD students from four different departments - economics, sociology, psychology, and computer science - in Notre Dame's Graduate School!

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

Happy 1st week of the fall '26 semester!

PIER fellows gathered for a fun orientation meeting on Friday. New fellows met existing PIER students and faculty through competitive rock-paper-scissors and small-group discussions, and fellows got a preview of fall talks and speakers.

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

Wishing PIER sociology PhD graduate Dr. Suzanne Wood much success in her post-ND career!

[Center For Research On Educational Opportunity @nd_creo]

Many congratulations to recent CREO PhD graduate Dr. Suzanne Wood! Dr. Wood is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bethel University in Tennessee, where she will be teaching "Contemporary Issues in America" and "Law and Society" in the fall 2026 semester.

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

Psychology PhD student and PIER Fellow Walton Ferguson traveled to Seoul, South Korea this July to present research at the International Meeting of the Psychometric Society!

He gave presentations on both increasing the efficacy of short assessments and number sense testing.

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

Congrats to PIER graduate Christopher Monjaras for completing his PhD in economics and obtaining a research position at Kennesaw State University!

Chris’ dissertation explored how financial resources and various aspects of teacher quality influence K-12 educational outcomes.

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

Come work with us at the Center for Research on Educational Opportunity at @NotreDame!

[Center For Research On Educational Opportunity @nd_creo]

Calling all sociology of education scholars! The @NotreDame Sociology Department is hiring for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position with expertise in the sociology of education to start in 2027.

Please find position and application details here: https://t.co/0srkCo9uA6

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

Congrats to PIER fellow Dalia Mota for receiving the American Dream Grant from the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and Public Good at Notre Dame! The grant will support her dissertation "Cliques, Clubs, and Community: An Ethnographic Inquiry into High School Belonging."

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

ND PIER sociology PhD students Joe Thursby and Hannah Petersen enjoyed their statistics training at the ICPSR Summer Program (@ICPSRSummer) at the University of Michigan this July!

[Center For Research On Educational Opportunity @nd_creo]

CREO PhD students Joe Thursby and Hannah Petersen had a great time learning quantitative methods in the ICPSR Summer Program at the University of Michigan this July! They both took courses in longitudinal data analysis and computational text analysis in the 4-week session.

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

In June, PIER fellow and Cognitive Psychology PhD student Emma Page (on right) presented research at the Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society (MCLS) conference in Padua, Italy!

Her work examined how visual interventions support addition fact fluency and math instruction.

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

Congratulations to PIER sociology PhD graduate Patrick Graff! We are proud of you!

[Center For Research On Educational Opportunity @nd_creo]

Congratulations to Patrick Graff, one of our CREO and
@nd_pier 2026 sociology PhD graduates!

Patrick is a Senior Fellow at the American Federation for Children, and his dissertation used Indiana administrative and survey data to investigate teacher quality and turnover.

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

PIER students and faculty took part in a workshop on making academic research relevant to non-academic audiences!
This topic highlight's one of PIER's main goals: training @NotreDame's social science graduate students to do research that makes substantive real-world impact.

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

Congratulations to PIER graduate fellow Virna Vidal-Menezes, a Ph.D. candidate in Economics who has been awarded a 2026 Spencer Dissertation Fellowship from the National Academy of Education!

Read more about the award and Virna's research here:
https://t.co/lll8lIyXKa

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

Congratulations to PIER graduate student Maura Kraemer for receiving the Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award from @NotreDame's Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence! The award recognizes Maura's excellence in teaching graduate Statistics and undergraduate Methods.

[Program For Interdisciplinary Educational Research @nd_pier]

Congratulations to PIER graduate students Sofia Dueñas and Bridget Curry on receiving an Honorable Mention for the @NotreDame Excellence in Scholarly Research Award!

The award recognizes Sofia and Bridget’s collaborative work investigating the Indiana school choice landscape.