Matt Sobek

Matt Sobek serves as a Research Manager at the University of Minnesota's Institute for Social Research & Data Innovation, affiliated with the Minnesota Population Center and Life Course Center within the College of Liberal Arts. His work centers on large-scale demographic data infrastructure development and historical population studies.

His research focuses on census data harmonization, microdata infrastructure, and historical demography with emphasis on IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series) projects. Key areas include reconstruction of historical population datasets, analysis of kinship networks, and development of methodologies for integrating multigenerational demographic data across international contexts.

Recent publications demonstrate expertise in creating full-count census datasets for historical periods (1850-1940), with special attention to enslaved populations, mortality records, and ancestry documentation. His work bridges historical research with modern data science techniques to enable longitudinal population studies.

As a Co-Principal Investigator on multiple NIH and NSF-funded projects including the Integrated International Microdata Series and Microdata for Research on Aging in the Global South, he contributes to major demographic research infrastructure initiatives that serve thousands of researchers worldwide.

His technical leadership spans data transformation methodologies, variable standardization across historical censuses, and development of sustainable research data ecosystems that support interdisciplinary population research across social sciences and public health domains.