In 2001, Randi Martin, Suparna Rajaram, and Judith Kroll organized Women in Cognitive Science (WICS) to improve the visibility of women in the field and to increase opportunities for professional development for both junior and senior women cognitive scientists. In 2003 WICS received a grant from the Advance Leadership Program at the National Science Foundation that has provided resources for pursuing these activities.

Each year since its inception, WICS has organized a meeting just before the start of the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society. Details about the yearly meetings can be found at the WICS website: http://psych.rice.edu/wics/. The goal of these meetings is to present and discuss current research on the status of women in science and on the strategies that have been identified to be effective in improving women scientists’ positions at their home institutions and in the profession. An advisory board was formed in 2003 consisting of Mary Peterson, Molly Potter, Valerie Reyna, Lynn Robertson, and Kathy Spoehr. Members of the advisory board have been instrumental in organizing committees to administer a set of awards that have been made possible by the NSF grant and to develop additional opportunities for women cognitive scientists:

Kathy Spoehr, together with Kristi Multhaup and Steve Palmer, served as the committee to oversee the Women in Cognitive Science mentorship award. The WICS Mentorship Awards are designed to encourage established scientists, both male and female, to develop the research and publication skills of female graduate and undergraduate students in cognitive science. Three mentorship awards were given in 2004 to:

Lise Abrams

Barbara Spellman

Sharon Thompson-Schill

Mary Peterson, together with Fernanda Ferreira and Patricia Reuter-Lorenz, served as the committee to oversee the Women in Cognitive Science travel awards. The purpose of the WICS Travel awards is to provide incentives for planned networking towards developing collaborative research for junior women cognitive scientists. Four travel awards were given in 2004 to:

Kelly Goedert

Anouk Scheres

Sarah Shomstein

Natasha Tokowicz

Detailed information about these awards for the 2005 cycle is now available on the WICS website and advertised elsewhere in the newsletter.

In 2004, a new committee was formed, headed up by Lynn Robertson, together with Nora Newcombe and Bobbie Spellman. This new committee will track opportunities for both junior and senior women that include, but are not restricted to nominations for fellowships, fellow status at professional organizations, editorial positions, and invitations for plenary speakers at major conferences. More information about these opportunities will be forthcoming and interested individuals are encouraged to check the WICS website for updates.

If you haven’t become a member of Women in Cognitive Science, you can go to the WICS website to sign up. Women and men are encouraged to participate. WICS is about women but not for women only. Although WICS is associated with the Psychonomic Society, there is no requirement to be a member of Psychonomics. Graduate students are welcome and this is an opportunity to be kept informed. WICS invites your suggestions for future meetings and activities.