Apply now for 2008 Minority Fellowship Program

APA's Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) is accepting applications for its fellowships in psychology and neuroscience. The fellowships seek to stimulate interest in ethnic-minority, mental health services and neuroscience research by providing financial support and mentoring to doctoral students and postdoctoral trainees.

The fellowships are:

• The Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Predoctoral Fellowship, funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Applicants must be doctoral students in clinical, counseling or school psychology and planning to pursue careers as practitioners or psychotherapy researchers specializing in ethnic-minority populations.

• The MHSAS Postdoctoral Fellowship, also funded by SAMHSA. This fellowship is intended for early-career doctoral recipients interested in careers in mental health services research, service delivery or policy.

• The Diversity Program in Neuroscience Predoctoral Fellowship, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), supports individuals pursuing careers in neuroscience—including behavioral neuroscience, cellular neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience and neuroanatomy.

• The DPN Postdoctoral Fellowship, also funded by NIMH, supports early-career doctoral recipients pursuing careers in neuroscience.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents enrolled full time when they begin the fellowships. Mental health and substance abuse services applicants must be in APA-accredited programs and must demonstrate their commitment to ethnic-minority mental health.

Fellowship applications are due Jan. 15. Apply online at www.apa.org/mfp.

Register for occupational stress and health conference

The seventh international conference on occupational stress and health will focus on translating research into practice, with conference sessions on the best ways to create healthy workplaces and change employment arrangements, and on the psychological and biological effects of job stress.

The conference, "Healthy and Safe Work through Research, Practice, and Partnerships" is set for March 6–8 in Washington, D.C., and is sponsored by APA's Public Interest Directorate.

Regular registration fees are $330 through Jan. 10 and $375 after. Student rates are $95 through Jan. 10 and $125 after. Current, renewing and new members of the Society for Occupational Health Psychology receive special discount rates: For details, visit www.apa.org/pi/work/wsh.html.

APA's Public Interest Directorate to award grants to early-career faculty

APA's Public Interest Directorate will give early-career faculty small grants for specific, limited and highly focused activities that are both preliminary and related to the preparation of a federal or foundation funding proposal, and can be fully implemented during a 12- to 18-month period.

The program, titled, "Promoting Psychological Research and Training on Health Disparities Issues at Ethnic Minority Serving Institutions Grants" seeks to increase the capacity of ethnic-minority serving postsecondary institutions and faculty to engage in health-disparities research and to encourage student involvement in such training.

The directorate will award grants of $5,000 to $6,500 to support activities associated with preparing an initial research or program/curriculum development application for federal or foundation funding. The submission deadline is March 3.

The complete request for proposals can be found at www.apa.org/pi/oema/2008_aei_rfp.pdf. For more information, contact Sonja Preston at (202) 336-6029 or e-mail.

Run for student office

APAGS seeks candidates for its 2008 elections. Open positions include chair-elect, member-at-large (practice focus), member-at-large (diversity focus), member-at-large (science focus) and member-at-large (membership retention/recruitment focus).

To apply, you must be an APAGS member and be actively enrolled as a student in good standing in a graduate psychology program. For position descriptions and information on how to run for office, visit www.apa.org/apags.

Nominate an APA division for the APAGS Outstanding Division Award

APAGS is seeking nominations from students for the new APAGS Outstanding APA Division Award. This $1,500 cash award recognizes a division of APA for superior performance in promoting graduate student development, involvement and joint APAGS/APA division membership.

To be considered for this award, a division of APA must have an active doctoral student membership, must require student affiliates to be members of APA/APAGS and must have a student representative who is a member of the APAGS Division Student Representatives Network.

All application materials must be received in the APAGS Office by Jan.15. Visit the APAGS Web site at www.apa.org/apags for more information.

Submit nominations for dissertation award

APA's Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) seeks nominations for the 2008 Jeffrey S. Tanaka Memorial Dissertation Award in Psychology, which recognizes outstanding dissertations in psychology that increase understanding of the psychological issues and concerns facing communities of color.

CEMA welcomes applications from individuals who filed their dissertations in 2006 or 2007, on research involving one or more of the following areas: enhancing the psychological understanding of ethnic-minority issues; improving psychological service-delivery systems to ethnic minorities; developing new concepts or theories relevant to ethnic-minority populations; and creating methodological paradigms that promote effective research and understanding of the values, beliefs and needs of ethnic-minority communities.

A CEMA-appointed selection subcommittee will choose the winner through a masked review process of applicants' abstracts. Criteria include impact on ethnic-minority populations; completeness and clarity; creativity; and effectiveness of the research design.

The subcommittee will choose semifinalists, who will be required to submit copies of their dissertations for the final selection process. The winner receives $500 and a $300 travel award sponsored by APA's Science Directorate, and will be invited to briefly present her or his dissertation at the APA's 2008 Annual Convention, Aug. 14–17, in Boston.

Deadline for submission of abstracts is April 1. Provide five copies of an abstract (no more than 1,000 words). The dissertation title should appear on all five copies of abstracts submitted; however, only one abstract should identify the author, and also provide the author's mailing address and telephone number. All submissions should be sent to the Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs at the APA address. For additional information, call (202) 336-6029.

CEMA seeks two new members

The Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) is seeking nominations for two new members to begin three-year terms on Jan. 1, 2009. The committee functions as a catalyst for action on ethnic-minority issues and concerns by interacting with and making recommendations to the various components of APA's governing structure, membership and other groups.

Committee members plan, develop and coordinate activities related to advocacy and promoting an understanding of the cultures and psychological well-being of ethnic-minority populations, monitoring and assessing institutional barriers to equal access to psychological services and research, and ensuring equitable ethnic/racial representation in the psychology profession.

To fulfill its mandate for ethnic representation and its commitment to gender equity, the two vacant slates are for an African-American male and a Latino male psychologist. CEMA also welcomes nominations from candidates who possess knowledge and expertise of other diverse populations (such as, disability, early career, national origin, sexual orientation, etc.).

CEMA members must participate in no fewer than two committee meetings a year. No more than two meetings will be convened at APA headquarters in Washington, D.C. Members also work on CEMA priorities when necessary between meetings. If possible, CEMA members attend the APA Annual Convention at their own expense to participate in CEMA convention programming.

Nomination materials should include the nominee's qualifications (including a statement of relevant experience), a curriculum vitae and a letter of interest. Self-nominations are encouraged. Nominations and supporting materials should be sent no later than Sept. 5, to the APA Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs at the APA address.

—D. Schwartz