Volume 18: No. 4, April 2004

April 2004 Announcements

Want to Know the Nuts and Bolts of Pursuing an Academic Career?
Attend an APA Academic Career Workshop

As part of its outreach to graduate and postdoctoral students, APA’s Science Directorate is proud to sponsor “Academic Career Workshops” that are held throughout the country. The Science Directorate hosts these workshops, which are designed to introduce graduate and postdoctoral students to the fundamentals of pursuing an academic career. Topics range from a description of variations in the academic culture across institutions to the pragmatics of the recruiting and hiring process. Accomplished panelists share their insights, with plenty of opportunity for discussion. Here are the upcoming APA Science Directorate Academic Career Workshops:

If you are interested in attending one of these workshops, please send an email to Deborah McCall. These workshops are free, but an email stating your interest in attending is required. For more information on these upcoming workshops, please check out our website at http://www.apa.org/science/acdwkshp02_main.html.

APF Issues New 2004 Request for Research-Based Programs on Violence Prevention

The American Psychological Foundation (APF) requests proposals for research-based programs on violence prevention and intervention. The APF Trustees hope to:

• Encourage the transfer of psychological science with regard to violence, its prevention, and intervention strategies to programmatic applications within the community.
• Support the implementation of innovative community programs aimed at preventing violence within any number of social settings (e.g., young adult populations, elder abuse, domestic abuse, hate crimes, sexual assault, and others).
• Provide seed money to establish promising interventions proposed by community-based organizations or provide funding for established community programs that have been deemed successful.

Principal Investigator/Applicants must be psychologists holding doctoral degrees (PhD, EdD, MD, JD) engaged in research-based program implementation related to violence prevention. Special consideration will be given to programs with a strong foundation in violence prevention and intervention research and those that have, or show promise for, broad-based community support. Applicants may request up to $20,000. The recipient must submit a final report no later than 18 months after the completion of funding.

The deadline for application submission is August 12, 2004. Eligibility criteria and submission requirements are detailed in full at the APF website: www.apa.org/apf. Submissions must be in electronic format. Awards will be announced on or after December 1.

Questions by e-mail should be directed to American Psychological Foundation.

APA Invites Nominations for Distinguished Science Awards

The APA Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA) invites nominations for its ongoing awards program. Awards are given in three categories:

The Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award is presented to individuals who have made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in psychology.

The Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology is given to individuals who have made exceptional theoretical or empirical advances in psychology leading to the understanding or amelioration of important practical problems.

To submit a nomination for the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award and the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award for the Applications of Psychology, you should provide a letter of nomination, the nominee's current vita with list of publications, and the names and addresses of several scientists who are familiar with the nominee's work.

The Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology is awarded to outstanding young psychologists who are 9 years or less post-PhD (1995 or later). The 2005 Early Career Awards will be given in the five areas:

• behavioral and cognitive neuroscience
• social
• perception, motor performance
• applied research (e.g., treatment and prevention research, industrial/organizational research, educational research)
• individual differences (e.g., personality, psychometrics, mental ability, behavioral genetics)

The categories should be interpreted broadly and are not meant to be exclusive; all areas of psychology are of sufficient merit to be considered for awards.

To submit a nomination for the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology, you should provide a letter of nomination, the nominee's current vita with list of publications, and up to five representative reprints.

To obtain nomination forms and more information, you can go to the Science Directorate web page (www.apa.org/science/sciaward.html) or you can contact Suzanne Wandersman, Science Directorate, American Psychological Association, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242; by phone, (202) 336-6000; by fax, (202) 336-5953; or by E-mail.

THE DEADLINE FOR ALL AWARD NOMINATIONS IS JUNE 1, 2004

Predoctoral Interdisciplinary Research Training (PIRT)
Program in the Educational Sciences

The Institute of Education Sciences (Institute) has released a Request for Applications (RFA) to provide institutional support for new Predoctoral Interdisciplinary Research Training (PIRT) Programs in the Education Sciences. The Institute’s objectives in creating the PIRT programs are to: (1) support the development of innovative interdisciplinary training programs for doctoral students interested in conducting applied education research; and (2) to establish a network of training programs that collectively produce a cadre of education researchers willing and able to conduct a new generation of methodologically rigorous and educationally relevant scientific research that will provide solutions to pressing problems and challenges facing American education.

In order to increase the supply of scientists and researchers in education who are prepared to conduct rigorous evaluation studies, develop new products and approaches that are grounded in a science of learning, design valid tests and measures, and explore data with sophisticated statistical methods, this initiative will fund the creation of innovative interdisciplinary research training programs in the education sciences. Grants will be awarded to institutions that can put together a program across disciplines such as psychology, political science, economics, statistics, sociology, education, and epidemiology that will provide intensive training in education research and statistics. Predoctoral students will graduate within a traditional discipline, e.g., economics, but will receive a certificate in education sciences, and will be expected to conduct doctoral research on education topics.

The RFA is posted on the Institute of Education Sciences web page: http://www.ed.gov/programs/edresearch/applicant.html.

Application forms and instructions for the electronic submission of letters of intent and applications will be available from the following web site: http://ies.constellagroup.com.

Awards will be made in amounts ranging from $500,000 to $1,000,000 (total cost) per year for a duration of five years. The amount of the award will depend on the scope of the program and the number of fellows to be supported on stipends. The number of programs funded depends upon the number of high quality applications submitted.

Deadlines: Optional Letter of Intent March 11, 2004; Applications May 27, 2004. For more information, contact James Griffin, IES, via telephone: 202-219-2280 or email.

APF/COGDOP Graduate Research Scholarships in Psychology

The American Psychological Foundation (APF) and the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (COGDOP) are jointly offering graduate research scholarships, including the $2,000 Clarence J. Rosecrans Scholarship, the $3,000 Ruth G. and Joseph D. Matarazzo Scholarship, as well as a number of $1,000 scholarships. The scholarships will be given directly to the individual graduate students enrolled in an interim master's program or doctoral program. DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION: MAY 28, 2004.
For more information, visit http://www.apa.org/science/apf-cogdop.html.