Volume 18: No. 3, March 2004

March 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.

Identifying Risk in Research Involving Children: Call for Examples

The Social and Behavioral Sciences Working Group on Human Research Protections is preparing a report to assist IRBs in their review of social and behavioral sciences research involving children. The Working Group seeks examples of research in three categories identified in the federal regulations: (1) minimal risk; (2) minor increment over minimal risk with the prospect of direct benefit to individual children; and (3) minor increment over minimal risk with no direct benefit to individual children but likely to yield generalizable knowledge about the child's disorder or condition. For more information on how you can help, please visit the Working Group's web site at: http://www.aera.net/humansubjects/Posting-Children.pdf.

Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS)
Releases First Cancer Information Dataset

On February 17, 2004 the National Cancer Institute formally released the first dataset from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). This population-based survey provides a wealth of information on the American public's need for, access to, and use of cancer information. To learn more about this valuable new research tool and resource, visit the HINTS web site at: http://cancer.gov/hints.

Workshop on Responsible Conduct of Research in Psychological Science
April 13–14, 2004: Marriott-Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, DC

The American Psychological Association (APA) and the DHHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI) will present a workshop, Responsible Conduct of Research in Psychological Science, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC, April 13-14, 2004.

OVERVIEW: The workshop agenda includes one and a half days of plenary and breakout sessions focusing on three topics: (1) Data-sharing, (2) Mentoring, and (3) Conflicts of Interest. The workshop will afford participants an opportunity to explore ethical and responsible conduct of research (RCR) issues that arise in faculty-student relationships, the impact of investigator and institutional conflicts of interest on research, methodological and human participant protection issues in data archiving, and the impact of regulations and policies such as the HIPAA privacy rule and the NIH data-sharing policy on behavioral research.

REGISTRATION FEES: The registration fee, which includes breakfast, lunch, and refreshments, is $75.00. Registration is limited and prepayment is required to confirm registration. For more information, see APA-ORI Workshop Registration.

STUDENT TRAVEL AWARDS/REGISTRATION FEE WAIVER: In an effort to introduce students to responsible conduct in research early in their training, ten travel awards will be granted to five graduate and five undergraduate students currently enrolled in a college/university outside the Washington, DC metropolitan area and actively involved in research.

Ten registration fee waivers will also be granted to five graduate and five undergraduate students enrolled in colleges/universities located within the Washington, DC metro area.

The application deadline for the student travel awards and registration fee waivers is April 1, 2004. However, awards are limited and acceptance is on a rolling basis, i.e., applications will be reviewed and decisions made upon receipt. Thus, applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible

MORE INFORMATION: Visit the website at: http://www.apa.org/science/ori_workshop.html. Questions about the workshop can be directed to ORI email or call (202) 336-6000.