Awards

Although many young women scientists attend professional conferences such as Psychonomics, it is often difficult in this context for them to meet and discuss their work with more senior scientists. Networking experiences are an important way in which individuals become known in the professional community, develop collaborative relationships, and arrange informal visits outside of professional meetings. Given the relatively short time frame of the tenure period, it is essential that individuals learn to make these connections to others in the field early in their careers. Therefore, the purpose of this award is to provide incentives for planned networking and resources for these experiences.

Amount and number of awards - FOUR awards of $2000 each.

Submission requirements:
1. Cover sheet with the following information: Your name, title, address, phone, email address and details of appointment. Applicants must be women scientists in postdoctoral positions or in the first five years of a junior tenure-track faculty position. Indicate type of networking: either visiting another lab or targeted networking at Psychonomics or other cognitive science conferences

2. Provide a network plan - A 1-page, single-spaced, 12-point font summary of
a. Networking plan and its impact on the applicant's research program
b. Provide specific reasons for the proposed visit and specific goals to be accomplished during the visit (e.g., learn a new technique, collaboration, exchange of ideas, receive input on a grant proposal or a manuscript)
c. Describe the extent of prior contact, if any, with the targeted senior scientist

3. Include corroborating letter/s from the targeted senior scientist/s that confirms the proposed networking plan. The letter-writers should include some information about the applicant's credentials, and why they want to establish the relationship.

4. Additional information to be included with the application
a. A copy of the your most recent CV
b. A list of other sources of travel funds currently available (e.g., Departmental, University, grant agencies)
c. A list of graduate and post-graduate advisors and current collaborators.

Note: While only female scientists are eligible for this award, the lab host/s or the targeted scientist/s can be either female or male

How to submit an application:
1. All applications should be submitted electronically to the Chair of committee at the email address shown below. All of the application materials should be submitted as an integrated single PDF file with materials in the order listed above and emailed to the committee as an attachment.

2. Questions may be addressed to the Chairperson of the Selection Committee.
Winners will be required:
a. To submit a one page report on the networking experience and accomplished goals
b. To hold a workshop at their home institution to share the networking experience with graduate students and other junior faculty members. (A report on the workshop should be included with the submitted report.)

Relevant Dates:

Deadline for submission - July 6, 2006
Period for using the award September, 2006 - September, 2007
Deadline for submitting the final report - December 31, 2007 Selection Committee

Chair:
Mary Peterson
Department of Psychology
University of Arizona
1503 E University Blvd.
Tucson AZ 85721
mapeters@u.arizona.edu

Members:
Fernanda Ferreira, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University
Patricia Reuter-Lorenz, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan
Questions may be addressed to the Chair of the Selection Committee.

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The WICS Mentorship Award 2006

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 awards of up to $2,000 will be made each year to scientists who have demonstrated sustained, effective mentorship of female students and who have also served as a research advisor or supervisor to one or more female students during the academic year immediately preceding the nomination.

Award Information
Nomination deadline: July 31, 2006
Period of Award: November 1, 2006– December 30, 2007
Use of Award: Award funds may be used to support travel to the Psychonomic Society meeting by the award winner and female student co-author, or may be used for research-related expenses for a project carried out by the mentor and a female student.

Criteria
Baseline criteria:
1. Each nominee must have served as a research advisor/supervisor to a total of three or more female graduate and/or undergraduate students over at least three of the five academic years preceding the nomination. If the nominee is at an institution that has a graduate program, then at least one of the three female students must be a graduate student.

2. The research in which the female students participated must have led to dissemination through submission for publication or through presentation at a scientific meeting.

3. The nominee must submit a paper for presentation at the 2005 Psychonomic Society meeting on which at least one of the nominee’s female students is an author.

Additional evaluation criteria:
1. Effectiveness of the nominee’s mentoring activities as evaluated by the female students mentored. For senior nominees who are at least 15 yrs. post-Ph.D., there must be demonstrated evidence of consistent mentoring effectiveness for longer than 5 years. For junior nominees are 7 years or less in their first non-postdoctoral position, there must be demonstrated mentoring effectiveness during the academic year immediately preceding the nomination.

2. Evidence of effective mentoring of more than one female graduate student and/or female post-doctoral fellows will be considered as an additional plus for nominees at institutions where such opportunities exist.
Nominations

Who may make a nomination: Nominations may be made by the nominee’s colleagues, current or former students, or by the nominee him-or herself.

What to submit:
1. Name, title, address, phone, and email address of nominee

2. Name, title, address, phone, and email address of nominator (if different from #1)

3. List of at least three female graduate and/or undergraduate students for whom the nominee has served as a research advisor or supervisor. For each student include (a) name, (b) current contact information (including phone and email address whenever possible), (c) graduate or undergraduate status during research period, (d) role in research project (e.g., honors student, independent study student, research assistant, MA/Ph.D. thesis student, etc.), and (e) bibliographic reference to submitted publication or scientific meeting presentation resulting from the research.

4. Title, abstract, and authors of paper submission to 2005 Psychonomic Society which includes at least one female student as an author. If the female student co-author is not among those listed in #2, please include items (a)-(d) for this student.

5. Description (not to exceed 500 words) of the nominee’s record of mentoring of female students. This may include, though is not limited to, information about such activities over a career or periods longer than the minimum period above. It may also provide information on outcomes (e.g., graduate school admissions, job placements, etc.) for mentored female students.

6. The Mentorship Award Committee reserves the right to request copies of submitted papers and/or scientific meeting presentations from the nominee, if n eeded.

How to submit a nomination:
1. All nominations should be submitted electronically to the Chair of committee at the email address shown below. All or some of the nomination materials may be included in the body of an email or as an attachment to an email.
2. Questions may be addressed to the Chairperson of the Selection Committee.

Selection Committee
Chair:
Kathryn T. Spoehr
Department of Cognitive & Linguistic Sciences
Brown University
Kathryn_Spoehr@brown.edu

Members:
Randall Engle, Department of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology
Kristi Multhaup, Department of Psychology, Davidson College
Barbara Spellman, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia

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The WICS Mentorship Award Winners 2005

Alice Healy (University of Colorado); Morris Moscovitch (University of Toronto)

Penny Pexman (University of Calgary)

Sharon Mutter (Western Kentucky University)

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The WICS Travel Award Winners 2005

Deana Davalos, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

Tania Giovannetti, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Temple University

Jennie Pyers, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Center for Research in Language
University of California, San Diego

Su-hua Wang, Assistant Professor
Psychology Department
University of California, Santa Cruz

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The WiCS Travel Award Winners 2004

The WICS Travel Award Committee has chosen the four recipients of the 2004 award. They are, in alphabetical order:

Kelly Goedert (goedert@plu.edu)
Anouk Scheres (ascheres@email.arizona.edu)
Sarah Shomstein (sarahsho@andrew.cmu.edu)
Natasha Tokowicz (Tokowicz@pitt.edu)

WICS Travel Award Committee: Mary Peterson (Chair), Fernanda Ferreira, Patricia Reuter-Lorenz

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The WiCS Mentorship Award Winners 2004

The WiCS Mentorship Award Committee has chosen the three recipients of the 2004 award. They are, in alphabetical order:

Lise Abrams (abrams@ufl.edu)
Barbara Spellman (spellman@virginia.edu)
Sharon Thompson-Schill (sschill@psych.upenn.edu)

WiCS Mentorship Award Committee: Kathryn Spoehr (Chair), Kristi Multhaup, Stephen Palmer

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