The APA Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) announces a new award that supports innovation in training psychology graduate students, interns and postdoctoral fellows in acquiring and developing career and professional skills that allow them to transition successfully into the workforce.  BEA will provide up to $5,000 in funds to support the development and implementation of new initiatives, which can be used to pay for honorariums, staff/faculty time, and other programmatic costs.

The BEA Grant for Innovation in Career and Professional Skill Development for Psychology Graduate Students, Interns and Postdoctoral Scholars seeks initiatives that help graduate students, interns and postdoctoral scholars acquire and develop career skills and competencies.  Initiatives should describe the development of new courses, seminars, and resources, or the enhancement of existing ones, such as identifying existing university/institutional wide career resources and proposing how the BEA funds will be used to make the resource unique to psychology.  Examples to consider include, but are not limited to:

  1. Training and resources that support graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in creating Individual Development Plans (visit the APA’s Individual Development Plan Resource to learn more), or help prepare faculty mentors on how to guide trainees on developing and implementing IDPs.
  2. Creation of new professional development courses or workshops offered to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows that address topics of career exploration, grant writing skills, teaching skills, ethics and ethical decision making, team science, or other topics in career development.
  3. Initiatives that provide faculty and supervisors added training on mentoring and advising graduate students, interns & postdoctoral fellows in career development and job searching skills.

Proposals should address each of the following (no more than 500 words for each):

  • Need and Approach: Identify and briefly describe the need you are trying to address, how these funds will be used to support the new or innovative initiative, and what skills or competencies graduate students and postdoctoral scholars develop.
  • Timeline and Personnel: Describe the process for developing and implementing the new initiative, including a timeline. Identify leaders on the proposal and provide background on their expertise and leadership.
  • Funding and Support: Provide a description of how the BEA funds will be used, and any other forms of support (if any) available at the sponsoring institution (i.e., funds from Dean’s office, collaboration or support from career services offices, etc.).
  • Outcomes: Describe the process for assessing the impact of the new initiative.
Application Process and Deadline

Application deadline is July 13th, 2018.  To obtain a copy of the application and to subsequently upload your proposal please go to http://www.apa.org/about/awards/innovation-career-development.aspx?tab=1