Psychologists comprise a large proportion of the individuals who conduct research and provide research training in the alcohol field. Such work involves diverse types of research, including basic science, theoretical development, applied clinical research, studies of efficacy and implementation, training methods, policy studies, and even statistical and econometric methods. As such, it is important to cultivate development of this community of researchers. Such work is vital to the continued fruitful development of the research community and, ultimately, to the efforts put forth by this community to serve the general public health. Division 50 is a part of the American Psychological Association (APA), the largest organization of psychologists worldwide, and serves as an organizational home for psychologists interested in addictive behaviors. The division has goals of promoting advances in research, professional training, and clinical practice within the range of addictive behaviors including problematic use of alcohol. Each year, Division 50 sponsors convention programming at the annual convention of APA designed to promote early career researchers, highlight the work of senior researchers, and expand and develop the community of researchers in the addiction field. ? ? The proposed application focuses on supporting presentations and related convention activities organized by Division 50 at this meeting, specifically focusing on developing and supporting early career investigators in psychology who have a principal interest in research related to alcohol and its associated problems. This will be achieved through yearly support of a pre-convention grant-writing workshop, early career travel awards (45 over three years), symposium travel awards supporting more senior NIAAA-awardees to attend (nine over three years), and production and mailing of brochures to announce these activities. The proposed three-year effort exploits planned convention venues in widely separated locations likely to draw on different groups of regional and international researchers. This will facilitate broad networking and cross-fertilization of ideas in the community of alcohol researchers in psychology, and allow Division 50 convention organizers to develop yearly programming with increased continuity over the duration of this project. The publication of the supported presentations through regular convention online abstracts and the Division newsletter also will facilitate dissemination beyond the convention. The net effect is to create a legacy of learning in alcohol research toward the benefit of the public health. ? ? ? ?
