Travel Awards for Students from Underrepresented Groups for the 2017 Cognitive Development Society (CDS) Meeting

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The Cognitive Development Society (CDS) seeks to promote the attendance, at its 2017 meeting, of young scholars from groups traditionally underrepresented in the Developmental Sciences. This award will support travel awards to graduate students, post-docs, and young investigators from these groups, broadly defined. Travel awards increase the likelihood that young scholars will have the means to attend and present their work at CDS, and will support them through their participation in a mentoring program, designed to ensure that young scholars will have a productive experience at the conference. A broader impact of the present award is to increase the likelihood that the conference experience endures beyond the conference itself by strengthening the professional networks of young scholars from traditionally underrepresented groups. The present award will increase the diversity of the CDS membership through several mechanisms. Supporting travel to the CDS conference increases the number of young scholars from underrepresented groups who are able to attend the conference. To promote the awardees' networking, professional socialization, and retention in the Society, funds will be used for a mentoring program that will match each young scholar with a more experienced scholar in the field, one with similar research interests. Through an organized meeting at the start of the conference with their mentors, mentees will have the opportunity to forge new professional relationships and broaden their academic network. Mentors will support their mentees by attending the young scholars' presentations. In addition, the young scholars will meet with each other and with the recipients of the 2015 travel awards to foster a community of young scholars from underrepresented groups. Finally, CDS will highlight the recipients of the 2017 travel awards at the conference by acknowledging them during an awards ceremony. Anonymous feedback from the young scholars and their mentors following the 2017 meeting will help ensure that CDS can improve upon the effectiveness of its travel awards in achieving its goal of increasing the involvement of scholars traditionally under-represented in the field.