Early Career Support
One of our missions is to help support early career scholars. To learn more, click one of the links below. To help support early career scholars, consider donating to one of these initiatives or donating your time. Learn more about how to get involved.
Mentoring, Supporting, & Awarding Early-Career Scholars
PSA Member Communities
We have member communities for early career scholars and graduate students, to provide an opportunity to get to know, help support, and learn from from one another. The Member Communities also provide an opportunity to get to know more senior scholars related to topics of interest or to connect with scholars near you. Learn more about PSA Member Communities.
Early-Career Welcome Receptions
One of the highlights of our Biennial Meetings is the Welcome Reception for Early-Career Scholars and New Attendees to our meetings. Held on the first evening of the conference the reception provides an opportunity for early-career scholars get to know one another and to meet members of the Governing Board.
Underrepresented Philosophy of Science Scholar (UPSS) Mentoring Program
A centerpiece of the UPSS initiative is the UPSS Mentoring Program, whose aim is to pair philosophy of science scholars from underrepresented groups with a senior mentor in the field. This program is open to scholars at all levels who are looking for guidance on any aspect of their professional development in the philosophy of science. Learn more about the UPSS Mentoring Program. Apply for a mentor or volunteer to be a mentor.
Underrepresented Philosophy of Science Scholar (UPSS) Delegate Program
UPSS Delegates are paired with a senior graduate student "PSA Host" for the meetings, who will help show them around the meeting and introduce them to people in the field. The UPSS Delegate Program also provides travel assistance to attend the PSA Biennial Meeting for early career scholars (advanced undergraduates, recent graduates, or beginning graduate students) who are considering pursuing philosophy of science. Learn more about the Delegate Program. Apply to be a delegate or volunteer to be a host.
PSA Diversity Equity & Inclusion Caucus
The PSA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Caucus was founded in November, 2006 at the PSA meeting in Vancouver, BC. It was formerly known as the Women's Caucus. The goals are to support marginalized scholars entering the philosophy of science, to provide an opportunity for networking among marginalized folks, and to raise the visibility of marginalized scholars in the field. The caucus is an umbrella organization supporting affinity groups (details below!) intended to achieve these goals for different groups of scholars. The Caucus is authorized by the PSA Governing Board and is accountable to that Board. Its co-chairs act as a resource to the organization on questions that are pertinent to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the profession as well as within the PSA itself. The DEI Caucus holds a lunch at the PSA conference, has an online PSA Member Community, and publishes the popular, Sciences Visions, a quarterly newsletter. Learn more about the DEI Caucus.
Meet the Editor, Grants, and Other Training at our Conferences
Our conferences have a number of events aimed at early career scholars, such as our popular Meet-the-Editor of Philosophy of Science, where scholars can get a behind the scenes look at how journal publishing works, and our regular NSF sessions, where scholars can meet with officers of the NSF to discuss grant writing projects. We have also begin holding outreach and engagement training workshops on the last day of the conference.
Early Career Scholar Awards
The PSA presents two awards to early career scholars, the Ernest Nagel Early-Career Scholar Essay Award which is awarded annually to the best single-authored essay published in Philosophy of Science during the award year by someone who is either a graduate student at the time of publication or received a Ph.D. within the past five years, and the Mary B. Hesse Graduate Student Essay Award, which is to the best single-authored paper submitted by a graduate student as a contributed paper for the biennial meeting and accepted for publication in Philosophy of Science by the PSA Program Committee. Both awards are presented at the Awards Ceremony at our Biennial Meeting. Learn more about our early career scholar awards.
Reduced Membership and Conference Fees
The PSA is devoted to helping those just starting out in the field, including students, those who are underemployed, and those from countries where currency inequities make membership and travel to our conference difficult. To help, we offer significantly reduced membership and conference registration fees to students and those who are underemployed. We also have a Sponsor-a-Scholar Program to provide free membership to those from countries where currency inequities make membership unaffordable. Read more about the Sponsor-a-Scholar Program.
Biennial Meeting Travel Grants
The PSA also offers travel grants to early career scholars. We offer two types of travel grants, one supported by the National Science Foundation, which is limited to U.S. citizens and those at U.S. institutions, and the PSA Travel Grant, which is directed at those not eligible for the NSF Travel Grant. The goal is to help early career scholars from around the world travel to our biennial meetings. We also have a limited number of reduced priced rooms at our conference hotel for graduate students. Applications for travel grants and student rooms are announced in late summer prior to our biennial meeting.