Early Career Researchers SIG

The Early Career Researchers Special Interest Group (SIG) idea was born following a conversation that two of the founding members had regarding the need for a support mechanism for early career researchers. The two recruited other early researchers with a similar interest and submitted a course proposal for CSM 2008 that was accepted. The room at CSM was full of early PT researchers, as well as doctoral graduate students, post-docs, and even DPT’s, who were interested in getting involved more formally in research. The response to this first course was so amazing that the group was invited back for a similar course in 2009, 2010, and for the upcoming 2011 CSM. Through these courses, it became clear that there was a need for a more formal group and ongoing interactions for those early in their research career. To fulfill this need, a formal proposal for the SIG was submitted to the Academy of Physical Therapy Research and accepted during CSM 2010.

The current SIG officers and founding members are all researchers who are early in their careers. We envision that this SIG will attract early career researchers in various settings and backgrounds with the common interest in advancing research in our careers and our profession.