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Dear Postgraduate Student, The Social Policy Association (SPA) is the leading professional association for academics and teachers working in the field of social policy. The SPA promotes the study of social policy and advances the role of research within policy making, practice and wider public debates. The SPA is committed to raising the profile of postgraduate and early career researchers. As part of this, we are organising a number of activities over the coming year to support and enable postgraduates to make the most of their academic research and community: - In collaboration with Social Policy and Society <http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=SPS>, the SPA is running the second round of the Insight into Publishing Scheme <http://www.social-policy.org.uk/about/postgraduate/insight-into-publishing-scheme-with-social-policy-and-society/>. The scheme is designed to give postgraduate researchers a better understanding of the process and requirements of publishing in an established social policy journal. The next round of applications for the scheme will open in November. Based on their experiences, two recent participants in the scheme offer some advice on publishing here <http://www.social-policy.org.uk/news/top-tips-publishing-phd-students/>. - In January 2015, the SPA will be sponsoring a PhD workshop on ‘Austerity, Welfare and Citizenship’. This event aims to provide a supportive and collaborative environment for postgraduate students to present their work and learn about other research in this area. The call for papers will be issued in October and the possibility of a Special Issue publication will be explored following the event. - Bi-annually, the Postgraduate Small Grants Scheme <http://www.social-policy.org.uk/what-we-do/grants/> offers funding for PhD students to organise their own events and activities. The deadline for the next round of applications will be in March 2015. - In July 2015, our annual conference <http://www.social-policy.org.uk/conferences/2015-confernce/> will be held in Belfast. Postgraduate bursaries will be available to support the attendance and contribution of SPA postgraduate members and the Postgraduate Award <http://www.social-policy.org.uk/what-we-do/awards/> for best paper will be presented at the conference dinner. A mentoring opportunity will run throughout the event for those postgraduates presenting. - Over the coming year, we will be publishing a series of “Employability Advice Bites” from social policy academics at different stages of their career. These will be published on the SPA website and will include information and advice on postgraduate employability, funding, conferences, workload management strategies and the implications of career decisions post-PhD. If you have any suggestions for topics that you would like to be covered, please do get in touch! - The SPA continues to share information on funding and job opportunities, interesting research, conferences, methods workshops, and many other things via Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Social-Policy-Association-UK/286584261354890> and Twitter <https://twitter.com/SocialPolicyUK>. To benefit from these activities, we encourage you to become a member of the SPA. Beyond the activities mentioned above, the benefits of membership include reduced conference rates, hard-copy delivered subscriptions to the Journal of Social Policy, Social Policy and Society and the Annual Social Policy Review. Further details and information on how to join are available here <http://www.social-policy.org.uk/how-to-join/>. We want to develop a strong and cohesive network across the UK that connects the social policy postgraduate community so that issues of collective interest and mutual benefit can be discussed and jointly addressed. So please do get in touch if you have any queries or comments about the SPA, our role or any issues affecting you. Kind regards, Daniel Edmiston