UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
Until the present, PERT trainees have had outstanding success in obtaining tenure-track positions at R1 Universities, and the program itself has had a greater number of such placements than comparison groups at the University of Arizona. However, in the current economic climate, many Universities are freezing new positions until the financial climate improves. Currently, there are 18 PERT postdoctoral fellows, six of whom will cease to receive funds at some point in the next grant year but who have not yet achieved a tenure-track placement. The first postdoctoral trainee so affected, a minority trainee, will cease to recieve support on May 31st. An extension of funding would allow these 6 PERT fellows to continue their research and instructional training. This will result in their having more publications and will increase their competitiveness while allowing them a longer period of time to search for academic jobs. The requested budget will also allow for the six fellows to continue their research by providing them with research funding and travel allowance.