First off, thanks to Dora for two great posts on her Grad Currents blog! In her first articles, she takes a look at job prospects for PhDs and she answers the question "Can I afford grad school?".

The next group of bloggers come from the National Association of Graduate Professional Students (NAGPS). They're the only organization that provides support to grad students and grad student groups across the US. In addition to their regional and national conferences, they also lobby on behalf of graduate students and provide discounted services like affordable health insurance and auto insurance.

You won't find a more dedicated group of grad students than the board members of NAGPS. With member campuses all over the country, they stay on top of student issues anywhere they pop up. In their NAGPS blog, they'll keep you informed about important graduate student topics and they'll share advice on overcoming common campus problems.

Look for their first post shortly and then get ready to meet another GradShare blogger next week!

Since GradShare launched in February 2009, we've been the leading voice for grad student support. Our Get Answers forums are filled with hundreds of discussions about common and not-so-common grad school challenges. Our goal has always been to provide an unbiased platform where grad students can get information from many different points of view. Our members come from all different subject areas and more than 250 universities (and growing) across the US and Canada. Most are fellow students, but some are university administrators, staff, and faculty, too.

The graduate school experience can vary so much between universities and departments, and yet there's still so much we all share. The GradShare blogs are our way of bringing the academic world a little closer together. We've lined up everyday students, graduate student leaders, and experts on completing your dissertation to sort through what it really means to be a grad student. We'll have advice on the best tools to use for your research, stories from schools around the academe and analysis of the current news affecting grads.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be rolling out our blogging groups and introducing you to the bloggers. We'll also give you updates about what's going on at GradShare. You can subscribe to RSS feeds for any of our individual blogs or to the combined feed.

Our first blog is Grad Currents, written by Dora Farkas - author of The Smart Way to Your Ph.D.: 200 Secrets from 100 Graduates. Dora has spent a lot of time interviewing students to find out what makes a successful graduate student. She'll be writing about everything from avoiding repetitive strain injuries to funding your education and considering jobs outside of academia. We have a number of other bloggers to introduce so check back regularly.

As our community continues to grow, we'll keep offering you more insights and information to help you through your education. We rely on your input and feedback so keep those questions and answers coming, and make sure to comment in the blog discussions.

Thanks for your ongoing support of the community where graduate students help each other succeed!

Jeff Lang
Community Manager
www.GradShare.com