Student Grant Competition
Overview
In an effort to support student research in psychology, the APS Student Caucus provides a funding source for APS Student Affiliates to conduct research that currently is in its initial development. The APSSC Student Grant Competition offers partial financial support for various research expenses (e.g., the purchase of research materials) prior to data collection. Up to three awards ($500 each) will be available to graduate student affiliates and up to two awards ($300 each) will be available to undergraduate student affiliates. Research proposals in all areas of psychological science are welcome. Peers will evaluate each research proposal on the clarity in the presentation of ideas, the ability of the project to explain some psychological phenomenon, and the ability of the project to advance research in a specified area. Applicants will receive copies of the peer reviews once the competition has concluded.
Current APS Student Affiliates may only enter one APSSC competition each year (i.e., Student Grant Competition, Student Research Award, or RISE Research Award) and as such are only eligible for one of these three awards each academic year. Travel assistance is excluded from this rule.
Grant Application Preparation
To be considered for the Student Grant Competition, APS student affiliates must submit the following materials:
- Cover Letter: The cover letter must include the following information: name, current mailing address, current telephone number, current e-mail address, area of research, APS membership number (found on the mailing label of your APS Observer or by contacting the APS office) and membership status, and the full name(s) of other(s) involved in the project. Cover letters must identify a primary (and if applicable a secondary) area of research from the following choices:
- Clinical
- Cognitive
- Developmental
- General
- I/O
- Methodology
- Personality/Social
- Physiology/Neuroscience
- Project Summary: The project summary should detail the purpose and methodology of the proposed research. The following specific sections should be included:
- Project title and an abstract
- Background (a summary of previous related research)
- Motivation (the specific justification for the current project including a clearly stated hypothesis)
- Methods (a clear explanation of the materials, procedure, etc. that will be used)
- Theoretical Implications (e.g. how this research will impact/advance psychological science)
The Project Summary should be in APA format (including adherence to standards for margins and font size), double-spaced, and should not exceed 3000 words (including an abstract). References, figures, tables, and appendices may take up additional pages.
Note: Please OMIT the author’s name and affiliation on all parts of this document. (Only the Cover Letter should contain your personal information). Instead, be sure to include the title of the submission in the header at the top of each page.
- Review Board Approval: Review Board Approval consists of formal documentation indicating that the project outlined in the proposal has been approved for data collection by the institutional body that regulates research within the submitter’s university (e.g., Human Subjects Committee, Internal Review Board, etc.). A digitally scanned version of the document in PDF format is preferable. Alternatively, a photocopy of the document can be mailed to the Graduate Advocate.
Submission of Materials
All materials should be submitted through e-mail to the Graduate Advocate. Please attach the documents in virus-free attachments to an email with the subject line: APSSC Student Grant Submission. The Cover Letter and Project Summary should be in separate Microsoft Word or Open Format documents and the Review Board Approval should be in a PDF document (or equivalent electronic file type). Again, the project summary should not contain any direct or indirect references to the identity or academic affiliation of the author.
In the event that the Review Board Approval cannot be digitally scanned, email the Graduate Advocate for a postal address to mail a hard copy.
All materials must be received by November 16, 2012. Submissions that do not meet the requirements stipulated above will be disqualified from the competition. When a project application is received in full, the Graduate Advocate will send an e-mail notification indicating the receipt of the submission. Grant award winners will be notified by January 1, 2013.
