Early Graduate Student Researcher Award

These Science Student Council awards recognize outstanding student researchers early in their graduate training.

Sponsor: APA Science Student Council

Description

The purpose of the Early Graduate Student Researcher Awards program is to recognize students for conducting outstanding research early in their graduate training (i.e. research conducted within the first three years of doctoral study). The award focuses on both the student’s general research experience and specific completed research projects.

The funds may be used for direct research expenses (e.g., computer time, animal care, equipment, participant fees, and incentives), software, and/or conference travel; it may not be used for tuition, fees, or personal expenses.

Each recipient receives an award of $1,000.

PSA article: "Where Are They Now? A Look at APASSC's Past Early Researcher Award Winners"

Eligibility

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions about the award

Eligibility

To be eligible for this award, at the time of the application deadline the student must meet each of the following requirements:

Be currently enrolled in a doctoral program in psychology at a regionally accredited university located in the United States or Canada.

A student in a graduate department other than psychology is eligible to apply for the award only if she/he demonstrates that her/his graduate course of study is primarily psychological in nature. The student in a graduate department other than psychology should provide APA Science Directorate staff with the following materials. This request for award eligibility may be submitted either separately from the application or at the time of application submission.

(a) a transcript of graduate coursework (an unofficial copy is fine); and

(b) a brief written explanation of how the graduate course of study has been and will be primarily psychological in nature.

Be in the first three years of their doctoral program at the time of the application deadline, OR may be beginning their fourth year, but may not have completed the first semester/quarter of their fourth year.
Be an APA student affiliate or associate member, or apply for APA affiliation before the award application deadline.
We are unable to accept submissions from advanced graduate students (i.e. students in year 4 of their doctoral program or beyond) or from students not currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the time of application.

Strong preference will be given to students who demonstrate outstanding research abilities early in their graduate training, and who show a considerable level of independence in conducting their research.

To ensure geographic diversity, only a maximum of one student per department will be selected for an Early Graduate Student Researcher Award per year.

APA Science Student Council members may not apply for the Early Graduate Student Researcher Award.

Up to three awards are given each year, drawn from basic science, applied science, and interdisciplinary science areas.

How to Apply

Science Directorate staff will examine all applications for eligibility. Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered.
Your application materials (described in this section) must be received electronically by the APA Science Directorate on or before September 15, but after June 1. Please email your completed PDF and/or Word files.

We ask that you submit each required document as a separate file. The files should be attached to one or more emails. Do not attempt to email any files over 10MB in size.

Please note: APA's email system blocks files that are 10MB or larger. If you try to send an email including materials with a total that is larger than 10MB, we may not receive your email. We do not receive any indication that blocked emails were sent.

If the sum of your files is larger than 10MB, we suggest sending each attachment in a separate email. Alternately, large files can be emailed to us using a free web service such as YouSendIt. If you have trouble meeting this requirement, please contact Kirk Waldroff at the APA Science Directorate for assistance.
Due to the volume of applications, we are unable to send confirmations that all materials have been received. Please do not contact the Science Directorate to verify receipt of your application. Instead, we suggest using an automatic receipt function on your email message to verify receipt by the Science Directorate. All applicants for the award will be notified of funding decisions via email by early December.
Be sure to keep a copy of all submitted materials for your records.
All submissions must follow APA style, using a font of 10 points or larger, and one inch margins. All materials may be single or double spaced.

Each application must include each of the following:

1. APA Student Affiliate or Associate Member status

Applicants must be student affiliates or associate members of APA to apply for this award. If you are not currently an APA student affiliate or associate member, you may still apply for this award by submitting a student affiliate membership application. Details are available on the membership website.

2. Application Form

The application form (PDF, 78KB) should be typed or neatly printed, signed by the applicant, and emailed as a PDF.

After filling out, printing, and signing the application form please scan it in and create a PDF. To do this you can use the 'create PDF, from scanner' feature in Adobe Acrobat if you have access to a scanner. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat or a scanner, copy machines often have an option to scan to PDF and email the file to yourself, which you can then forward to us. If neither of these options work for you, contact your school's IT department and ask for assistance.

3. Research Statement

Your research statement should be 1,000 words maximum. This may be submitted as either a Word document or a PDF. Be sure to include:

Information on your past research experience, including a section that highlights at least one project the student has completed recently (within 12 months preceding the date of application). Please do not include tables or figures;
Information about your current research and why it is important;
Future directions for your research.

4. Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae

Your abbreviated curriculum vitae should be 2 pages maximum. This may be submitted as either a Word document or a PDF.

5. Two Letters of Recommendation

Your letters of recommendation should come from advisors and/or professors and should be a maximum of 1 page each. Please communicate to the faculty members who will write your recommendation letters the importance of adhering to this page limit. Please do not submit more than two letters of recommendation. Only two letters will be forwarded for review.

The letter writers must submit the letters directly via email.

Please be sure to tell your letter writers about the 10MB limit. The student applying for the award is responsible for confirming that the faculty members have emailed their letters before the deadline. This is the student’s responsibility and applications that do not include both letters of recommendation, before the application deadline, will be disqualified.

Please contact the APA Science Directorate with any questions by email or telephone: (202) 336-6000.

Past Recipients

SEARCH

Early Graduate Student Researcher Award

FAQs

Eligibility

Each application must include each of the following:

1. APA Student Affiliate or Associate Member status

2. Application Form

3. Research Statement

4. Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae

5. Two Letters of Recommendation

The letter writers must submit the letters directly via email.

2011

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2005

2004

Related Funding