What We Do

The American Psychological Foundation (APF) provides financial support for innovative research and programs that enhance the power of psychology to elevate the human condition and advance human potential both now and in generations to come.

Psychology goes to the root of human behavior, seeking and implementing effective solutions to the most complex individual and social problems.

APF’s rigorous competitive grants program supports the development of psychological talent and mobilizes psychology’s resources toward those problems that need to be addressed yet would otherwise go unfunded. Giving to APF supports students and psychologists whose research, projects, and intervention programs help individuals and communities worldwide, making a difference every day:

• APF Scholarships:  APF helps assure that talented students have the opportunity to enrich the field and use their training to better humankind. Graduate students look to APF for support to complete dissertations, travel to conferences, and prepare themselves to undertake society’s challenges.

• APF Early Career and Seed Money Grants: APF provides crucial support when funding is difficult to obtain. APF’s early career and seed grants enable talented and creative young psychologists to launch their careers and initiate innovative projects.

• APF Targeted Project Grants: APF aims to create better lives for people across the globe through funding research, demonstration projects, and direct interventions to find effective solutions to societal problems.

APF's grantmaking priorities are devoted to:

• Exploring and strengthening the connection between mental and physical health to ensure well-being.
• Understanding and preventing violence to create a safer, more humane world.
• Reducing stigma and prejudice to promote unity and harmony.
• Supporting programs that address the long-term psychological needs of individuals and communities in the aftermath of disaster.

APF's work is ongoing, sometimes urgent, always important, and forever growing.