Department of Psychology

Graduate Student Grant, Award, and Fellowship Opportunities

Listed below are a variety of external funding opportunities for graduate students in different fields of psychology. Funding opportunities are organized under the following headings: (1) General Grant, Award, and Fellowship Opportunities; (2) Funding Opportunities for Underrepresented or Specific Student Populations; and (3) Funding for Travel. Additional information on internal fellowships, scholarships, and awards is available through the University of Toledo College of Graduate Studies website

General Grant, award, and Fellowship opportunities

PSYCHOLOGY STUDENT AWARDS THROUGH THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (APA)

APA provides a search engine for more than 600 scholarships, fellowships, and grants – including over 200 for undergraduate and/or graduate students. Simply narrow the search for ‘Recipient’ to indicate your student status. There are also many other filters that include topics such as clinical, experimental, LGBT, violence and trauma, and many more. 

Website: http://www.apa.org/about/awards/

Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Child Psychology Graduate Student Fellowship

Website: http://www.apa.org/apf/funding/koppitz.aspx

Purpose:

  • Provides one year of support for graduate research projects and scholarships in child psychology.
  • Provides support for tuition waiver and a stipend of $25,000.

Eligibility:

  • Clinical-focused.
  • Completed doctoral candidacy at the time of application (documentation required).
  • IRB approval must be received from host institution before funding can be awarded if human participants are involved.
  • Only one application accepted from any one institution in any given year.

APA Law Society (Div. 41) Grants

Website: http://www.apadivisions.org/division-41/awards/student-grants.aspx

Purpose:

  • Provides up to $750 to support empirical graduate research that addresses psycholegal issue.

Eligibility:

  • Experimental-focused (see point below).
  • Limited to graduate students who are student affiliate members of AP-LS.

APA Law Society (Div. 41) Grant in Aid for Students MacArthur Award

Website: http://www.apadivisions.org/division-41/awards/student-grants-macarthur.aspx?tab=1

Purpose:

  • Funding from the MacArthur Foundation to support promising research in the area of criminal competence.
  • Awards up to $2,000.

Eligibility:

  • Experimental-focused (see point below).
  • Must be current members of AP-LS.
  • Limited to research proposals addressing questions of adjudicative competence in juveniles and adults.
  • Must submit documentation of prior IRB approval and relevant tax forms.

Nancy B. Forest and L. Michael Honaker Master’s Grant for Research in Psychology ($1000)

Website:  http://www.apa.org/about/awards/forest-honaker.aspx

Purpose:  

  • To fund thesis research in the field of psychology at the Master's level.

Eligibility:

  • Must be graduate student member of APAGS. Students who join as a graduate student affiliate are members of APAGS; students who are members of APA as undergraduate student affiliates, associate member or other member status, must change their status to graduate student affiliate prior to applying for this grant/award.
  • Must be enrolled at least half-time as a student in good standing at a regionally accredited university.
  • Undergraduates are not eligible to apply for these grants/awards, nor are current or former APAGS Committee members, subcommittee chairs and task force chairs. In addition, former APAGS subcommittee members or ad hoc reviewers who have previously reviewed this grant are not eligible. Previous recipients of each grant/award are not eligible to apply again for a period of five years.

APA Society of Clinical Psychology (Div. 12) Distinguished Student Research Award in Clinical Psychology ($200)

Website: http://www.div12.org/awards/

Purpose:  

  • To honor a graduate student in clinical psychology who has made exemplary theoretical or empirical contributions to research in clinical psychology. Clinical research contributions can include quantity, quality, contribution to diversity, and/or innovations in research.

Eligibility:  

  • Must be matriculated doctoral students in clinical psychology (including predoctoral interns).
  • Must be a student affiliate of Division 12.  

APA Society of Clinical Psychology (Div. 12) Distinguished Student Practice Award in Clinical Psychology ($200)

Website: http://www.div12.org/awards/

Purpose:  

  • To honor a graduate student in clinical psychology who has made outstanding clinical practice contributions to the profession.  Clinical practice contributions can include breadth and/or depth of practice activities, innovations in service delivery, contribution to diversity, and/or other meritorious contributions.

Eligibility:  

  • Must be matriculated doctoral students in clinical psychology (including predoctoral interns).
  • Must be a student affiliate of Division 12.  

APA Society of Clinical Psychology (Div. 12) Distinguished Student Service Award in Clinical Psychology ($200)

Website: http://www.div12.org/awards/

Purpose:  

  • To honor a graduate student in clinical psychology who has made outstanding service contributions to the profession and community.  Service contribution can include development of creative educational programs or other novel activities in the advancement of service, contributions to diversity, working to increase funding for agencies, volunteer time, working on legislation regarding mental health, general mental health advocacy; as initiating outreach to underserved communities or substantive involvement in efforts to do such outreach.

Eligibility:  

  • Must be matriculated doctoral students in clinical psychology (including predoctoral interns).
  • Must be a student affiliate of Division 12.  

The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship

Website: https://ndseg.sysplus.com/

Purpose:

  • Fellowship provides three years of support.
  • Intended for students at or near the beginning of their doctoral studies in science or engineering.
  • Provides support for full tuition and mandatory fees, a monthly stipend (approx.. $100,000 over the 36-month period) and up to $1,000 a year in medical insurance (excluding dental and vision insurance).

Eligibility:

  • Both experimental and clinical research appear to fall within their supported discipline of Cognitive, Neural, and Behavioral Sciences.
  • Citizen of the U.S. or nationals of the U.S.
  • Application made before 2 years of graduate school have been completed.

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Student Dissertation Awards

ABCT awards 3 dissertation awards each year at their annual conference.

Virginia A. Roswell Student Dissertation Award ($1,000)
Leonard Krasner Student Dissertation Award ($1,000)
John R. Z. Abela Student Dissertation Award ($500)

Website: http://www.abct.org/Awards/?m=mMembers&fa=main&nolm=1

Purpose:

  • To assist students in completing their doctoral dissertation proposal (e.g., to pay participants, to purchase testing equipment) and/or to facilitate travel to the ABCT convention.

Eligibility

  • Candidates must be student members of ABCT.
  • Topic area of dissertation research must be of direct relevance to cognitive-behavioral therapy, broadly defined.
  • The dissertation must have been successfully proposed.
  • The dissertation must not have been defended.
  • Proposals with preliminary results included are preferred.
  • To be considered for the Abela Award, research should be relevant to the development, maintenance, and/or treatment of depression in children and/or adolescents (i.e., under age 18).

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Graduate Student Research Grant

Website: http://www.abct.org/Resources/?m=mResources&fa=GraduateStudentGrant

Purpose:

  • Sponsored by the Research Facilitation Committee of ABCT.
  • Provides a grant of up to $1000 to support graduate student research.
  • The purpose of this grant is to facilitate graduate student research by providing funding for thesis or dissertation research that is not otherwise funded.

Eligibility:

  • Graduate student in good standing.
  • Current student member of ABCT.
  • Thesis or dissertation research is not funded by some external (i.e., R36, F31, faculty advisor’s grant) or internal source.
  • Thesis or dissertation proposal has been approved by either the faculty advisor or the full committee (see details below).

Association for Psychological Science Student Grant

Website: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/members/grants-awards-and-symposia/student-grant-competition

Purpose:

  • In an effort to encourage student research in psychological science, the APS Student Grant Competition provides small “seed grant” funding to support research in its initial development stages (e.g., the purchase of research materials or other expenses incurred prior to data collection).
  • Up to eight awards ($500 each) will be given.

Eligibility

  • Must be APS student affiliate (graduates or undergraduate).
  • Research proposals in all areas of psychological science are welcome.
  • Applicants 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 (Note: Travel assistance for convention volunteers is excluded from this rule.).

Association for Psychological Science Student Researcher Award ($300)

Website: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/members/apssc/about/student-research-award

Purpose

  • To promote and acknowledge outstanding research conducted by student members.
  • Winners of the Student Research Competition will present their research in symposium format at the Annual Convention in May and receive some monetary compensation for travel costs to the convention.

Eligibility

  • Must be APS student affiliate (graduates or undergraduate).
  • 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.
  • Must be able to attend the conference.

Association for Psychological Science Albert Bandura Graduate Research Award

Website: http://www.psichi.org/?page=bandurainfo#.WRGhDtLyu00

Purpose:

  • To award the best overall graduate research by an APS and Psi Chi member.
  • Includes a $1,200 cash award, a 3-year membership in APS, subscriptions to all APS journals, and two engraved plaques—one for the winner and one for the psychology department as a permanent honor.

Eligibility

  • All psychology graduate students who are Psi Chi members and graduate student affiliates of the Association for Psychological Science are eligible to submit their research for the Psi Chi/APS Albert Bandura Graduate Research Award.

Anxiety and Depression Association of America Alies Muskin Career Development Leadership Program

Website: https://www.adaa.org/resources-professionals/conference-education/career-development

Purpose:  

  • To provide an intensive mentoring and professional development opportunity for early career clinicians and researchers. An interactive learning experience, the program challenges thinking and encourages creative discourse about anxiety, depressive, obsessive-compulsive, and trauma-related disorders in a diverse, multidisciplinary community of professionals involved in practice and research. 

Eligibility:  

  • Member of ADAA
  • Interest in becoming active and a leader within ADAA.
  • Graduate degree students (MD, MPH, MSW, NP, PhD, PsyD), interns, residents, or postdoctoral fellows OR early career researchers and clinicians who have completed their training within the last five years.
  • Clinicians must have a terminal degree .
  • Participants are required to attend all scheduled program events and attend the conference.

American Psychological Foundation & Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology Student Scholarships

The American Psychological Foundation awards 22 annual scholarships for graduate student research:

$7,500 David H. and Beverly A. Barlow Award
$5,000 Harry and Miriam Levinson Scholarship
$5,000 William and Dorothy Bevan Scholarship
$5,000 Charles and Carol Spielberger Scholarship
$5,000 Peter and Malina James & Dr. Louis P. James Legacy Scholarship
$3,000 APA 125th Anniversary Scholarship
$3,000 Ruth G. and Joseph D. Matarazzo Scholarship
$2,500 William C. Howell Scholarship
$2,000 Clarence J. Rosecrans Scholarship
$1,000 Raymond K. Mulhern Scholarship
$1,000 Dr. Judy Kuriansky Scholarship
12 additional $1,000 scholarships

Website: http://www.apa.org/apf/funding/cogdop.aspx?tab=1

Purpose:

  • To assist graduate students of psychology with research costs associated with the master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation.

Eligibility:

  • Graduate students enrolled in an interim master's program or doctoral program.
  • Students currently enrolled in a terminal master's program intending to enroll in a PhD program. 
  • Students at any stage of graduate study are encouraged to apply. 
  • Encourages applications from individuals who represent diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability and sexual orientation.
  • Each graduate department of psychology that is a member of COGDOP may submit nominations. Departments that have 100 or fewer students enrolled in their graduate programs may nominate one (1) candidate; departments that have 101-200 graduate students enrolled may nominate up to two (2) candidates; and departments that have more than 200 graduate students enrolled may nominate up to three (3) candidates.
  • Nominees must be currently enrolled in the graduate program at the time grants are awarded.

Society for personality assessment graduate student association awards

The Society for Personality Assessment Graduate Student Association offers three awards for graduate students each year.

Annual Mary S. Cerney Memorial Award for Outstanding Student Paper on Personality Assessment 
Annual Dissertation Grant
Student Research Grant

Website: https://www.personality.org/awards

Purpose:

  • To recognize personality assessment research conducted by graduate students, as well as assist graduate students with the completion of research in the area of personality assessment.
  • In addition to a $500 award, the Mary S. Cerney Memorial Award also provides funds for travel to the Society for Personality Assessment annual conference and registration for the conference. 

Eligibility:

  • Graduate students enrolled in a master's program or doctoral program.
  • With the exception of the dissertation award, students at any stage of graduate study are encouraged to apply. 
  • Encourages applications from individuals who represent diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability and sexual orientation.
  • Must be member of the Society for Personality Assessment.

Society of Personality and Social Psychology Student Publication Prize ($400)

Website:  http://spsp.org/awards/annualawards/studentawards/student-publication-prize

Purpose:

  • To recognize excellence in research by student members with its Student Publication Prize. 

Eligibility:

  • Must be published in the calendar year prior to nomination in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Personality and Social Psychology Review, or Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Funding Opportunities for Underrepresented or Specific Student Populations

Association for Psychological Science RISE Research Award

Website: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/members/rise/research-award

Purpose

  • The purpose of the RISE Research Award is to cultivate psychological science research in fields related to socially and economically underrepresented populations, as well as to acknowledge outstanding research conducted by student members.

Eligibility

  • Must be APS student affiliate (graduate or undergraduate).
  • 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.

Society of Personality and Social Psychology Diversity Fund Graduate Travel Award ($500)

Website:  http://spsp.org/awards/travel-awards/diversity-fund-graduate-travel-award

Purpose:

  • To increase diversity within personality and social psychology. As part of this initiative, eligible graduate students are invited to apply for travel awards to attend the SPSP annual conference.

Eligibility:

  • Must be enrolled in a Ph.D. graduate program with an emphasis in social/personality psychology at the time of the convention.
  • Must be SPSP members.
  • Must be a member of an underrepresented group in social/personality psychology (these groups include, but are not necessarily limited to, ethnic and racial minorities; first-generation college students; lesbian, gay and bisexual students; transgender students; and students with a physical disability).
  • Cannot have previously won an SPSP Graduate Student Travel Award or an SPSP Diversity Fund Graduate Travel Award.

SOCIETY for personality assessment international student travel grant (up to $750)

Website: https://www.personality.org/awards

Purpose:

  • To encourage training of international students and promote international student participation in research and scholarly presentation in the area of personality assessment.

Eligibility:

  • Must be student affiliate member of the Society for Personality Assessment.
  • Must be an international student.
  • Required to report other sources of funding for travel.

Carol Williams-Nickelson Award for Women’s Leadership and Scholarship in Women’s Issues ($1000)

Website:  http://www.apa.org/about/awards/apags-carol.aspx

Purpose:

  • To acknowledge women APAGS members who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in psychology by serving in one or more leadership roles locally, regionally and/or nationally while also advancing women’s issues through their writing/publications, research, advocacy or other scholarly activities. Some of the women’s issues addressed include personal and professional balance, barriers to women’s achievement, challenges to advancement in academia or other environments, inequities in pay, differential career opportunities, health disparities, dual-career family issues, combining family and child-rearing with a career, mentoring and other issues that are important to or impact women. 

Eligibility:

  • Must be women APAGS members, currently enrolled (and in good academic standing at a regionally accredited university) in a doctoral program in psychology. Students who join as a graduate student affiliate are members of APAGS; students who are members of APA as undergraduate student affiliates, associate member or other member status, must change their status to graduate student affiliate prior to applying for this grant/award.
  • Undergraduates are not eligible to apply for these grants/awards, nor are current or former APAGS Committee members, subcommittee members or task force chairs. In addition, former APAGS subcommittee members or ad hoc reviewers who have previously reviewed this award are not eligible. Previous recipients of each grant/award are not eligible to apply again for a period of five years.

American Association of University Women American Fellowship

Website: http://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/educational-funding-and-awards/

Purpose:

  • American Fellowships support women scholars who are completing dissertations and who have an active commitment to helping women and girls through service in their communities, professions, or fields of research.
  • Provides $20,000 stipend for one year.

Eligibility:

  • Both experimental and clinical research appear to fall within their supported research.
  • U.S. citizens or permanent residents enrolled in a research or clinical doctoral or postdoctoral program.
  • Women only.
  • Must be used for the final year of writing dissertation.
  • Must have completed all coursework, passed all preliminary exams, and had the dissertation research proposal or plan approved by application deadline.

American Association of University Women International Fellowship

Website: http://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/educational-funding-and-awards/

Purpose:

  • Provides support for women pursuing full-time graduate study in the United States who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents and who have an active commitment to helping women and girls through service in their communities, professions, or fields of research.
  • Provides $20,000 stipend for one year.

Eligibility:

  • Both experimental and clinical research appear to fall within their supported research.
  • Must have completed all coursework, passed all preliminary exams, and had the dissertation research proposal or plan approved by application deadline.
  • Have citizenship in a country other than the United States or possession of a nonimmigrant visa if residing in the United States.
  • Women holding dual citizenship in the United States and another country or who are permanent legal residents of the United States are not eligible.
  • Applicant intends to return to her home country to pursue a professional career.

Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation: Dissertation Grants in Women's Studies

Website: http://woodrow.org/fellowships/womens-studies/

Purpose:

  • Provide support for the final year of dissertation writing for Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences whose work addresses topics of women and gender in interdisciplinary and original ways.
  • Award of $5,000 to be used for expenses connected with completing your dissertations, such as research-related travel, data work/collection, and supplies.

Eligibility:

  • Both experimental and clinical research appear to fall within their supported research.
  • Must be a doctoral candidate in enrolled in graduate school in the U.S.
  • Must have completed all degree requirements except for dissertation.
  • Must be completing dissertation during the fellowship year.
  • Can be held concurrently with other dissertation fellowships.

Roy Scrivner Memorial Research Grants

Website: http://www.apa.org/apf/funding/scrivner.aspx

Purpose:

  • $11,500 grant for empirical and applied research focused on lesbian, gay and bisexual family psychology and lesbian, gay and bisexual family therapy.

Eligibility:

  • Clinical-focused.
  • Preference given to dissertation candidates.
  • Applicant has demonstrated commitment to LGBT family issues. 
  • IRB approval must be received from host institution before funding can be awarded if human participants are involved.

Funding for Travel

SOCIETY FOR PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT STUDENT TRAVEL GRANT

Website: https://www.personality.org/awards

Purpose:

  • To encourage training of international students and promote international student participation in research and scholarly presentation in the area of personality assessment.
  • Provides up to $200 for travel costs.

Eligibility:

  • Must be student affiliate member of the Society for Personality Assessment.
  • Required to report other sources of funding for travel.

SOCIETY FOR PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT INTERNATIONAL STUDENT TRAVEL GRANT

Website: https://www.personality.org/awards

Purpose:

  • To encourage training of international students and promote international student participation in research and scholarly presentation in the area of personality assessment.
  • Provides up to $750 for travel costs.

Eligibility:

  • Must be student affiliate member of the Society for Personality Assessment.
  • Must be an international student.
  • Required to report other sources of funding for travel.

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive therapies student travel award

Website: http://www.abct.org/Awards/?m=mMembers&fa=main&nolm=1

Purpose:

  • This award is designed to recognize excellence among student presenters and to aid in allaying some of the significant travel costs associated with presenting at the convention.
  • Accompanying this honor will be a monetary award ($500) to be used to facilitate travel to the ABCT convention.

Eligibility:

  • Nominees must be speaking at the ABCT annual convention as a symposium presenter (i.e., first author on a symposium talk), panel participant, or moderator.
  • Student members of ABCT in good standing.
  • Enrolled as a student at the time of the convention, including individuals on predoctoral internships but excluding postbaccalaureates.

Society for Personality and Social Psychology Graduate Travel Award

Website: http://spsp.org/awards/travel-awards/graduate-travel-award

Purpose:

  • Provides travel support for students traveling to its annual convention.
  • $500 unrestricted award that may be used to cover travel, registration, lodging, food or other expenses related to attending the annual convention.

Eligibility:

  • Experimental-focused (see point below).
  • Must be an author on a poster, symposium paper, or data blitz presentation accepted to present in the SPSP convention program.
  • Must be graduate student at the time of the convention. 
  • Cannot have previously won an SPSP Graduate Student Travel Award or an SPSP Diversity Fund Graduate Travel Award.
  • Must be SPSP member.

Society or personality and social psychology Diversity Fund Graduate Travel Award

Website: http://spsp.org/awards/travel-awards/diversity-fund-graduate-travel-award

Purpose:

  • Provides travel support for students traveling to its annual convention.
  • $500 to be used to cover conference-related expenses, including transportation, lodging, food, and conference registration.

Eligibility:

  • Experimental-focused (see point below).
  • Must be a member of an underrepresented group in social/personality psychology (these groups include, but are not necessarily limited to, ethnic and racial minorities; first-generation college students; lesbian, gay and bisexual students; transgender students; and students with a physical disability).
  • Must be enrolled in a Ph.D. graduate program with an emphasis in social/personality psychology at the time of the convention.
  • Cannot have previously won an SPSP Graduate Student Travel Award or an SPSP Diversity Fund Graduate Travel Award.
  • Must be SPSP member.

Association for Psychological Science Travel Assistance

Website: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/members/apssc/travel

Purpose:

  • To defray travel costs for APS Student Affiliates who are presenting their research at the APS Annual Convention.

Eligibility

  • APS student affiliate (graduate or undergraduate).
  • Must be willing to volunteer for 1 six-hour shift onsite at the convention.
Last Updated: 10/6/22