APA Division 38 (Health Psychology)
Graduate Student Research Awards Program
$1200
The Division of Health Psychology (Division 38) of the American Psychological Association is sponsoring five graduate student awards to support new research.
Two of the awards will be reserved for studies in general health psychology: 1) understanding the etiology, promotion and maintenance of health; 2) prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of physical illness; 3) psychological, social, emotional and behavioral factors in physical illness; and 4) health care systems and health policy.
One award will be designated for research in child health psychology (i.e., any study addressing one of the topics outlined above within a sample comprised primarily or exclusively of children or adolescents). This award is conferred in memory of Lizette Peterson, a former Health Psychology editor and Division 38 member.
Two additional awards will be reserved for research addressing health disparities, defined as “differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions that exist among specific population group” (National Institutes of Health). In particular, these awards are intended to support research focusing on various health conditions that are more prevalent, serious, or specific to disadvantaged and medically underserved groups, or on healthcare inequities relevant to these groups, specifically, ethnic minorities and socio-economically disadvantaged individuals in rural and urban areas.
In the event that fewer than 5 proposals are received in the area of child health psychology, relevant applications will be included in the pool for general health psychology research, and an additional award will be conferred in this area. Likewise, if fewer than 10 proposals (but more than 5) are received in the area of health disparities, only one award will be selected from this area, and an additional award will be conferred in general health psychology; if fewer than 5 proposals are received in health disparities, proposals submitted for this award will be included in the general health psychology pool, and two additional awards will be conferred in this area.
Proposals will be reviewed on an annual basis and must be received by January 15 in each year, with notification of award made by March 1.
Eligibility
The award competition is open to full-time students enrolled in any degree conferring-graduate program. Research awards are typically used to fund students’ thesis or dissertation research, but this is not a requirement of the support mechanism. Students may submit only one award per content area and may not receive more than one award in a given year.
Research
For the purposes of this award, the term “research” is broadly defined as any scholarly endeavor, including but not limited to experiments, correlational studies, qualitative investigations and evaluation research.
Proposals
Although the faculty sponsor may be consulted during the formulation of the proposal, the student should be the author of the proposal and the principal investigator of the research project. Research proposals must include the following information:
a) Specific Aims (recommended length .5 page)
-- what are the research goals?
-- what are the specific hypotheses?b) Background (recommended length 1-2 pages)
-- brief literature review of the area
-- what has past research shown?
-- what gaps in the existing literature does this research address?c) Methods (recommended length 2-3 pages)
-- proposed sample
-- measures/instrumentation
-- procedures
-- data analytic plan
Parts A through C of the research proposal should not exceed 6 single-spaced pages, including tables and figures. Proposals that exceed the 6-page limit will not be reviewed.
d) References
e) Budget
Proposals should include a detailed budget with justification for all expenses. Expenses should be directly related to the conduct of the research and should not be used for travel unless carefully justified. The budget may be of any size, but the awards are limited to a maximum of $1200. If the project budget exceeds the amount of the award, please include a detailed description of additional funding source(s).
Style for parts a through d of the proposal must conform to the guidelines for a Public Health Service Grant (i.e., National Institutes of Health) application. Instructions and forms are available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html. Please adhere to guidelines for font and margin size.
Applications that do not follow these guidelines will be excluded from consideration.
Submission
Include a cover letter that specifies the award to which you are applying: general health psychology, child health psychology, or health disparities.
Submit three (3) copies of each of the following:
- NIH face page (i.e., form page 1; complete items 1-5 only)
- NIH biographical sketch for the student
- NIH biographical sketch for the faculty sponsor
- Letter of recommendation from the faculty sponsor; the letter should verify that the proposed research is the student’s project and that the student will function as the principal investigator
- The research proposal as described above
Submit student research award applications to:
Linda C. Gallo, Ph.D.
Chair, Division 38 Research Committee
SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in
Clinical Psychology
San Diego State University
6363 Alvarado Court, Suite 103
San Diego, CA 92120-4913
Review
Proposals will be reviewed by members of the Division 38 Research Committee. Preference will be given to submissions from students who have not previously received this award.
Research Report
Each student receiving an award will be required to submit a report to the Research Committee by September 1 of the year following the award. The report should be limited to 2 single-spaced pages and should include a description of the results and the plan for presenting or publishing the results.
Inquiries
For further information, please contact Dr. Linda Gallo, Division 38 Research Committee Chair, at: lcgallo@sciences.sdsu.edu.