External Scholarships and Fellowships

Students in our program can also apply for additional financial support from outside sources to cover research costs or time in graduate school. Below is a list of funding opportunities that students in our programs may be eligible to apply for.


APS Student Grant Competition Up to eight awards ($500 each) will be given to APS student affiliates (graduates and undergraduates) to provide 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.

Deadline: early January

Hispanic Scholarship Fund - For applicants and current students in Clinical and Experimental Psychology (program emphasizes STEM fields). Students apply directly to Hispanic Scholarship Fund

Deadline: February

APS Student Research AwardUp to three $300 awards to graduate student members (and up to two $300 awards to undergraduate students members) are awarded to compensate for travel costs to Annual APS Convention in May, where winners present their research in symposium format.

Deadline: early February

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Programs - For applicants and current students in Clinical and Experimental Psychology (UofL is a participating school for those coming from a participating state). Doctoral Scholars Program and Dissertation Year Fellowships given. Students apply directly to SREB.

Deadline: March

Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research (GIAR)  The program awards grants of up to $1,000 to undergraduate and graduate students from most areas of the sciences and engineering, including psychology, and up to $2,500 for vision related research.  

Deadlines: March 15 (spring) and October 1 (fall) annually

Dissertation Research Grant in Developmental Psychology  The Dissertation Research Grant supports the dissertation research of an outstanding graduate student member of APA and Div. 7. Between one and three $500 grants are awarded each year. 

Deadline: March 15th 

Dissertation Award in Developmental Psychology  This award recognizes an individual whose dissertation is deemed to be an outstanding contribution to developmental psychology. The nominee must have completed his/her dissertation as part of a developmental graduate program. The nominee must have participated in his/her dissertation defense during the current or prior calendar year of the award.

Nomination Deadline: March 15th

APF/COGDOP Graduate Student Scholarships (limited to one per department)  $2,000 to $5,000 general scholarships for graduate students in psychology. The purpose of the scholarship program is to assist graduate students of psychology with research costs associated with the master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation. 

Dept. Deadline: May 15th   |   APF Deadline: June 30th

(APF) Benton-Meier Scholarships  $2,000 to support dissertation research that addresses any aspect of mental function (e.g., cognition, affect, motivation) and seeks to understand the mind from both a behavioral and neural perspective.

Deadline: early June

APF F. J. McGuigan Dissertation Award  $2,000 to support dissertation research oriented toward any aspect of mental health and function, as well as advancing a unified conception of brain and behavior. 

Deadline: early June

APAGS/Psi Chi Junior Scientist Fellowship  The Junior Scientist Fellowship provides support for students entering their first year, or the first semester of their second year, of a research-oriented graduate program.

Deadline: late June

APA Dissertation Research Award (limited to 3 per department)  This award program assists science-oriented doctoral students of psychology with dissertation research costs. It is for students who will complete the proposed project while in graduate school. 

Dept. Deadline: Please contact your graduate director   |   APA Deadline: early September

Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships (excludes clinical and counseling psychology)  Supports a year of research and writing to help advanced graduate students in the humanities and related social sciences in the last year of Ph.D. dissertation writing. ACLS will award 65 fellowships in this competition for a one-year term beginning in the summer. The program encourages timely completion of the Ph.D. Applicants must be prepared to complete their dissertations within the period of their fellowship tenure and no later than August 31 of the subsequent year. The total award of up to $38,000 includes a stipend plus additional funds for university fees and research support. 

 Deadline: late October

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. Applicants must be United States citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the United States by the application deadline. Graduate students are limited to only one application to the GRFP, submitted either in the first year or in the second year of graduate school. 

Deadline: mid-October

(APF) Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Child Psychology Graduate Student Fellowship (Only one application accepted from any one institution in any given year)  $25,000 fellowships for graduate students in child psychology

UofL Deadline: Please contact your graduate director in summer if interested

APF Deadline: mid-November

APAGS Psychological Science Research Grant (diversity research supplements also awarded)  Provides support for four graduate students conducting psychological science research studies. 

Deadline: early December

Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs - For applicants and current students in Clinical and Experimental Psychology (see eligible field list). Predoctoral, Dissertation, and Postdoctoral awards given. Students apply directly to the Ford Foundation.

Deadline: December

 

See also:  http://www.apa.org/apf/funding/index.aspx