SABA Doctoral Dissertation and Master's Thesis Grant Application Requirements

Purpose

SABA Dissertation Grants and SABA Thesis Grants are intended to facilitate student research projects in behavior analysis. Unlike some other SABA programs, which recognize promising individuals, these grants are intended to support promising research projects. Student track record is relevant and is addressed in the application package, but SABA's primary concern is that the proposed project be well conceived, justified, and described.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for SABA grant funds, a student must have received formal departmental approval to conduct, but must not have defended, a thesis or dissertation project that is relevant to behavior analysis. Normally, empirical projects are most appropriate for these grants, but theoretical or historical analyses are also eligible. Because many reviewers likely would be unfamiliar with the methods and expenses of alternative kinds of projects, these would require especially persuasive justification.  There are no constraints on a recipient's nationality or on the country in which the university is located.

Selection Procedure

The SABA Board of Directors constitutes the Grant Selection Committee. The SABA board consists of the Full members of the ABAI Executive Council plus the SABA secretary-treasurer. The grant recipients will be selected at the fall SABA board meeting, and will be recognized during the SABA Awards Ceremony at the opening event of ABAI's annual convention, and in Inside Behavior Analysis.

Application Procedure/Documents

Those students interested in applying for a SABA Doctoral Dissertation or Master's Thesis Grant should apply online here or submit the following documents to the SABA office, in the given order:

  1. A two-page, abstract of the proposal document, highlighting the rationale for the research and methods, plus an estimated timeline for completing the research. This abstract should strike a balance between demonstrating the technical expertise required to conduct the research and providing clear, readable explanations suitable for a behavior analyst who is not an expert on the research topic (approximately 1,000 words).
  2. A one-page budget describing and justifying the expected expenses of the project and indicating to which needs the grant funds will be applied. Totals should add up to $500 for master's thesis applications and $1,000 for doctoral dissertation applications. No indirect costs are provided to the student's institution. Grant funds must be applied to direct costs of conducting the research, such as compensating participants, purchasing equipment, copying materials, and purchasing laboratory animals. Grant funds may not be applied toward the general infrastructure that supports research, such as paying research staff, renting or renovating research space, paying per diem costs on laboratory animals, or defraying the costs of professional travel (one page maximum; approximately 500 words).
  3. A two page curriculum vitae listing research accomplishments (convention presentations and/or publications). To fit the page it may be necessary to list only selected accomplishments.
  4. A brief letter from your research or academic advisor stating that you are a student in good standing in your graduate program; indicating the date on which the your project was formally approved as a thesis or dissertation project; and commenting on the likelihood, given the nature of the project and the track record of the student, that the project will be completed within 1 year.

Deadline for Submissions

Grant applications must be received at the SABA office by September 9, 2011.

For more information, please contact:

SABA Doctoral Dissertation or SABA Master's Thesis Grant Application
Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis
550 West Centre Avenue, Suite 1
Portage, MI 49024-5364
Phone: (269) 492-9310
Fax: (269) 492-9316
E-mail: mail@abainternational.org