About the Award
     SPSP seeks personality and social psychologists from around the world to participate in its activities, striving to reflect the full range of human experiences and global diversity. The goal of this award is to serve as an incubator for testing creative ideas that would help build connections and communication across the world.

     Specifically, we invite creative proposals for ideas on how to increase internationalization within SPSP, with specific goals to promote communication, exchanges, and partnerships with scholars from countries currently underrepresented in SPSP and in mainstream personality and social psychology. Award selection criteria will focus on enhancing international diversity and global representation of the Society and more broadly of the field, as well as the proposal’s potential to build lasting exchanges and partnerships with scholars from underrepresented world regions. We encourage proposals that break boundaries and offer out-of-the-box solutions to foster SPSP’s mission to increase its global presence and reflect social and personality psychologists worldwide.

     Awardees will receive up to $1,500 USD to support the proposed activities (e.g., technology, marketing, membership fees for key collaborators from Low and Middle Income countries, if needed). For proposals that involve an in-person event (whether at the annual SPSP convention or self-organized in other locations), an additional $1,000 will be provided to cover the travel expenses of one or more primary organizers. One event organizer will additionally receive a complimentary SPSP membership.

     Recipients of this award will work with members of the SPSP International Committee to ensure the project’s feasibility and maximize the impact of proposed activities. At the end of the grant year, the individual or team awarded is expected to prepare a summary of the activity and any information that would be helpful to those planning similar events in the future.

     The types of activities this award would fund are flexible and they can be diverse and creative as long as they meet the award’s objectives. These activities can take place as part of the SPSP Annual Convention or fall outside of the scope of the convention.
 

 Eligibility
     Any SPSP member (or non-member) is eligible to apply for the International Bridge-Building Award. (A one-year membership will be granted for one organizer per award.) Priority will be given to applications that are spearheaded by and focus on scholars from underrepresented areas including most countries in Asia; the Pacific Islands; Oceania; Southern and Eastern Europe; Africa and the Middle East; and Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Our emphasis will be on those who are either based in those contexts or who can provide evidence of being in a good position to build bridges to them.

How to Apply
     Before the May 1, 2025 deadline, applicants will provide their current CV and a 1000-word proposal outlining the program/event (including a brief budget plan for the use of the $1500 award budget with timeline & activity description; same for the additional $1000 travel budget if applicable), describing how it would meet the goals described above, i.e. contribute to the internationalization of SPSP, and promoting communication, exchanges, and partnerships with scholars from countries currently underrepresented in SPSP and in mainstream personality and social psychology.   
 

Selection Process 

• Members of the SPSP International Committee will review the applications.
• The main selection criteria will be the proposed program’s ability to increase international communication, collaboration, and partnership with scholars from underrepresented countries.

Submissions deadline May 1, 2025.

Questions? Contact awards@spsp.org 

In 2017, inspired by discussion during the Increasing Diversity and Inclusiveness symposium at the 2017 Convention, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology launched the Community Building Grant Program.
SPSP members can apply to use these funds in their efforts to develop community and professional development among members of groups currently underrepresented in the field (including gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and race, disability, and other underrepresented statuses).

Description
SPSP seeks to provide small grants to support personality and social psychologists at all levels. This financial support is intended to assist SPSP members from underrepresented groups in their efforts to develop and host meetings to build community and develop professional skills. Examples could include dinner with an invited speaker, sharing and critiquing job materials, workshopping papers, skills building workshops, building new networks, and other community building activities.

Community Building support is not to be used for individuals to attend the SPSP Convention, preconferences, speaker honorariums, or awards.

Grants may be awarded for an amount up to $2,000. Larger or more formal meetings/conferences should apply for the small conference grant.

Eligibility
To apply for the Community Building Grant, applicants must be members of SPSP with current membership in good standing at time of application.

Evaluation
Your application will be evaluated based on its unique merit and capacity to promote and grow one of our underrepresented communities (including but not limited to: gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and race, disability).

Preference will be given to application that 1) build community (expanding participants’ professional networks) and professional development skills. 2) include activities that develop or build new communities within SPSP, and 3) serve undergraduate students, graduate students, and/or junior scholars. Priority will also be given to applications that are not continuations of formerly funded Community Catalyst Grants though past grantees may still apply.

Rider on Use of Funds
Funds will be made available in one of two ways:
1)     Directly payable to another hosting/sponsoring entity OR the recipient’s university. If this method is chosen, a W9 from the payee will be required. Under this arrangement, SPSP is a sponsor and will not be legally or financially responsible for the conference and no contract should be signed under the auspice of SPSP, Inc.

2)     Funds hosted at SPSP. If this method is chosen, SPSP will be the host of the meeting and will assume contractual responsibility, including financial, legal and tax responsibility. Organizers will maintain control of the program content and will work with SPSP staff on budgets/contracts.
In either payment scenario, if the conference does not occur within 12 months of award, the funds must be returned to SPSP.

How to Apply
Applications are accepted annually: the deadline has been extended to May 1, 2025.

The Nalini Ambady Award for Mentoring Excellence is a teaching and mentoring award that honors a personality or social psychologist who has demonstrated a career-long commitment to fostering the professional and intellectual development of students and early career researchers. This award is intended to recognize exceptional and selfless efforts to shape our field through mentoring activities that promote research integrity, impact, and productivity, and also a record of serving as an accessible and supportive advisor. The award is named in memory of Nalini Ambady, who was widely-known for her dedicated mentoring of undergraduates, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty.
 

Recipients of this award receive a plaque, with acknowledgement at the annual Awards Ceremony held at the SPSP Annual Convention, as well as a complimentary convention registration.


Eligibility
 

• Recipients should have made significant contributions through a career-long commitment to fostering the professional and intellectual development of students and early career researchers.
• Individuals may self-nominate or be nominated by others.

Application Requirements
 

• A summary or bullet-ed list that describes the nominee’s mentoring objectives, process, and influence on the field, including a list of previous mentees if desired.
• Letters of support from up to three graduate student mentees. 
• CV or Resume

Rubric for Review Panelist

Students successfully supported: a large number of students that have been mentored by this individual have gone on to achieve professional success (inside or outside of academia)  

Innovativeness of mentorship practices: investment of time and effort into developing and/or implementing innovative mentorship practices in order to support their students

Commitment to diversity: Successful mentorship of students with backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in academia

The deadline for submission is April 21, 2025. More information on our website.

Questions should be directed to awards@spsp.org.

The Heritage Dissertation Research Awards program is a competition for dissertation research funding. The purpose of these awards is to assist doctoral students in personality and social psychology with research costs associated with their doctoral dissertations. 

The Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology intends to award 6 grants of $2,000 each. At least two grants will be in personality psychology and at least two grants will be in social psychology. The intent of the Foundation is to increase the number of awards in the future as additional funds become available.



   Eligibility
   1.  Applicants must be graduate students in personality and/or social psychology in good standing with their university. Applicants must be enrolled full-time (or working on their dissertation research for an equivalent of full-time enrollment regardless of actual registration status).

   2.  Applicants must be student members of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology at the time they apply for the award.

   3.  Applicants must have had their dissertation proposals approved by their dissertation committees prior to application.

   4.  Each department may endorse no more than two (2) students per year for the Heritage Dissertation Research Award. If more than two students from a department wish to apply for these funds, the department should perform an initial screening and choose only two applications for submission.

   5.  Applicants must not have previously received a Heritage Dissertation Research Award.  

   6.  The dissertation research may be in any area of social or personality psychology.


 

 How to Apply

• Abstract should be in the tradition of one of the Heritage Awardees, defined very broadly, your abstract should briefly indicate the name of the Heritage nominee that your work follows. 2 page maximum. SPSP Heritage Wall
• Curriculum vitae including scientific publications, presentations, research and teaching experience.
• Paragraph  describing how the funds will be used to support their research.      Funds can be used for research-related expenses such as participant fees, equipment, research supplies, or specialized programming. Funds may NOT be used to buy a computer, overhead, administrative support, or conference  travel. 
• A letter of recommendation from the applicant’s academic advisor is      required to complete the application process. Please note that this letter      has a maximum length of (1) page, single-spaced. Please communicate to the faculty member who will write your recommendation letter the importance of adhering to this maximum page limit. In addition, please do not submit more than one letter of recommendation; only one will be forwarded for review. 
• The letter writer will submit his/her letter on-line and The letter must also verify the following information:

                1. the applicant is in good standing in his or her program.

                2. the proposal has been approved by the applicant’s committee (or the equivalent designation for   the Ph.D. program).

                3. the date the student is expected to complete the dissertation.

               4. a statement indicating that the funds are needed to complete the research.


 Advisor Recommendation
A letter of recommendation from the applicant’s academic advisor is required to complete the application process. Please note that this letter has a maximum length of (1) page, single-spaced. Please communicate to the faculty member who will write your recommendation letter the importance of adhering to this maximum page limit. In addition, please do not submit more than one letter of recommendation; only one will be forwarded for review. The letter writer will submit his/her letter on-line.

Applications (including letters of recommendation) should  be received no later than April 21, 2025.

   More information is available on our website. Contact awards@spsp.org with any questions.