Restricted Funds - Faculty
Department of Psychology Faculty Restricted Funds
Application and Proposal Instructions
Spring 2024
Overview
The Department of Psychology maintains several restricted funds created to support research in several specific topic areas. Faculty with formal appointments in the Department of Psychology may apply for such funds in the Spring term of each year. Faculty are encouraged to use these funds to support trainees currently underrepresented in the field of Psychology with the goal of bringing diversity of people, perspectives, and approaches to our field. Faculty also are encouraged to use these funds to support seed/pilot projects for new ideas/directions/approaches that are not yet at a stage where they would be competitive for larger/external (e.g., federal) funding, with the hopes that such funds will help to facilitate new lines of research and outside funding.
Eligibility
Eligible award recipients have a current, formal affiliation with the Psychology Department as ladder faculty (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor).
Submission Timeline
- Proposals are due by April 30, 2024.
- Decisions will be announced by May 15, 2024.
- Funds will be made available shortly thereafter.
Application Requirements
To indicate your interest in applying for an award, please submit the following information and documentation via this form by April 30, 2024.
- Faculty Name
- Email Address
- Phone Number
- Fund to which you are applying
- Name of Project or Proposal
- Total Amount of Funding Requested
- 1-page description of request, including proposed budget
Budget Guidance
Generally speaking, funds suggesting a “robust postdoc program” have more funding available than those suggesting only a “postdoc program.” Funds that do not note personnel suggestions generally have limited balances and may be more successful for smaller requests.
Funds may be available to support proposals falling into any of the following categories:- Postdoctoral Scholars Program
- 1 postdoc at min. salary for 1 yr = $81K incl. fringe
- Postbaccalaureate Scholars Program
- 1 postbacc at min. funding for 1 yr = $61K incl. fringe
- Summer Intern Program
- Funding for summer interns can be flexible, but please note that visas for international interns require the intern to document a minimum of $2,916/mo. in available funds for the duration of their visit.
- Funding for current Psychology Department PhD student expenses that cannot be covered by faculty, GGSAS funding, or departmental grad student restricted funds
- Professional development opportunities for trainees
- Brown bag/RTG/area lunches (after Grad Workshop funding is used)
- Other suggestions are welcome
- Requests for equipment and/or computers must be vetted and approved by the review committee as an exception to standard practice.
- Equipment and computers will be considered property of Harvard.
- Computers must be returned prior to the assigned user’s departure from the department.
Available Funds
Requests for funding must make clear how the request relates to the fund terms as outlined below. Suggested research areas are not meant to exclude other areas from applying but are intended to be a guide in thinking about which funds may be most relevant to your area. Faculty from all RTGs can apply for support from any fund provided the request aligns with the fund terms (i.e., the “Suggested Research Areas” listed below are offered only as general guidance based on the terms of the fund, and “Suggested Uses” are based on the size of available funds).
Allport Fund The Gordon W. Allport Memorial Fund is "for purposes which will appropriately memorialize Professor Allport's interests in the dignity and worth of the individual, the uniqueness of the development and personality of each individual, the importance of creative development in the ethical relations of man to man, in religion, social ethics, and in social problems where all of these come to a focus, as exemplified in his own work in problems of prejudice and race relations. ... Lectures, scholarships, fellowships, research projects, and colloquia." Suggested Research Area(s): Social Suggested Uses: Community and DIB activities
Biddle Fund
The gift of friends and family of Katharine Montgomery Biddle, Class of 1993, ... "to support areas including teaching and research, curricular development and support, student research projects, and programs related to mental health" ... "areas ranging from behavioral neuroscience to research on the etiology, development, and treatment of psychopathology."
Suggested Research Area(s): Clinical
Suggested Uses: Summer intern support
Ditmars Bequest Fund
Barbara R. Ditmars made this bequest to the Department of Psychology in memory of Elmer L. Ditmars and Dora Davidson Ditmars “to foster a better understanding of the significance of interparental relationships and parent-child relationships with an emphasis on the early childhood years.”
Suggested Research Area(s): Development, Social
Suggested Uses: Postdoc, postbaccalaureate, and/or summer intern support
Ditmars Gift Fund
The gift of Barbara R. Ditmars to establish a fund in the Department of Psychology "to promote understanding of interpersonal dynamics within families--at any stage of life."
Suggested Research Area(s): Development
Suggested Uses: Postbaccalaureate and/or summer intern support
Hodgson Fund
The Hodgson Fund was established with contributions in memory of Richard Hodgson, M.A., LL.D. (Melbourne), A.B., A.M. (Cambridge) to “encourage the investigation and study of mental or physical phenomena the origin or expression of which appears to be independent of the ordinary sensory channels.” Fund terms now allow for studies related to artificial intelligence.
Suggested Research Area(s): CBB
Suggested Uses: Postdoc, postbaccalaureate, and/or summer intern support
Knox Fund
The bequest of John B. Knox, A.M. 1935 was given to the Department of Psychology for graduate student "research in Social and/or Behavioral Science."
Suggested Research Area(s): Social
Suggested Uses: Graduate Student Research
McMaster Fund
The residuary bequest of Maria E. McMaster to the Department of Psychical Research in Harvard College to establish a permanent fund.
Suggested Research Area(s): Any (Undergrad)
Suggested Uses: UG Student Grants
Murray Fund
The Murray Fund is available to support research in the field of personality (broadly defined).
Suggested Research Area(s): Social
Suggested Uses: Postdoc, postbaccalaureate, and/or summer intern support
PsychoPhysics Fund
The PsychoPhysics fund was established by the William James Lecturer for 1966-1967, ... "to establish the Psychophysics Fund in the Department of Psychology ... for the unrestricted purposes of the laboratory of Psychophysics."
Suggested Research Area(s): CBB
Suggested Uses: Pilot fMRI scanning
Roback Fund
The gift of Mrs. Julian Lazrus to establish a memorial fund in memory of her father "to support psychology graduate colloquium or other means of disseminating knowledge among the psychologists at Harvard, preferably by meeting and lectures."
Suggested Research Area(s): Any
Suggested Uses: Area lunches and workshops for graduate students
***[Sackler Fund]***Currently not being used, pending information from University Hall on renaming/reallocation***
The gift of Dr. Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation is "to assist researchers conducting psychobiological studies of direct relevance to human clinical problems." Must be administered by committee of the Chair of the Psychology Department and an HMS faculty member to be named by the Dean of the School of Medicine. The committee selects recipients. Candidates for and holders of an MD or PhD in Psychology or Medicine are eligible. Recipients must be awarded a certificate naming them a "Sackler Scholar in Psychobiology." Should support at least 2 scholars per year. Must be identified as "The Sackler Scholars Programme in Psychobiology." Publication of funded research must reference "The Sackler Scholars Programme in Psychobiology."
Suggested Research Area(s): Clinical
Suggested Uses: Robust postdoc or postbaccalaureate programs
Stimson Fund
In memory of Elsie Hopestill Stimson, the Stimson fund is "to be used for the purpose of psychical research and the study of the relations between physics and psychics."
Suggested Research Area(s): Any
Suggested Uses: Postdoc support, postbaccalaureate support, and pilot scanning
Talley Fund
The bequest of William A. Talley, Ed.M. 1956, was made to the Department of Psychology of the School of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, to be used “to further studies related to child abuse of pre-school age children.”
Suggested Research Area(s): Dev, Clinical
Suggested Uses: Robust postdoc or postbaccalaureate program
Acknowledgment and Reporting Requirements
Research and publications based on funded proposals should acknowledge financial support from the specific fund that provided the funds. This information will be provided in the award letter.
As a condition of receiving an award, award recipients will be required to provide a brief (<2 page) summary of any funded research and the results of that research, which may be made available to the donor who provided the funds.
Assurance of Compliance
Award recipients are expected to comply with all University, FAS, and Department of Psychology policies governing the conduct of research including, but not limited to the use of animals, human subjects, hazardous materials, and export controls. All applicants are subject to audit.