Discover Funding Opportunities

The Division 18 Lived Experience Fund Research or Program Development Grant supports research or program development by a psychologist who identifies as having lived experience and whose work is in the area of peer support, survivor studies, c/s/x work, disclosure, or research or programs in the general area focused on lived experience. Innovative and creative ideas are welcomed and encouraged. This grant is offered by the American Psychological Foundation in partnership with Division 18 (Psychologists in Public Service) and is open to psychologists with a doctoral degree at any career stage. The program encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds with respect to age, race, color, religion, creed, nationality, ability, sexual orientation, gender, and geography.

The Division 18 Lived Experience Fund Dissertation Research Grant supports a doctoral student in clinical, counseling, or community psychology with lived experience who is doing their dissertation in a topic area related to peer support, survivor research, the c/s/x movement, disclosure of lived experience, or other projects in the general area focused on lived experience. This grant is sponsored by the American Psychological Foundation and Division 18 (Psychologists in Public Service). The program encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds with respect to age, race, color, religion, creed, nationality, ability, sexual orientation, gender, and geography. Applicants must be current doctoral students in the process of completing their dissertations. Applications are evaluated on impact, innovation, and conformance to program goals.

The APF Trauma Psychology Grant offers funding to support innovative work to alleviate trauma. This grant is sponsored by APA Division 56: Division of Trauma Psychology. The program seeks to fund early career psychologists who demonstrate knowledge of trauma and trauma research, as well as competence and capacity to execute proposed work. Applications are evaluated on the quality, viability, and potential impact of the proposed project, as well as originality, innovation, and contribution to the field of trauma. The grant provides support for innovative projects that advance understanding of trauma and develop interventions to help individuals and communities affected by traumatic experiences.

The Dr. Diana Slaughter Kotzin and Mr. Joseph G. Kotzin Fund Grant supports research, practice, or education of an early career psychologist on the topic of child and youth suicide among African Americans. This grant provides funding to advance knowledge, practice, or educational initiatives specifically focused on understanding and preventing suicide among African American children and youth. The program honors the legacy of Mr. Joseph G. Kotzin and Dr. Diana Slaughter Kotzin by supporting critical work in this important area of mental health. Early career psychologists no more than 10 years postdoctoral are eligible to apply. Applications are evaluated based on impact, innovation, originality, contribution to the field, and methodology.

The Steven O. Walfish Grants, supported by the APA Division 42 Next Generation Fund, promote and support the next generation of student and early career practitioner psychologists to expand the knowledge base in the practice of psychology. Applicants are required to submit manuscripts on clinical, practical, or research innovations that address evolving standards, practices, and methods in psychological practice. Topics may include population-based practice issues, procedure or technique-based practice issues, diagnosis-based practice issues, or service delivery models describing a practice innovation. Grant recipients are encouraged to use the grant to attend the APA convention to present their work. The papers of the grant recipients may qualify for publication in the APA Division 42 journal, Practice Innovations. Up to two $2,000 grants are available to graduate students (within 2 years or less of completing the doctoral degree) and/or early career psychologists (within 10 years of earning the doctoral degree). Winner(s) will receive a 1-year free membership to Division 42.

The Bruce and Jane Walsh Grant in Memory of John Holland supports scientific, scholarly, or applied research and/or educational activities investigating how personality, culture, and environment influence work behavior and health (mental and physical). Preference will be given to early career psychologists no more than 10 years postdoctoral, and pilot projects that, if successful, would be strong candidates for support from major federal and foundation funding agencies, and demonstration projects that promise to generalize broadly to similar settings in other geographical areas and/or to other settings. John Holland was a renowned vocational and personality psychologist, and a pioneer in the field of vocational psychology. Holland's Theory of Vocational Choice inspired the creation of the Holland Codes (RIASEC), which refer to the idea that careers and vocational choice can be based upon personality types. In his honor, Bruce and Mrs. Jane Walsh have funded this grant, which has generously supported graduate students and early career psychologists who investigate how personality, culture and environment influence work-related behavior and health.

The David H. and Beverly A. Barlow Grant supports innovative basic and clinical research on anxiety and anxiety-related disorders conducted by graduate students and early career researchers. Dr. David H. Barlow is a pioneer in the field of anxiety and anxiety-related disorders and founder and director emeritus of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University. Dr. and Mrs. Barlow have generously funded this grant to continue supporting innovative and impactful research in the area of anxiety and related disorders. The grant provides funding to support graduate students and early career psychologists conducting clinical research on anxiety and other related disorders, with an emphasis on quality, viability, and potential impact of proposed projects. Applications are evaluated based on originality, innovation, contribution to the field of anxiety, and the applicant's demonstrated competence and capability to execute the proposed work.

The Psychology of Antisemitism Grant supports annual grants to applicants who design, develop, or implement programs or research projects that aim to reduce antisemitism or mitigate its effects. Applicants must propose well-formulated programs or research projects using interventions with a theoretical foundation that they will also evaluate for their effectiveness using state-of-the-science methods. Pilot studies are welcome. The grant is exclusively for psychological researchers using psychological theory. Graduate students and psychologists with a doctoral degree of any career stage are eligible to apply. APF encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds with respect to age, race, color, religion, creed, nationality, ability, sexual orientation, gender, and geography. Grantees must provide IRB approval before funding can be disbursed, though IRB approval is not required at the time of application. The funding period ends 12 months from the check date. Applications are evaluated on quality and feasibility, anticipated impact on reducing antisemitism or mitigating its effects, applicant competency, and criticality of funding.

The Practice Based Evidence Fund grant supports psychologists and trainees who are primarily affiliated with community mental health settings, private practice settings, or other local outpatient settings. One annual grant is available to support efforts to document, evaluate, or implement practices in those settings, meant to provide initial resources to support novel research. Applicants may submit one of two types of project proposals: (1) Projects to evaluate clinical practice, describing the identified innovation and a proposal for how to evaluate its effectiveness, or (2) Projects to implement evidence-based practices in typical practice settings, seeking to evaluate clinical care and implementation of evidence-based practices. Special priority is given to projects with the potential to impact marginalized or under-resourced communities or populations.

The Marian R. Stuart Grant will further the research, practice, or education of an early career psychologist on the connection between mental and physical health, particularly for work that contributes to public health. Examples include but are not limited to research-based programs that teach medical doctors counseling skills; research-based programs on the effect of behavior on health; and research-based programs on psychologists' role in medical settings for the benefit of patients. This grant is designed to support innovative work that bridges mental and physical health, with preference given to psychologists working in medical schools. The award provides funding for projects that demonstrate quality, viability, and potential impact in the field of health psychology and behavioral medicine.

The Springfield Research Fund Grant supports research of contemporary LGBTQIA+ issues in an effort to dispel stereotypes and other negative information that leads to prejudice and discrimination. The 2026 area of preference will be given to research that addresses intersectional stigmas. The program provides three grants of up to $21,000 each for early career psychologists who are no more than 10 years postdoctoral. Applicants can request up to $21,000 only if $1,000 is reserved for publication costs. Applications are evaluated based on impact and innovation, viability and methodology, and plan for dissemination. APF encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds with respect to age, race, color, religion, creed, nationality, ability, sexual orientation, gender, and geography.

The APF Division 49 Group Psychotherapy Grant supports innovative group psychotherapy research applied to small groups in a naturalistic setting. This grant focuses primarily on groups in a therapeutic context, including effectiveness of different approaches to group therapy. Although this will often involve studies of group psychotherapy, it may also include other groups with health implications such as support groups for smoking cessation or weight loss. In addition to the grant funds, the awardee receives a three-year membership to Division 49. Samples of appropriate topics include efficacy of group therapy for specific disorders, impact of member individual differences on effectiveness of group therapy, relative efficacy of different modes of therapy, and the role of group climate in the effectiveness of group therapy. Preference is given to early career psychologists (10 years or fewer postdoctoral) and to proposals which integrate group psychotherapy into the proposed research.

The Joseph B. Gittler Award was established through a bequest from Joseph Gittler, PhD, who wished to recognize psychologists who are making and will continue to make scholarly contributions to the philosophical foundations of psychological knowledge. This award honors psychologists who demonstrate significant contributions to the philosophical foundations of psychology, particularly over the last five to ten years. The award recognizes scholars at all career levels who are advancing philosophical understanding within the field of psychology. Recipients are selected based on their accomplishments in the targeted area and their plans to continue contributing to the philosophy of psychological knowledge over the next five years.

The Division 18 Professional Development or Service Grant supports both professional development and service by Division 18 members, which contribute to the science and practice of public service psychology. This grant is designed to support psychologists and doctoral students in advancing their professional development activities or service projects related to public service psychology. Applicants must be members of APA Division 18 (Psychologists in Public Service) and demonstrate how their proposed work contributes to the field. Award recipients are required to disseminate their work through a Division 18 webinar, convention presentation, or newsletter article.

The John and Polly Sparks Early Career Grant supports early career psychologists conducting research in the area of early intervention and treatment for serious emotional disturbance in children. The John and Polly Sparks Foundation partnered with APF to empower early career psychologists to produce scientifically-based research and programs that could provide models for broad-based applications across the country. This grant program provides funding for innovative research projects that focus on early intervention strategies and treatment approaches for children experiencing serious emotional disturbance. The program aims to advance the field by supporting high-quality research that can serve as models for implementation in various settings nationwide.

These grants support not-for-profit activities to enhance the science and practice of counseling psychology. In particular, they aim to support research on the implementation of innovative counseling programs and models. Division 17 funds two to three proposals in the range of $1,000-3,000 each. The program is sponsored by the American Psychological Foundation in partnership with APA Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology). Applications are evaluated on conformance with stated program goals, magnitude of incremental contribution in specified activity area, quality of proposed work, applicant's demonstrated competence and capability to execute the proposed work, and criticality of funding for execution of work. The program particularly encourages applications from early career psychologists (no more than 10 years postdoctoral) and from diverse backgrounds with respect to age, race, color, religion, creed, nationality, ability, sexual orientation, gender, and geography.

The Division 20 K. Warner Schaie Memorial Fund for Adult Development and Aging Grant provides funds to support new research on adult development and aging that will be conducted by members of APA Division 20 who are graduate students or early career psychologists. The proposed research should be congruent with Dr. K. Warner Schaie's research and methodological approaches to the study of aging and adult development. This grant is sponsored by APA Division 20: Adult Development and Aging and supports innovative research projects that advance understanding of the aging process and adult development across the lifespan. The program aims to encourage new investigators in the field and promote research that builds upon Dr. Schaie's legacy in developmental psychology and gerontology.

The Beth N. Rom-Rymer Travel Scholarship for Native Psychology Students offers $1,000 to Native psychology graduate students to attend the annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. This scholarship is reserved for psychology students who are members of Society of Indian Psychologists (SIP). The program supports Native students pursuing graduate education in psychology by providing travel funding to attend the APA Convention, where students can present research, network with professionals, and engage with the broader psychology community. Preference is given to applicants who are planning to present at the conference, demonstrate financial need, and have not previously attended the conference.