Division 15 (Educational Psychology) of the American Psychological Association offers the Paul R. Pintrich Outstanding Dissertation Award to recognize excellence in doctoral dissertation research and two Dissertation Research Awards to provide monetary support to students who are currently preparing to conduct dissertation research. To be eligible for these awards, applicants must be current members or student affiliates of Division 15. (For information on becoming a member of Division 15, click here.)

The Paul R. Pintrich Outstanding Dissertation Award recognizes excellence in doctoral dissertation research that has been completed within the past two years.

Eligibility

The applicant must be a member, affiliate, or student member of Division 15 and must have completed a dissertation in an area of educational psychology research at an accredited college or university within the past two calendar years. This year's applicants must have completed their dissertation between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2009. Applicants who are still graduate students must have had their final dissertation approved by their doctoral committee prior to application. Departments/programs may endorse no more than three students per year for the award.

Award Description

One Paul R. Pintrich Outstanding Dissertation Award will be given each year. The award includes a $500 cash stipend, a plaque of recognition, an invitation to present the body of research at the next year's APA annual meeting, and up to $1000 for the recipient's travel and registration expenses for the APA conference.

Award Timeline

The Dissertation Award Committee will examine all eligible applications. The award decision will be made in March of each year and applicants will be notified of the award decision in May. Due to conference programming deadlines, the award will be granted at the following year's APA Convention (i.e., approximately 18 months later). The 2010 Dissertation Award will be given at the APA Convention in Washington, DC, August 4-7, 2011.

How and When to Apply

To be considered, all application materials must be submitted electronically via email. Please note the file format requirements for each component. A completed application should contain the following four components:

1. An application cover sheet. Please name this file according to the following convention: yourlastname_coversheet.pdf. This document should be submitted as a PDF (.pdf file format) file.

2. An extended abstract that is typed, 2000-word maximum, double-spaced in APA style. With their abstract, applicants may include up to two additional pages for tables and/or figures, and one additional page for a list of references). Please name this file according to the following convention: yourlastname_abstract.doc. This document should be submitted as a Microsoft Word file (.doc file extension).
3. A narrative autobiography (250-word maximum) describing salient research experiences, publications and/or presentations, past collaborative efforts, and career plans. (Do not submit your curriculum vitae.) Please name this file according to the following convention: yourlastname_autobiography.doc. This document should be submitted as a Microsoft Word file (.doc file extension).
4. A letter of nomination (two-page maximum) from the faculty member associated with the completion of the dissertation. The letter must be signed by the faculty member. This letter should be scanned and included in your email. Please name this file according to the following convention: yourlastname_facultynomination.pdf. Microsoft Word (.doc) format is also acceptable.

Electronically submit the above components in one email with four separate e-mail attachments to the committee chair, Ellen Usher, at ellen.usher@uky.edu. Submissions must be received no later than 5 p.m. EST on Thursday, December 31, 2009. Incomplete applications will not be considered for the award.

Evaluation Criteria

All application materials submitted for consideration for the Paul R. Pintrich Outstanding Dissertation Award will be evaluated by the Award Committee. Dissertation abstracts will be judged by the Award Committee on a scale from 1 (poor) to 7 (outstanding) along the following dimensions:

• Significance. The theoretical or practical significance to the field should be evident.
• Quality of Writing. The abstract should be organized and clear.
• Quality of Research. The abstract should reflect high quality research.
• Interpretation. The conclusions drawn are valid and well grounded.

The Award Committee will consider the content and quality of the dissertation abstract and other application materials when making an overall ranking of the award applicants.

The purpose of the dissertation research grant is to provide financial support for promising educational psychology doctoral students who are preparing to collect their dissertation data.

Eligibility

Applicants must be current graduate students who are members or student affiliates of Division 15. Students from institutions large and small and from all domains relevant to the empirical study of educational psychology are encouraged to apply. Applicants must have submitted or defended a dissertation proposal to their committee but must have not yet collected dissertation data. Applicants who plan to conduct secondary data analysis (e.g., from a national database) must not yet have culled their own data from the secondary database.

Award Description

Two grants will be awarded each year. Each grant award includes a $1,000 stipend to be applied toward the student's dissertation research.

Award Timeline

Announcement of the grant award winners will be made at the APA convention in Toronto, Ontario, August 6-9, 2009, during the Division 15 business meeting.

How and When to Apply

A completed application should contain the following three components, each in a separate Microsoft Word file (.doc file format):

1. A title page with full contact information, an abstract of the proposed study, and contact information for your dissertation chair. Please name this file according to the following convention: lastname_contact.doc.
2. A 3-4 page summary that includes the title of your study, statement of the problem, research question, hypotheses, and proposed methodology (double-spaced, maximum 1000 words, prepared for blind review). Please name this file according to the following convention: lastname_summary.doc. We will change the file name when sending out your file to reviewers.
   
3. Your vita. Please name this file according to the following convention: lastname_vita.doc.
   

Electronically submit the above components in one email with three separate e-mail attachments to the committee chair, Ellen Usher at ellen.usher@uky.edu. Include in the body of the email your Division 15 status (e.g., "member since April 2006"). Submissions must be received no later than 5 p.m. EST on Saturday, May 1, 2010. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Students do not need to submit a proposed budget or letters of recommendation.

Evaluation Criteria

Submissions will be evaluated based on the importance of the research question, match with Division 15 goals, and quality of the proposed methodology.

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