2009 Dissertation Fellowship Awards

The National Social Norms Institute is pleased to announce the creation of three Dissertation Fellowships to be awarded in 2009. This program seeks to encourage a new generation of scholars from a wide range of disciplines and professional fields to undertake research relevant to the field of social norms. These $20,000 fellowships will support individuals whose dissertations show potential for bringing fresh and constructive perspectives to the theory and practice of the social norms approach.

Funding Priorities

Although the dissertation topics must concern the social norms approach, graduate study may be in any academic discipline or professional field. Candidates should be interested in pursuing further research or practice in the social norms approach once the doctorate is attained.

Eligibility

Applicants need not be citizens of the United States; however, they must be candidates for the doctoral degree at a graduate school within the United States. These fellowships are not intended to finance data collection or the completion of doctoral coursework, but rather to support the final analysis of the research topic and the writing of the dissertation. For this reason, all applicants must document that they will have completed all pre-dissertation requirements by June 1, 2009 and must provide a clear and specific plan for completing the dissertation within a one or two year time frame.

Restrictions

Fellows' stipends are to support completion of their dissertations and are to be expended within one or two years and in accordance with the work plan provided by the candidate in his/ her application. Fellows may not accept employment other than as described in the application, nor may they accept other awards providing duplicate benefits without the written permission of the National Social Norms Institute.

Application Procedure

In addition to the application form, applicants must also submit a list of publications/ presentations (completed and accepted), a dissertation abstract, a personal statement, a narrative discussion of the dissertation, a work plan, two letters of recommendation (one of which should be from the candidate's primary research/ dissertation mentor/ advisor), anda graduate transcript. Completed applications must be postmarked by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Friday, March 13th, 2009. Awards will be announced on May 1, 2009 for fellowships that can begin as early as July 1, 2009. The program is administered by the National Social Norms Institute and funded by the Anheuser Busch companies and its charitable foundation.

To Apply

2009 Dissertation Fellowship Application and Instructions
Letters of Recommendation form
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - please read prior to completing application

The National Social Norms Institute Fellowship office can be reached at 434.924.1512, or via email.