The Parapsychological Association (PA) received a generous donation from Dr. Gertrude Schmeidler to establish an endowment for scholarships and grants-in-aid. Its purpose is to encourage parapsychological research by students and other researchers. Dr. Schmeidler is one of parapsychology's leading researchers and educators, and with this endowment she continues and broadens her contributions to scientific parapsychology. The awards are administered by the Board of the Parapsychological Association through a committee that evaluates the grant requests. One or more awards are made each year, and the Board's preference is to enable two or more projects that require on the order of US$2,000 to US$5,000. These awards are primarily intended to pay for direct costs of conducting research, but may also be used to help defray other expenses provided the applicant is able to document the relevance of such support to parapsychological research.
Ordinarily upon award, 90% of the funds are provided. After the awardee sends a final report to the committee detailing the results of the project and how the money was spent, the final 10% of the grant is disbursed. Under exceptional circumstances the grant committee may decide to disburse the entire amount before the final report is submitted, but a report is still required. Researchers who have received a PARE grants in prior years must complete that research before being considered for additional funding.
In accordance with the goals of the Parapsychological Association to achieve a scientific understanding of psychic phenomena, including telepathy, clairvoyance, remote viewing, psychokinesis, psychic healing, and precognition, experimental research is a primary target for support, but proposals addressing phenomenological, sociological, historical, and other approaches will be considered. Applications for renewal of grants are also acceptable. The committee will accept brief, formal proposals (less than 3,000 words), in either plain text or an MS Word document, preferably submitted electronically. The proposal should have a cover page with the Title and a brief abstract (50 words or less) of the research, contact information for the applicant, and a short statement of personal qualifications. The latter should include indication of student status or a degree from an accredited university. The body of the proposal should describe the proposed research with a clear statement of the hypothesis or other focus of the work, a short summary of the relevant literature, some information about methodology, a statement of the resources needed along with a budget, an expected time-line for completion, and plans for formal presentation and/or publication of the work. Letters of support from people who will be involved in supervising or helping with the work, or other relevant documentation, will substantially assist the committee in its deliberations.
Judgments will be made based on the quality of the proposal and its prospects for completion as a useful contribution to the field. Applications must be submitted by June 30, and awards will be announced at the PA's Annual meeting.
Please send all materials and inquiries to: Dr. Harvey Irwin, hirwin2@une.edu.au.