UPDATE (September 29, 2020): Due to the COVID-19 situation negatively impacting on PA funds, all research awards have been suspended until further notice.
The Parapsychological Association (PA) received a generous donation from Dr Gertrude Schmeidler to establish an endowment for scholarships and small research grants. Its purpose is to encourage parapsychological research by students and other researchers. Dr Schmeidler was 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 between US$2,000, up to a maximum of US$5,000. These awards are primarily intended to pay for the 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 within the application.
PARE Application Process
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. Any researchers who have received a PARE grants in prior years must complete that research before being considered for additional funding. Judgments will be made based on the quality of the proposal and its prospects for completion as a useful contribution to the field.
Applications should follow the guidelines below and must be submitted using this template. The deadline for all applications is June 30th.
Please send all materials and inquiries to: Dr. David Vernon at grants@parapsych.org.
Allocation of Funds
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.
End of Grant Reports
All recipients of research awards are required to submit an end of grant report using the ‘PA Research Grant Report’ template, available here. The minimum requirements for a report are as follows:
1. A brief account of the research conducted
2. A summary of the key findings, identifying any advance in knowledge or understanding resulting from the research
3. Details of dissemination – clearly acknowledging the support of the Parapsychological Association
4. Brief financial statement of costs incurred