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The 2024 B. F. Skinner Foundation Research Award for Students in Europe

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 15th June, 2024

The B. F. Skinner Foundation sponsors this award for student research. Two awards of $500 each are available. Winners will be given the award at the European Association of Behaviour Analysis (EABA) biannual conference.

PURPOSE OF THE AWARD

  • To support and encourage research efforts in behaviour analysis among students in Europe
  • To promote behaviour analytic science
  • To boost the overall quality of academic research in behaviour analysis
  • To provide recognition for students conducting behaviour analytic research.

CRITERIA

  1. Applicants must be attending an undergraduate or graduate-level program in Europe. Applications will be evaluated without respect to the applicant´s level of education.
  2. Applicants must be members of EABA.
  3. The proposal must be for a student-driven research empirical project, thesis or dissertation approved by their department of study.
  4. Applicants do not have to be in a behaviour-analytic graduate program, but the research must be behaviour-analytic in nature. Consideration will be given to proposals that describe research with a focus on observable and measurable behaviour (or the products thereof) as the dependent variable and the manipulation of well-defined environmental events as independent variables. Both applied and basic research award proposals are encouraged. Applied research proposals should correspond to the guidelines suggested by Baer, Wolf, and Risley (1968, 1987). Basic research proposals should correspond to the criteria set forth in Sidman (1960/1988). Those submitting proposals are encouraged to look to the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis or the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior for examples of behaviour analytic research. Applied research applicants should describe the basic science roots of their work and basic science applicants the translational aspects of their work, as they will be considered in the evaluation. 

IN ORDER TO BE ACCEPTED, THE PACKET MUST CONTAIN:

  1. Letter of Support: A letter of support from a supervising faculty should attest to the fact that the research is expanding or replicating knowledge in the field of behaviour analysis.
  2. Cover Letter (1 page): This should include the student's contact information, where they are attending school, their program of study, and a detailed description of what they intend to do with the award. There are very few limits to what the award can be used for, but preference will be given to direct research-related use, such as equipment, software, paying data collectors, purchasing reinforcers for participants, etc. For equipment or software, applicants should explain how it will be used in the research project. EABA does not fund conference attendance for presentation of the award.
  3. Abstract (500 words or fewer): This should outline the research project.
  4. Introduction (No more than 3 pages): Indicating why this research is important, how it relates to Baer et al. (1968, 1987) or Sidman (1960/1988), some supporting literature, and the research question. 
  5. Methods section (No more than 3 pages): Indicating the design (ABAB, multiple baseline, etc.), the number of proposed participants, from where the participants will be recruited, the general timeline of the research, and an overview of the procedures that will be used. Exacting details are not needed, but the reviewer should be able to determine the feasibility of the study from the information provided.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURES

  1. The materials including the cover letter, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, and References sections must be sent as a Word email attachment to the EABA secretary (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). 
  2. The Abstract, Introduction, and Methods sections must be double-spaced, in a manuscript 12-point font (such as Times New Roman) with margins set at 2.5 cm.
  3. The entire email packet should not exceed 9 pages, including the reference page.
  4. The faculty letter of support should be sent to the EABA secretary (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) from the supporting faculty member’s email address.

CONDITIONS OF AWARD

Recipients of the B.F. Skinner Award agree to write a brief summary of their research and findings, which may be posted on the EABA website. Recipients are also expected to acknowledge the award if results are published.

References

Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1968). Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 91-97. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1987.20-313

Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1987). Some still-current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 20(4), 313-327. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1987.20-313

Sidman, M. (1960/1988). Tactics of scientific research: Evaluating experimental data in psychology. New York, NY: Basic Books. Boston, MA: Authors Cooperative (reprinted).