K. Anders Ericsson Dissertation Research Grant
K. Anders Ericsson Dissertation Research Grant supports graduate students’ research on expertise and skill acquisition to understand superior performance, with an emphasis on deliberate practice.
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Funder: American Psychological Foundation
Due Dates: October 30, 2026 (Application deadline, 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Time) | November 1, 2026 (2027 program applications open)
Funding Amounts: One annual grant of $11,000; funding lasts up to 12 months from the check date
Summary: Supports graduate students’ dissertation research on expertise and skill acquisition, especially expert performance and deliberate practice.
Key Information: Applicants must be graduate students completing their dissertations and have an eligible institutional affiliation to receive funding.
Description
The American Psychological Foundation (APF) offers one annual dissertation research grant focused on expertise and skill acquisition, broadly defined. The program gives particular emphasis to applications of the expert-performance approach and the impacts of deliberate practice across diverse domains of skill. Research priorities include proposals using process tracing methods, the expert-performance approach, or a deliberate practice framework to understand superior skill.
The program’s broad scope is reflected in previously supported dissertations on psychotherapy training, culturally responsive practice, and expert-in-the-loop chatbots for patient education. These projects illustrate how research on expertise can address skill development in different professional and applied settings.
