Malyon Smith Scholarship Research Award

The Malyon-Smith Scholarship is named for two founding past-presidents of the Division, the late Alan Malyon and the late Adrienne Smith. It is a fund that annually awards up to $1,000 to selected graduate students in psychology to advance research in the psychology of sexual orientation and gender identity. The award represents one of the Division's major efforts to mentor and support science in LGBT psychology by encouraging the work of young researchers. Faculty members are strongly encouraged to inform students of this award so that we can continue to insure the future of LGBT research in psychology.

Complete applications must be submitted on or before Feb. 1, including the letter for the applicant's faculty supervisor. Late submissions will not be accepted for any reason, including technology related difficulties. Applicants will receive an email confirmation that their materials have been received within one week of receipt. If you do not receive confirmation, please feel free to contact the Scholarship Committee Chair.

Applicants must submit the cover sheet, CV, and project description electronically (preferably in an electronic zipped folder, named as the applicant's last name). These materials should be attached to a single email message to the following address: Malyon[dot]Smith[dot]Award[at]gmail[dot]com (replace [at] with a @ and [dot] with a period). In the email subject heading please type "Malyon-Smith Application (Your Name)" and type in your full name where indicated. For example, if your name were Jane Doe, your subject heading should be Malyon-Smith Application (Jane Doe). Materials should be prepared in Microsoft Word format (preferably "doc" rather than "docx"). To facilitate record keeping, please use the following convention in naming your electronic documents: Document Type (Your Name). For example, if your name were Jane Doe, then your document names would be Cover Sheet (Jane Doe), CV (Jane Doe), and Project Description (Jane Doe).

The applicant's faculty supervisor should attach her or his letter to an email message sent to the following address: Malyon[dot]Smith[dot]Award[at]gmail[dot]com (replace [at] with a @ and [dot] with a period). The email subject heading should be "Malyon-Smith Letter (Applicant Name)" with the student applicant's full name where indicated. For example, if the student applicant's name were Jane Doe, the subject heading should be Malyon-Smith Letter (Jane Doe).

Applications failing to meet the guidelines listed on this page (including late or incomplete applications) will not be reviewed. If you have any questions about the guidelines, do not hesitate to contact the Scholarship Committee Chair.

Applicants must be currently enrolled full-time in a Department of Psychology at the graduate level. Applications from students in allied disciplines, such as social work and sociology, cannot be considered at this time.

Guidelines for Applicants

A complete application consists of electronic versions of the following materials:

• One completed cover sheet (DOC, 33KB)

• One copy of the applicant's curriculum vitae (CV)

• One copy of the project description (please omit identifying information)

• One letter from the applicant's faculty supervisor addressing the quality and feasibility of the project, and qualifications of the applicant

The project description must be written in APA style (i.e., in accordance with the current Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association). The project description may not exceed 11 pages, including references, and must be double-spaced, have 1-inch margins, and be submitted in 12-point, Times New Roman font. The review of the project description is anonymous, so information identifying the applicant and institution should not appear anywhere in the project description.

The project description should include (a) the background and rationale for the project, including a succinct summary of past empirical findings that informed the proposed study; (b) a clear statement of the research questions or hypotheses; (c) the methodology, including description of and rationale for the participants, measures, procedures, and data analysis; (d) anticipated or achieved findings; (e) potential implications of findings for the field; (f) timeline listing when each phase of the study would likely be completed (if it has not yet been completed); and (g) statement supporting the feasibility of the project.

The participant section should address the ethnic and cultural diversity of the (actual or anticipated) sample, where appropriate, and, where relevant, the procedure section should describe how ethnic, cultural, and other diversity issues are addressed in the project. Applicants are encouraged to consider the proposal evaluation criteria (see below) when writing their project description.

Evaluation of proposals and selection of award recipients

The project description for each proposal will be evaluated by two or more reviewers using the following criteria: (a) relevance to the objectives of the award; (b) completeness, logic, and relevance of the literature review to the development of the research question(s); (c) clarity of the description of the research question(s); (d) appropriateness of the methodology to answering the research question(s) (e.g., sampling methods, sample size, established validity of instruments, and data analysis techniques); (e) overall originality and innovation of the proposed study; (f) quality and completeness of the interpretation of the (actual or potential) results; and (g) feasibility, including likelihood of timely completion of project and dissemination of results.

Selection of award recipients will be mostly based on reviewers' evaluations of project descriptions. However, supplemental materials (i.e., CV, letter) will also be considered in the selection process.

Notification and Conditions of Acceptance

The Division 44 Scholarship Committee Chair will notify the award recipients. The names of the award recipients will be announced at the APA Convention in August, in the Division 44 newsletter, and on the Division 44 webpage and listserv. Award recipients must submit a 1500-word abstract of the project for publication in the Division 44 Newsletter. Award recipients must acknowledge the Malyon-Smith funding in all publications and presentations resulting from the project. Award recipients are also encouraged to submit proposals to present the project's findings at the Annual APA Convention. Disbursement of the award is contingent on evidence of IRB approval at the recipient's institution (and any other institution involved in the study that requires review by its own IRB).

2016: Nicholas S. Perry, MS

2014: Stephanie Anderson

2013:  Alexander T. Vasilovsky

2012:  Ethan Mereish, MA

2011:  Jordan Simonson, MA, Seattle Pacific University

2010:  Mike Parent – University of Florida
Project Title: Stereotypes about Lesbians, Gay Men, and Bisexual Women and Men

2009:  Anna Dendy - Pennsylvania State University
Proposal: Journals Toward Competence With Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients: A Qualitative Study with Heterosexual Psychologists and Psychologists-in-Training

2008:  Mark L. Hatzenbuehler - Yale University
Proposal: Mechanisms Linking Stigma to Internalizing Psychopathology: A Prospective, Community-Based Study of Sexual Minority Youth

2007:  Keren Lehavot

2006:  John E. Pachankis

2005:  Francisco Javier Sanchez, Tisha Wiley, Salma Ackbar, Julie Duhigg

2004:  Mary Jane Phillips and Jonathan R. Flojo

2003:  Marcie Herbert

2002:  Nicole Noffsinger-Frazier, Joseph A. Turner

2001:  Kristi Ketz

2000:  Mark Bidnell; Trevor Hart; Debbie Robinson; Jamie McMinn

1999:  Jod Taywaditep; Dawn Szymanski, and Jonathan Mohr

1998:  Roxanne Uradomo, Lynne Harkless, Dawn Szymanski

1997:  Craig Waldo, Peter Newman

1996:  Merris Hollingsworth, Meredith Tomlinson

1995:  Ronald Fredrick

1994:  Karen Jordan