Grants Program
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Grants Program

Attention researchers: The Management Education Research Institute (MERInstitute) will not be accepting grant, faculty fellowship, or doctoral student proposals this cycle. Disregard any announcements or deadlines set for 2011, and please accept our apology if this has inconvenienced you in any way. We will post a new message when a new request for proposals is released. —GMAC

About the Program

The Graduate Management Admission Council seeks research proposal submissions to the Management Education Research Institute Grants Program. The MERInstitute funds high-quality research that will have a major impact on thought leaders of graduate management education and be highly useful to practitioners.

The Grants Program is designed to support faculty research that will influence management education. Grants up to US$100,000 each are funded for one- to three-year periods. Data from the extensive large-scale data sets gathered through GMAC surveys of prospective graduate management students, current students, alumni, and employers are also available for licensing. Read  the Call for Proposals for research topics of interest to the MERInstitute.

Deadlines

Typical proposal deadlines for this program are in October, but we are not accepting proposals this cycle. The following details are listed for your reference only.

How to Apply

Submit an electronic copy of your proposal and related materials to research@gmac.com. Contact Rachel Edgington at +1-703-668-9830 with any questions regarding the application or the submission process.

Proposals should include title sheets with the following information:

  • Title of the Research Proposal
  • Investigator Name, Title, and Institution
  • Address, including City, State, Zip/Postal Code, and Country
  • Telephone and Email Address

If applicable, also include complete contact information for the university's grant office.

Proposals should be no more than 2,000 words and should include the following information:

  • Abstract
  • Study rationale, including a succinct literature review 
  • Methods and procedures for conducting study
  • Study outcomes, timelines, and budget (If applicable, indicate any matching funds committed from other funding sources.)

The following materials must be submitted separate from the application:

  • Current curriculum vitae or resume
  • Confirmation from department head that researcher can use the amount of time they propose to use, plus a statement of how much time the lead investigator will dedicate to the project

Note: Be sure to read the Proposal Do's and Don'ts before submitting your materials!

Only proposals whose objectives include the submission of manuscript(s) to refereed professional journals will be considered. Evaluation criteria will include importance of proposed topic, contribution to current research, clarity of hypothesis or objective, strength of methodology and proposed statistical analysis, likelihood of interest from a professional journal or conference, and relevant experience and research record of applicant.

Selection of grant awardees is based on the following factors:

  • Project fit with GMAC and the MERInstitute mission and research agenda
  • Quality of research design
    • Investigator understanding of the issue
    • Appropriateness of methods
    • Feasibility of schedule and budget
  • Significance and potential of research making an important contribution to management education research
  • Candidate record of achievement and/or leadership potential
  • Outcome potential—ideal topics and conclusions would be actionable/applied and publishable (i.e., books, reports, journal articles)

Citizens of all nations are encouraged to apply.