OVERVIEW


The Foundation for Psychocultural Research (FPR) supports and advances interdisciplinary and integrative research and training on interactions of culture, neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology, with an emphasis on cultural processes as central. Our primary objective is to help articulate and support the creation of transformative paradigms that address issues of fundamental clinical and social concern.

The purpose of the grant initiative is to support collaborations between researchers in the neuro- and social sciences who are working at different levels of analysis, whose topics align with the FPR mission and the Culture, Mind, and Brain network objectives, and whose theories, models, or empirical research would benefit from transdisciplinary or interdisciplinary perspectives.

We are particularly interested in bringing together people who don’t normally have the opportunity or funds to interact to: (i) present and discuss their work and methodologies, including use of cutting-edge tools; (ii) exchange ideas; and (iii) explore areas of mutual interest in the liminal territory that exists between and among disciplines. Ultimately, the projects supported by the grants described below should enrich our explanatory models or create alternate conceptual frameworks as well as build ongoing relationships with colleagues.

DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

Consistent with its mission, FPR uses the following definitions of key terms:

Multidisciplinary research brings different disciplines together to work on the same project. While this form of research is highly collaborative, researchers generally work within their own disciplines.

Interdisciplinary research integrates theories, methods, and tools from different disciplines. Interdisciplinary researchers frequently have expertise in more than one field.

Transdisciplinary research takes multi- and interdisciplinary research one step further Transdisciplinary research blends the theories, methodologies, tools, and perspectives of different disciplines in order to create a new theoretical or methodological approach that can more effectively help frame, understand, and address a common issue or concern.

Integrative research is used in our mission statement as a cover term for multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary research. Integrative research recognizes and articulates relationships among objects of study in different disciplines and build bridges between academia and the real world.

A node (or “actor”) is a center, program, group of researchers, or an individual who has interest in culture, mind, and brain interactions. A network is a set of relationships between and among nodes that offers opportunities to collaborate in research, training, and knowledge-mobilization activities.

Culture, Mind, and Brain (CMB) stands for an integrative approach to understanding human evolution, cognition, emotion, self, agency, ritual, religion, and other concepts that are not confined to any one scientific discipline. Crucially, advances in one discipline can redefine work in others, compelling researchers to bridge disciplines with new models that depict interactions between brain, mind, development, the social world, and cultural diversity.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Eligibility: Grants are awarded to members of the FPR Culture, Mind, and Brain Network.

Submission of Proposals: All proposals must be submitted online via Submittable.