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APTA Academy of Education - Large Research Grant Proposals

Materials below may be viewed in one document available here 

(APTA Academy of Education Policy and Procedures Section IV.C., approved 2/22/2021)

Large Research Grant Proposals

Introduction

 

These one-year research grants are available to assist APTA Academy of Education (Academy) members in conducting research that investigates a question of importance to the advancement of education in physical therapy. In addition to research related to physical therapy education (DPT, PTA, Residency), questions related to the education of patients/clients, or licensed PTs/PTAs will also be considered.

Education research is the scientific field of study that examines education and learning processes and the human attributes, interactions, organizations, and institutions that shape educational outcomes. Scholarship in the field seeks to describe, understand, and explain how learning takes place throughout a person’s life and how formal and informal contexts of education affect all forms of learning. Education research embraces the full spectrum of rigorous methods appropriate to the questions being asked and also drives the development of new tools and methods  https://www.aera.net/About-AERA/What-is-Education-Research

Applications are received and reviewed once yearly for a maximum budget of $25,000.  Proposals with budgets less than the maximum $25,000 are very much welcomed. All budgets are rigorously reviewed and require justification for expenses. Grant recipients must account for all expenditures in the final report and return unused funds to the Academy. Funds cannot be used to attend conferences to disseminate results or for indirect costs or overhead.

 

Application Process

Submission Deadline: October 21, 2025

 

Please review all posted grant information prior to beginning the application process.

When writing a grant proposal, include sufficient but concise information that will allow the reviewers to evaluate the proposal. The reviewers might consider your ability to present your proposal clearly and briefly to be an indication of your ability to have a focused approach to your research objective and to complete the project. Use the American Medical Association’s writing and referencing guidelines (see Physical Therapy for examples).

All budgets will be rigorously reviewed and require strong justification for proposed expenditures. Investigators are highly encouraged to build the budget based only the essential funding amounts needed and not target the maximum amount available. Proposals with budgets less than the $25,000 are considered equally to proposals requesting the maximum funding.  The budget should include the costs related to the research grant that will be provided by “in kind” contributions or other sources of funding . Providing letters of support for “in kind” contributions and resources is highly encouraged. An otherwise good proposal with an inadequate budget justification will not be funded. Grant recipients must submit a full accounting of expenditures with the final report.

 

 

Format

The proposal should include all required pages in a single PDF file. Leave a minimum of 1” margins and utilize an 11pt. font. Single spacing is acceptable. The applicant’s last name and the page number should appear in the right-hand margin of the header on each page of the Application (excluding cover sheet) and on any attachments/appendices.

 

Submission

Proposals must be submitted by the deadline to be eligible for review. 

 

Review Procedure

The Academy’s Research Committee reviews and ranks grant applications. Grants are awarded based on merit and scientific contributions to the field of education in physical therapy. See Grant Review Instructions.

 

Reporting Requirements

Please see Terms and Conditions of Research Grants.

The PI of an awarded grant is required to submit a final report to aoe-execdir@aptaeducation.org (Subject Line: Grant Final Report) no later than 60 days following the end of the grant period (December 31). Reprints of manuscripts published from the project should be sent to aoe-execdir@aptaeducation.org. Investigators should acknowledge support from the APTA Academy of Education in any presentations or manuscripts.


 

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