Research Fellowship

think2perform RESEARCH INSTITUTE’s Research Fellowship program funds primary research in moral and purposeful leadership and emotional intelligence conducted by doctoral candidates, post-docs and junior faculty.

Successful proposals will draw a clear link between the research project and think2perform Research Institute’s mission to advance primary research in moral and purposeful leadership and/or emotional intelligence.

Candidates are eligible for grants of $3,000 to $5,000. Funding may be applied to direct costs of research and collaboration, including time, travel, data collection and analytics.

Apply Now: Research Fellowship Application Form.

Recommended Background Information For Proposals:

Prospective applicants are encouraged to review the seminal works of think2perform RESEARCH INSTITUTE (t2pRI) Board Members and Special Advisors, including:

Moral Intelligence 2.0 by Doug Lennick and Fred Kiel
Return on Character by Fred Kiel
The Power of Purpose by Richard Leider

Application Timeline

Proposals are accepted twice each year. Our application cycles are as follows:

Deadline: June 1, 2025 (US Central Time)
Awards announced by August 1, 2025

and

Deadline: January 15, 2026 (US Central Time)
Awards announced by March 1, 2026

Fellowship Eligibility

Applicants must be a doctoral student, post-doc or faculty member in good standing at an accredited institution of higher education.

Application Components:

3-5-page proposal describing the research, including background, significance, relevance to t2pRI’s mission, brief summary of relevant literature, research question, methods, expected real-world applications, and project timeline.
Two-page project bibliography.
Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae (CV) including most relevant past publications, two pages maximum.
Proposed project budget detailing how the funds will be used:
- If multiple sources of funding are anticipated for the project, please include a total project budget and name those other, anticipated sources of funding and what aspects of the project they will fund.
Two references who are able to speak to the quality of the applicant’s research agenda.

Application Submission Process

Applications should be submitted via the Research Fellowship Application Form.

Review Process

Only completed applications will be reviewed. The review process consists of two steps:

The completed application will be reviewed and ranked by the t2pRI Fellowship Review Committee, consisting of members of the t2pRI Board of Directors.
Highly-ranked applicants will be invited to interview with the t2pRI Fellowship Review Committee.

A final decision will be made on the basis of the above two steps.

Evaluation Criteria:

Alignment of project with t2pRI’s mission to advance primary research in moral and purposeful leadership and/or emotional intelligence comprises the first level of project evaluation.

If the project is deemed aligned with t2pRI’s mission, the proposal will be evaluated for demonstrated excellence of applicant and proposed research project, including:

Applicant body of work as outlined in CV.
Project quality, including project’s contribution to the field, brief summary of relevant literature, research question, methodological rigor, expected real-world applications, and project timeline.
Anticipated real-world application of the findings to organizations, including businesses and nonprofits.
Proposed use of funds.
Project feasibility within proposed project timeline.

Award:

Candidates are eligible for grants of $3,000 to $5,000. Funding may be applied to direct costs of research and collaboration, including time, travel, data collection and analytics.
Each Research Fellow will be profiled on t2pRI’s website and receive recognition in t2pRI’s social media.
After completing the research, each Research Fellow will be eligible to submit an article summarizing his/her findings for publication on t2pRI’s website and promoted through t2pRI’s social media channels.

Fellow Expectations and Requirements:

The research project should culminate in:

Executive summary of findings, including recommendations for practical application.
Presentation of research findings tot2pRI’s Board of Directors.
Upon request, a written contribution to t2pRI’s Social Impact Paper Series for publication on the t2pRI website.
Upon request, a profile and summary in t2pRI’s social media.
Upon request, a presentation of findings at a t2pRI conference.

For more information about current and former Research Fellowship recipients and their research, please visit our Research Fellows and Projects page.

Learn more about our Directed Research Fellowship here.

For more information, please contact:

Brian Hammer, Executive Director: bhammer@t2pri.org | +1 612.843.5017