Click here to see the full call for proposals

 

Click here to submit a proposal at https://tcrgrant2026.exordo.com

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Click here to view past grant winners

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Transformative Consumer Research (TCR) focuses on matters of well-being. TCR projects leverage social science theories to conduct rigorous research designed to develop insights that can be acted upon by consumers and/or their agents (e.g., family members, professional caregivers, NGOs, policy makers, social enterprises, organizations). The purpose of TCR is to uphold and improve well-being for individuals, subgroups, societies, and/or the natural environment.

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Purpose:

The TCR Small Grants program is designed to:

1. encourage innovative exploratory inquiry that is consistent with TCR’s mission.

2. provide seed funding* or supplemental funding for projects where early empirical confirmation is likely to fuel future research projects or facilitate pursuit of larger grants from other agencies and organizations;

3. support research with the potential to create positive societal impact; and

4. prioritize funding support for researchers within the TCR community working at institutions and in parts of the world where research funding is scarce.

*Funding for most grants will range from $1,000-$3,000, see the full Call for Proposals for examples of the types of expenses that can be funded and the types of expenses that CANNOT be funded. 

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Proposal Details:

Please review the full call for proposals for additional detail.

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We welcome online submission of proposals via an online application form. The application form will ask you a series of questions to ensure that all pertinent information is included for review.

 

An attachment section is available at the end of the application form. Please use it to upload any supporting material such as figures, tables, etc. that you would like reviewers to see along with your answers to the application questions. Do not use it to submit a file that replaces your responses to all the questions in the application form. To facilitate double-blind review, do not include any personally identifiable information such as the name of your institution, mentions of past awards (e.g., best paper award/dissertation award), or identified self-citations of prior work. Proposals that do not complete the required sections of the application form or that include identifying information may be automatically excluded from review and consideration.

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The entire proposal is limited to 3000 words across all questions.

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Please submit your proposal at https://tcrgrant2026.exordo.com

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Deadline: September 15, 2026, 11:59 pm Pacific Time (UTC-7)

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DO NOT send proposals via mail or email. Questions about this CFP can be sent to: Melissa G. Bublitz (TCR Small Grant Coordinator) at: mgbublitz@wisc.edu

 

Criteria for Evaluation: Proposals will be double-blind reviewed by 2-3 members of the TCR research community and scored according to the rubric found in the full Call for Proposals.

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Decisions: Notifications of funding decisions will go out in November, 2026. Should your proposal be accepted, you will be required to comply with the following guidelines:

1. Agree to the funding requirements outlined above (e.g., funding may not be used for salary/researcher compensation or university overhead/indirect costs).

2. Seek approval of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or equivalent ethics board.

3. Complete the appropriate U.S. tax forms, required for BOTH domestic and international researchers. All ACR research payments are reported annually to the United States Internal Revenue Service as ACR non-employee compensation.

4. Acknowledge the funding support from the Transformative Consumer Research (TCR) Committee, the Association for Consumer Research (ACR), and the American Marketing Association (AMA) in any presentations, publications or press communiqués associated with this research project.

5. Provide a brief grant closing report, one year after the financial award is distributed.