Reed College
Reed College

The Center for Life Beyond Reed

John Leonard Adams Fellowship for Collaborative Research in Psychology

Overview

The John Leonard Adams Fellowship supports summer research in psychology by teams of Reed College faculty and students focusing on mental health related topics. Dr. Lizbeth Anne Adams '79 created this fellowship in honor of her brother, John Leonard Adams. John was a person of extraordinary intelligence, musical talent, and kindness of heart whose life became one of great hardship and was ultimately cut short. Describing her desire to give back to the Reed community, Liz said. "My education prepared me to work productively in academic research, and I am grateful for the opportunity to support students at the early stages of their careers." The award is for $4,000 in the form of a stipend for the student researcher with an additional $1,000 available for project expenses. The expected time commitment is approximately 30 hours/week for 10 weeks, although the specifics will vary by project.

Eligibility

Application is open to faculty/student research teams proposing to work on problems of substantial scientific merit in the field of psychology, with preference to topics related to mental health. Faculty may sponsor only one application each year. Eligible students include those returning to Reed for the academic year following the summer grant period as well as graduating seniors. In most cases, students applying for the John Leonard Adams Fellowship are expected to apply to the Reed College Science Research Fellowship (RCSRF) as well. Those who receive the RCSRF will be taken out of consideration for the John Leonard Adams Fellowship.

Requirements

The application must include the following:

Title of Project, Name of Student, and Faculty Mentor

  1. Abstract: Describe the salient features of the proposal. Abstracts should not exceed 250 words.
  2. Introduction: Provide a background and rationale for your project with citations
  3. Identify your specific aims and hypotheses?
  4. Methods
  5. Describe your anticipated results and conclusions.  Some attention may be given to alternate outcomes.
  6. Explicitly consider the implications of the research for mental health. 
  7. List of References

Note: Do not exceed 5 pages including references and abstract.

Timeline

The completed proposal should be sent in electronic form by the faculty member to Joan Meyer (jmeyer@reed.edu). In addition to the Abstract and Proposal, faculty mentors are asked to submit a Cover Letter that describes their support of the project. Applications are due Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025 by 12 PM noon.