Awards and events
Founders' Award
Through the annual Founders’ Awards, we honor the contributions of Carl W. Backman, Paul F. Secord, and Gerald (Jerry) P. Ginsburg to the Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Ph.D. Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. In 1955, Carl W. Backman (Ph.D., Indiana University, 1954) and Paul F. Secord (Ph.D., Stanford University, 1950) arrived at the University and joined the then “Department of Psychology, Sociology & Anthropology.” Carl, a sociologist, and Paul, a psychologist, collaborated on many scientific articles and textbooks. In 1962, the first social psychology students were admitted. With the 1963 arrival of Gerald P. “Jerry” Ginsburg construction of the Program began. It was modeled after the well-known interdisciplinary social psychology program at the University of Michigan, where Jerry had received his Ph.D. The Program was explicitly interdisciplinary from its inception and has continued in this proud tradition to the present day. When in the spring of 1967 a vote by the Board of Regents officially created the Program, there were already four students ready to graduate. Over the following decades, much of the work on the ground was carried out by Jerry Ginsburg who served as the Program’s Director for many years, retiring in 1998; he passed away in 2018. Paul Secord left the University in 1971 and, following a long career at the University of Huston, died in 2017. Carl Backman served in a variety of capacities at the University, including as Social Psychology Ph.D. program faculty, Sociology Department Chair, and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He retired in 1996 and passed away in 2008.
There are two separate awards.
- The Founders’ Best Paper Award seeks to recognize the best research paper by a student in the Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Ph.D. program that was submitted for publication or published during the 12 months prior to the submission deadline. The winner will receive a prize of $750. In addition, the Founders’ Award committee has the option of giving a $250 award for the runner-up.
- The Founders’ Best Research Proposal Award seeks to support student research by funding the best research proposal submitted by a student in the Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Ph.D. Program. The proposed project must be conducted during the student’s time at the University. The winner will receive up to $750 based on their need. In addition, the Founders’ Award committee has the option of giving a $250 award for the runner-up.
All students in the program are eligible unless the student is on academic probation or they were a previous winner of the research award and have not finished that project. Students may choose to apply for one or both awards; however, in any given year a student may receive only one of the two awards. For both awards, submissions that are single-authored, or co-authored by a team of students, are eligible. In case of a win of a co-authored paper, the award monies will be split between the team members. For both awards, submissions that are co-authored by a student and faculty are eligible if (a) a student is first author, and (b) the student first author’s contribution to the project exceeds 50%. Faculty co-authors will be asked to provide a formal statement concerning the extent of their contribution to the project. Whereas students can submit to both the Best Paper Award and the Best Research Proposal Award, each student can only make one first- or single-authored submission to each award.
The director of the Interdisciplinary Social Psychology PhD Program will send out specific submission instructions and the due date. The Founders’ Awards committee is comprised of three or four members of the Social Psychology Faculty, and one student representative. The review process will be blind and is based on criteria including but not limited to the degree to which the topic is social-psychological in nature and original, writing is clear, the theory is chosen and applied appropriately, and papers adhere to appropriate formatting guidelines (e.g., APA style, ASA style, or similar style). Winners will be announced in May.
2025
Best Paper ($750):
"How discriminatory policing affects the mental health of Black Americans" by Alaina Martine (advisor: Marta Elliott)
Runner up ($250):
“I didn’t know Hitler personally, but...: A qualitative interview study investigating lay beliefs regarding extremist groups” by Katie Cunius and Teyah Giannetta (advisor: Monica Miller)
Best Research Proposal ($750):
"Are judgements of guilt related to evidence type?" by Natalie Barretto (advisor: Yueran Yang)
Runner up ($250):
N/A
2024
Best Paper ($750):
"From Embezzlement to Antitrust: White Collar Crime Preferences of the Dark Triad" by Sampada Karandikar (advisor Dan Jones)
Runner up ($250):
N/A
Best Research Proposal ($750):
"Vanished in Plain Sight: Understanding Change Blindness and its Impact on Eyewitness Memory" by Demi Hart. (Advisor Debbie Davis)
Runner up ($250):
N/A
Social Psychology events
Join us for brown bags, dissertation defense and more events in and around campus. We hold brown bags throughout each semester, in which students and faculty from the program present informally in front of their peers, often in preparation for conferences or to elicit ideas on how to improve their research.