ISBM's 2009 Business Marketing Doctoral Support Award Competition

Penn State's Institute for the Study of Business Markets announces its nineteenth annual Business Marketing Doctoral Support Award Competition. Up to five candidates in accredited doctoral programs will receive dissertation support awards. Dissertations in any area of business-to-business (industrial) marketing or in any of the methodological areas that support advances in business marketing will be considered. See "Research Priorities" under the ISBM Research section of the ISBM website for more information.

In addition to applications from Ph.D. students in marketing, we encourage applications from students in economics, management science, organizational psychology, statistics, anthropology and other disciplines whose developments help advance our understanding of the operation of the business marketplace.

The award consists of:

• Up to $7,500 in financial assistance to be used for travel, conference attendance, data collection, and other expenses of conducting and presenting the results of the research.
• Assistance, as needed, in gaining the cooperation of both ISBM member firms and non-member firms for data, interviews, etc.
• Unlimited use of databases held by or accessible to the ISBM, as needed.

The outstanding submission, if awarded, will receive the ISBM Dissertation Proposal Prize, an additional award of $2,500.

Submission Information

Ph.D. candidates interested in the competition should submit an abstract of their research not to exceed five double-spaced pages, along with a current vita and a vita of their dissertation advisor. The abstract should address the potential importance of their work to business marketing practice, its theoretical contributions, the research methodology, and the amount and kind of support requested. The abstract must be submitted no later than September 15, 2009. An email will be sent confirming receipt of your  abstract. See special note on instructions for Electronic Submissions.

Proposals will be judged by an academic panel, consisting of representatives of the ISBM and qualified faculty members from other universities. Finalists will be notified by October 10, 2009.

Final proposals not to exceed 15 double-spaced pages are due on 15 November. Winners will be announced by February 1, 2010.

Any pages of the abstract and/or proposal (not including reference pages) exceeding the page limits listed above will not be considered in the review process. Request samples of abstracts by sending an email to LNicolini@psu.edu.

Academics and graduate students interested in requesting research funding other than the competition should see proposal submission information. Request further information about the ISBM, its databases and the competition from:

Dr. Gary L. Lilien, Research Director
Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM)
Smeal College of Business
The Pennsylvania State University
484 Business Building
University Park, PA 16802-3603

Telephone: 814-863-2782
Fax: 814-863-0413

Submissions should be sent as email attachments. Acceptable formats for submissions are Word, PDF, and RTF. Electronic submissions should be sent to LNicolini@psu.edu.

Previous Award Winners

Since 1991, the ISBM has funded the research of over 70 B-to-B Ph.D. students through the competition. To see some of the past winners and their topics, see the ISBM Competition Award Winners.