GMAC: MERInstitute Grants Program

Sponsor: The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC)

The primary mission of the Graduate Management Admission Council® (GMAC®) Management Education Research Institute (MERInstitute) is to stimulate and support research on issues impacting graduate management education and to inform the management education community with comprehensive and rigorous research from a diverse set of perspectives and a wide variety of academic disciplines. Graduate management education is broadly defined to include the universal aspects of graduate business education, as well as education in the specific functional areas of business.

Through its Fellowships and Grants Programs, the MERInstitute funds data-driven research related to graduate management education around the world—research that defines and evaluates the factors that influence the value and outcomes of graduate management education.

The intent of this sponsorship is to contribute to the shared knowledge base. Universities and colleges constantly strive to achieve their institutional missions in the face of increasing competition and limited resources. Traditionally, most deans and other academic administrators have based program decisions on their professional experiences, observations, and judgments. In the future, however, evidence-based research can play a more central role in decision-making.

The Graduate Management Admission Council® seeks research proposal submissions to our Management Education Research Institute Grants Program. We fund high-quality research that will have major impact on thought leaders of graduate management education and high usefulness to practitioners. Ideal topics and conclusions would be actionable/applied and publishable.

The Grants Program is designed to support applied research that will impact management education. Grants up to US$100,000 each are available for one to three year periods. Data from the extensive large-scale data sets gathered through GMAC® surveys of prospective graduate management students, current students, alumni, and employers are also available for licensing. Read more about the Call for Proposals and available Data Sets.

Selection of grant awardees is based on the following factors:

- Project fit with GMAC® and the MERInstitute mission and research agenda
- Quality of research design
- Investigator understanding of the issue
- Appropriateness of methods
- Feasibility of schedule and budget
- Significance and potential of research making an important contribution to management education research
- Candidate record of achievement and/or leadership potential
- Outcome potential (i.e., books, reports, journal articles)

Amount: Grants up to US$100,000 each are available for one to three year periods.

Deadline:

1 October 2007: Deadline for proposal submission
4 January 2008: Award notification

For further information, please visit: http://www.gmac.com/gmac/ResearchandTrends/AssessmentResearch/MERInstitute_related/MERInstitute_Grants_Home.htm