Scope of Research
The Fund conceives of psychoanalytic research along the broadest lines, including: scholarly and empirical investigative contributions that can advance knowledge of psychoanalytic theory, practice, and links between psychoanalysis and neighboring disciplines such as developmental psychology or neuroscience. The scope of this research includes (but is not limited to):
- Systematic research into psychoanalytic treatment processes and outcomes (including the development of reliable and valid measures of appropriate variables related to process and outcome)
- Developmental studies including both experimental and naturalistic investigations of infant and child development or of adult development;
- Psychophysiological and other experimental studies, other relevant social science studies, intellectual history, philosophical studies, and scholarly applications of psychoanalysis in fields such as history and literature.
The Fund also invites applications from multiple methodological points of view. While the Fund for Psychoanalytic Research is especially supportive of work directly relating to what is distinctive about psychoanalysis, it is understood that research relating to psychoanalytic or psychodynamic psychotherapy may also advance the understanding of psychoanalysis. This link should be made explicit in the research proposal as part of the discussion of the specific aims and significance of the proposed study.
