SRCD Awards

Established in 1977, this award category recognizes SRCD members who have distinguished themselves over a sustained period of time in at least one domain of research and service and are thus ordinarily given to more senior SRCD members.

Any SRCD Member can make a nomination, which should include:

• The nominee's curriculum vitae (a brief account of a person's education, qualifications, and previous experience)
• A nomination letter (pdf format) that explains why the nominee deserves to be considered for a Senior SRCD Distinguished Contributions Award.
• The letter must specify one or more areas of contribution from a list of categories or from another area of contribution described by the nominator. Click here to see the full list of categories.

The SRCD Senior Awards Committee will select the Senior Distinguished Award recipient(s).

Created in 2024 by the International Affairs Committee, this award recognizes distinguished scholarly contributions to advancing the understanding of child development in communities across the Majority World. Eligible nominees are researchers with a graduate degree in their field (at mid-career or senior level) whose research focuses on child development in a community in the Majority World. Researchers living and working in the Majority World will be considered with the highest priority.

Any SRCD Member can make a nomination, which should include:

• The nominee's curriculum vitae (a brief account of a person's education, qualifications, and previous experience).
• A nomination letter (PDF format, 2 pages max) that explains why the nominee deserves to be considered for a Senior SRCD Majority World Scholars Award.
• Detail how the nominee's scholarly contributions (including peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and/or book chapters) advance the understanding of child development in the Majority World, including how the research is grounded in local social, cultural, economic, political, educational, healthcare and other relevant contexts, focuses on issues most pertinent to children in those contexts, and utilizes methods that are most suitable.

The SRCD Senior Awards Committee will select the Senior Distinguished Award recipient(s).

Established in 2022, this award is made to SRCD members who have distinguished themselves as researchers and scholars, as evidenced through research, publications, and scholarly activity. The nominee should be no more than six years beyond the Ph.D. or equivalent degree (i.e., obtained after January 1, 2021).
 

Any SRCD member can make a nomination, which should include:

• a nomination letter (pdf format) explaining the reasons for the nomination,
• the nominee's curriculum vitae (a brief account of a person's education, qualifications, and previous experience)
• copies of the three papers authored by the nominee (pdf format).

The SRCD Early Career Award Committee will select up to five Early Career Research Scholars for these awards. Recipients of this prestigious award will also receive a honorarium of $1,000 (USD). The five award recipients will have strongly distinguished themselves as researchers and scholars, as evidenced through research, publications, and scholarly activities.

Established in 2008, the SRCD Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Awards are given to SRCD members for dissertations that are unusually noteworthy. SRCD is soliciting member nominations for the 2025 Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Awards for dissertations completed during the years 2024-2025 (specifically between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025). These awards also come with a $500 (USD) honorarium. 

Any SRCD member can make a nomination, which should include:

• A 3-page, single-spaced summary of the dissertation
• An electronic link to the full dissertation
• The nominee's curriculum vitae (a brief account of a person's education, qualifications, and previous experience)
• A Nomination Letter
• The letter from the nominator/mentor should explain why the dissertation is outstanding and merits the award. Please bear in mind that most dissertations are meritorious; the nomination letter must make the case as to why the nominated dissertation is unusually noteworthy in terms of the quality of the topic, the relevance to the field of developmental science, and the relevance to SRCD's Strategic Goals. In addition, further qualifications of the nominee should be included, such as publications, placement (if a post-doc or Assistant Professor), and the long-term potential contributions to the field. 

There will be fourth (40) SRCD Early Career Travel Awards available for the SRCD 2027 Biennial Meeting.

Each of the SRCD Early Career Travel Awards consists of $500 (USD) award to offer a benefit for SRCD Members to support their attendance at the SRCD27. 

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be an active SRCD Early Career Members (i.e. received their doctoral degree after January 1, 2021) of SRCD. Having more than one year of membership will be given favorable consideration.
• Once SRCD27 decision notifications are sent to submitters, accepted submissions will be given favorable consideration for travel awards.
• Selected applicants must be presenting as either a first author or a conversation roundtable participant on at least one accepted submission. High review ratings and/or a high number of accepted presenting roles will be given favorable consideration.
• All Awardees must attend the in-person meeting in Atlanta, Georga (USA). They are no options to present virtually.
• All Awardees are required to stay in the SRCD-contracted hotel block. Sharing rooms is permitted, but you must be able to present a receipt of your room stay with all guests listed on the hotel invoice. NO EXCEPTIONS

There will be 200 SRCD Graduate Student Travel Awards available for the SRCD 2027 Biennial Meeting.

The SRCD Graduate Student Travel Awards consisting of $350 (USD) each, are offered as a benefit for SRCD members to support attendance at the SRCD Biennial Meeting. 

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be current Graduate Student members of SRCD.  Having more than one year of membership will be given favorable consideration.
• Applicants must submit to the SRCD27.
• Once SRCD27 decision notifications are sent to submitters, accepted submissions will be given favorable consideration for travel awards.
• Selected applicants must be presenting as either a first author or a conversation roundtable participant on at least one accepted submission. High review ratings and/or a high number of accepted presenting roles will be given favorable consideration.
• Applicants must not have received their doctoral degree by the time of the SRCD 2027 Biennial Meeting.
• All Awardees must attend the in-person meeting in Atlanta, Georga (USA). They are no options to present virtually.
• All Awardees are required to stay in the SRCD-contracted hotel block. Sharing rooms is permitted, but you must be able to present a receipt of your room stay with all guests listed on the hotel invoice. NO EXCEPTIONS

There will be ten (10) SRCD International Travel Awards available for the SRCD 2027 Biennial Meeting. 

The SRCD International Travel Awards, consisting of $1,100 (USD) each, are offered as a benefit for SRCD members to support attendance at the SRCD Biennial Meeting. 

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be current members of SRCD. Having more than one year of membership will be given favorable consideration.
• Once SRCD27 decision notifications are sent to submitters, accepted submissions will be given favorable consideration for travel awards.
• Selected applicants must be presenting as either a first author or a conversation roundtable participant on at least one accepted submission. High review ratings and/or a high number of accepted presenting roles will be given favorable consideration.
• Applicants must be citizens of and reside in any country outside of the U.S. and Canada.  Preference will be given to applicants from la low-income, lower-middle-income, or upper-middle-income economy countries as defined by the World Bank.
• All Awardees must attend the in-person meeting in Atlanta, Georga (USA). They are no options to present virtually.
• All Awardees are required to stay in the SRCD-contracted hotel block. Sharing rooms is permitted, but you must be able to present a receipt of your room stay with all guests listed on the hotel invoice. NO EXCEPTIONS

This award is made possible by a generous endowment from Dr. Edith D. Neimark. There will be four (4) SRCD Neimark Student Travel Awards available for the SRCD 2027 Biennial.

The SRCD Neimark Student Travel Awards, consisting of $500 (USD) each with a one-year membership to SRCD, are offered as a benefit for SRCD members to support attendance at the SRCD Biennial Meeting. 

Eligibility:

• Applicants must be current Undergraduate or Graduate Student members of SRCD.
• Applicants must not have received their doctoral degree by the time of the SRCD 2027 Biennial.
• Preference will be given to applicants who will be attending their first SRCD Biennial Meeting.
• Preference will be given to scholars who submitted to the general program, but acceptance is not a requirement.
• Financial need is a criterion for selection.
• All Awardees must attend the in-person meeting in Atlanta, Georga (USA). They are no options to present virtually.
• All Awardees are required to stay in the SRCD-contracted hotel block. Sharing rooms is permitted, but you must be able to present a receipt of your room stay with all guests listed on the hotel invoice. NO EXCEPTIONS