Up to five grants of $50,000 and six fellowships with $15,000 in seed grant funding were announced by Duke University and the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Center for Behavioral Economics and Healthy Food Choice Research (BECR Center).
Together the grants and fellowship opportunities support the BECR goal to increase understanding of how behavioral economics approaches to healthier food can lead to public policies that support healthier eating by addressing consumer as well as food industry and retail behavior.
2015 Healthy Food Behavior Research Grants: The BECR Center seeks brief proposals for Healthy Food Behavior Research Grants that draw on behavioral economics theory to develop and test strategies for improving food choice behavior using field experiments. Analyses using secondary data that demonstrate behavioral patterns that can be used to develop effective food choice improvement strategies are also encouraged. In particular, policy relevant research projects related to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants that employ behavioral economic strategies in the food retail environment, including farmers markets and institutional settings, are encouraged. BECR will award up to five grants (of up to $50,000) to teams of researchers to develop and implement focused field experiments or use secondary data using behavioral economics theory and strategies to improve food choice. Funding will span an 18-month period.
New Perspectives Fellowships: The BECR Center seeks applicants for the New Perspectives Fellowships, which aims to provide mentorship, training, and a $15,000 seed grant to expand the number of researchers from under-represented populations conducting research on healthy food choice using behavioral economic strategies. Up to six fellowships will be awarded and applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed quarterly (March, June, September, and December). Fellowships will last 18 months and scholars will remain at their own institutions during the fellowship.
View the 2015 Healthy Food Behavior Research Grants Request for Brief Proposals.
View the New Perspectives Fellowship Request for Applications.