Will Mitchell Dissertation Research Grant Program

The Strategy Research Foundation (SRF) of the Strategic Management Society (SMS) announces its 2025 Will Mitchell Dissertation Research Grant Program and calls for grant proposals associated with doctoral students’ dissertations. Proposals should describe original research in strategic management that is required for the award of a research doctoral degree (Ph.D. or equivalent).

Will Mitchell Dissertation Research Grant Program funds are intended to supplement other financial resources available to students and to support elements of their research that enhance the quality, expand the scope, augment the research design, or in some other way enrich their dissertation projects.

2025 Call for Applications

Target Applicant: A full-time student studying strategic management in a research doctoral program at an accredited institution. As the grant is intended to fund the development of dissertation research, ideal applicants are at the dissertation stage with 2-3 years remaining for conclusion of their Ph.D. program at the time of application.

Funding & Key Terms: Grants of up to US$10,000 to support dissertation research expenses such as data collection that are required for completion of the doctoral degree (Ph.D. or equivalent). No institutional overhead or researcher stipends will be covered.

Submission Deadline: October 1, 2025

Grant Period: January 1, 2026 — December 31, 2027

Eligibility

The SRF recognizes that dissertation program structures vary but suggests that applicants will have completed at least half of their home institution’s program requirements, including preliminary or qualifying requirements (such as coursework, comprehensive examinations/research proposal defense) prior to applying. Ideal applicants must be sufficiently advanced in their doctoral programs to have well-defined dissertation plans and early enough in the execution of their dissertation work to benefit from the financial support of dissertation expenses. Previous recipients of SRF WMDRG program funds are not eligible to apply for additional funds. 

All SRF grants aim to support research that has not been undertaken. Thus, completed work is not eligible for funding. 

Funding

The SRF plans to award multiple WMDRG grants of up to $10,000 each during the 2025 funding cycle. Applicants are expected to request only the amount of funding necessary to support their proposed activities. Proposals requesting less than the maximum will not be disadvantaged in the review process.

Financial support will cover direct research and data collection expenses (e.g., purchase of data or subscriptions to databases, surveys and respondent incentives, and interviews of research subjects and related travel) as well as up to US$2,000 related to travel expenses for participation in SRF activities at the 2026 and 2027 SMS Annual Conferences. Research activities with funding limits include: Research Assistance (capped at US$4,000); Transcription Services (capped at US$4,000). Examples of ineligible expenses include but are not limited to compensation for the grant recipient’s time, purchases of software or equipment, copyediting and other expenses associated with the dissertation document, university overhead, tuition and other personal expenses, and expenses for conference travel, except as noted above. Determination of eligible and ineligible expenses rests with the SRF.

When a proposal is accepted for funding, the SRF will prepare a written agreement that details the responsibilities of both the grant recipient and the SRF. Grant funds awarded will be disbursed at the start of the two-year grant period beginning January 1, 2026. Recipients are expected to use the awarded funds within the grant period.

Deliverables & Activities

Recipients of the Will Mitchell Dissertation Grants are expected to provide the following deliverables: periodic update reports, an executive summary of the research findings, a copy of the dissertation, and documentation of the expenses incurred. All grant recipients are expected to participate in the SRF activities at the 2026 and 2027 SMS Annual Conferences. Grant recipients participating in these activities will receive Annual Conference registration fee waivers. 

Submission Guidelines

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Proposals (in English) are to be submitted by the applicant through the online submission system. Failure to include all required sections in the application and all the required subsections for the research proposal, timetable, and budget may render your application ineligible for funding, as only complete submissions will be considered. Submissions must include the following:

  • Dissertation title
  • Applicant name
  • Doctoral institution
  • Dissertation advisor
  • Name of outside committee members, if any (to avoid conflict in review process)
  • Amount requested (in US Dollars)
  • Anticipated doctoral program completion date
  • Three keywords that characterize the proposed research
  • Summary (500 words) of the proposed research project
  • Research proposal of up to ten (10) pages, single-spaced, with the following structure:
    1. Specific research question(s) to be addressed, review of the relevant literature
    2. Expected contributions to strategic management research
    3. Research design, including description of proposed data and analysis techniques
    4. Cited references
  • Expected impact of SRF funding on the quality of the research
  • Timetable/Schedule
    1. A description of tasks related to the dissertation research that have been completed by the time of grant application
    2. A list and timetable for the remaining dissertation tasks for the two-year grant period
  • Detailed and itemized budget in US Dollars, including specific items proposed for SRF funding and sources of support other than SRF. The detailed budget must include, where applicable:
    1. For any data purchases, documentation from the vendor confirming the pricing and coverage details
    2. For research assistants, a description of their specific tasks, estimated hours, hourly rate, and expected level of expertise
    3. For travel, an explanation of its purpose, estimated time window, itemized costs (e.g., airfare, lodging, per diem), and how it supports the proposed research
    4. A rank ordering of budget items from highest to lowest priority, indicating which budget items are most essential to the success of the project.
    5. An explanation of other funding sources that have been secured or applied for, beyond SRF support, to enable completion of the dissertation research.
  • Applicant’s CV
  • A recommendation letter from the applicant’s dissertation advisor in support of the proposal. This letter will be requested through the submission portal and should be completed by the dissertation advisor. It should include a statement of the applicant’s stage of completion in the dissertation work and doctoral program, verification that the research components for which funding is sought have yet to be undertaken and are anticipated to be part of the applicant’s dissertation, and a description of the difference the grant would make to the quality or nature of the dissertation.
  • Disclosure of any personal or business relationship between researchers and organizations providing data, field access, or other assistance that could potentially create a conflict of interest
  • Disclosure of any relationship with SRF Co-Chairs or the WMDRG Program Director, which may create the perception of a conflict of interest: potential conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to, advising, co-authoring, or consulting

Proprietary Right & Acknowledgements

Grant recipients will retain the copyrights to all materials prepared in connection with the funded project. However, it is expected that the SRF will be granted an irrevocable, royalty-free license in perpetuity to use such materials for non-commercial purposes furthering the mission of the SRF. The SRF requires that any publication of the resulting research in articles or other forms includes an acknowledgment that the research was funded in part by the SRF of the Strategic Management Society.

Timetable & Evaluation Process

The SRF submission deadline is October 1, 2025. Notification of SRF Will Mitchell Dissertation Grants will be made by January 1, 2026. Submissions will be reviewed using the following criteria:

  • Contribution to strategic management research: Are the frameworks employed, the data to be used, and/or the potential results to be obtained likely to make a new and substantial theoretical or empirical contribution to the academic field of strategic management?
  • Research design and methodological rigor: Is the data appropriate for the theory being built or tested? Are the procedures appropriate for the research questions? Is there adequate description of the methods used? Is validity properly justified?
  • Expected impact of the funding: Is SRF funding likely to make a significant difference to the quality, scope, or other characteristics of the dissertation that will enhance its conceptual and/or empirical contribution to strategic management research?

Important WMDRG Dates

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JULY 1, 2025 – Submission System Opens
OCTOBER 1, 2025 – Submission Deadline
LATE DECEMBER 2025 – Notification of Review Committee Decisions
JANUARY 1, 2026 – Grant Period Begins
DECEMBER 31, 2027 – Grant Period Ends