Grant Acceptance Agreement and
Reporting Requirements

All grant agreements and reporting take place through SurveyMonkey Apply, our online grants management system. Grantees are required to return (1) a complete Grant Acceptance Agreement, (2) a signed Waiver of Overhead and Administrative Fees, and, in the case of human subject research, (3) documentation of ethical approval (from an Institutional Review Board, Human Research Ethics Committee, or equivalent entity) before the funds are transferred from Mind & Life to your institution. Ethical approval and funds transfer must occur within six months of receipt of the official grant notification letter. Please note: Failure to meet the 6-month deadline may result in grant funds being revoked.

Grantees are required to submit annual progress reports and a final report by the program’s reporting deadlines until project completion. Reports will include:

  • narrative reporting (status update, problems encountered, etc.)
  • summary of main findings (in the Final report)
  • budgetary information
  • copies and citations of any related posters or papers presented at any meeting
  • copies and citations of any related manuscripts submitted or published
  • information regarding follow-on funding obtained as a result of research funded by this grant
  • information on (and links to) media coverage of your research

After your grant is complete, follow-up information will be requested periodically by Mind & Life to help us track the impact of our programs.

Terms of the Grant

Mind & Life grants are two-year grants. The start date is the date of the official grant notification letter and the end date is two years from that time. If more time is required, you will need to apply for an extension. See below for more information.

Change in Status

Any changes to the grant (requests for time extensions, as well as changes in protocol, budget, advisor, institution, etc.) must be made using the appropriate change form on the online platform within 30 days of the change. All change requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you are unable to meet the terms of the grant, then you are obliged to inform Mind & Life within 30 days so that appropriate action may be taken. Because grant funds are transferred in advance, it may be determined that a portion of the unspent funds must be returned. If this is the case, you will be informed of the amount that must be repaid, the basis for the calculation, and the date by which repayment must be made.

Reasons for formal change request include:

  • Request for Extension
    Each project should be completed within two years from the date of notification of the grant. If you are unable to complete the research within two years, you must submit a written request explaining why the extension is necessary and when you anticipate the project will be completed.
  • Protocol Modification
    Examples of significant changes include, but are not limited to:
    – Change in original goals of project
    – Change of population of subjects
    – Change in methodology
  • Budget Modification
    If you need to re-allocate your grant funds after the project is awarded, you will need to request a budget modification, outlining the new budget allocation and describing the reason for the change.
  • Institution/Advisor Change
    Mind & Life grants are made to the institution where the named grantee is conducting his or her research. In the event that the grantee or advisor leaves that institution, the grant is not transferable without prior approval of the Mind & Life Institute. If this request for transfer of funds is not approved, any unused funds must be returned to Mind & Life within 30 days. Similarly, Mind & Life grants are not transferable to other investigators. Any change in advisor, laboratory, or institution will be discussed on a case-by-case basis and must be requested at least 30 days prior to such change (email: grants@mindandlife.org).

After your grant is complete, unspent funds should be returned to the Mind & Life Institute.

Dissemination of Findings

Mind & Life grantees are expected to share scientific findings in a timely manner through professional meetings and/or publications. An electronic copy of all grant products (publications, presentations, media reports, etc.) should be made available to the Mind & Life Institute as soon as they are available, regardless of whether the grant has been completed. These can be uploaded with your progress or final report as “additional materials.”

In keeping with our mission to “bridge science and contemplative wisdom to foster insight and inspire action toward flourishing,” Mind & Life is committed to disseminating research findings from its grantees through our own and external media channels, as appropriate. To that end, we request that grantees provide relevant information (e.g., presentations, project summaries/outcome data, anecdotes, quotes, photographs) to the extent available and with appropriate permissions or anonymous attribution. We are proud to partner with grantees and their affiliated organizations to tell the story of supported research projects in accordance with the highest ethical standards.

Publications

Mind & Life has adopted the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines, and we expect our grantees to follow these guidelines. Please visit that page to learn more.

Acknowledgement: Academic publications or presentations resulting from research supported by the grant must acknowledge the Mind & Life Institute and the specific grants program through which the work was funded. All materials publicizing or resulting from activities of this grant must also include the following statement: “Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this [publication] [program] [website] do not necessarily reflect those of the Mind & Life Institute.”

Open access publishing: We strongly encourage our grantees to publish their work in open access format to allow for the widest dissemination of their work. You may allocate a portion of your project budget to cover costs of open access publishing.

Preprints: Grantees are strongly encouraged to share completed manuscripts that result from our funding to a preprint server prior to publication (unless extenuating circumstances apply, which should be explained in writing).

  • Preprints are manuscripts that are shared before undergoing peer review. The need to quickly circulate current results within a scholarly community has led researchers to develop and utilize preprints services in many disciplines. The immediate distribution of findings as preprints allows authors to receive early feedback from their peers, which may be helpful in revising and preparing articles for submission. Most journals now accept submissions that have been previously shared as preprints, thus there is no penalty for sharing data as a preprint prior to publication.
  • Learn more about the importance of preprints in academic publishing.
  • Mind & Life hosts a preprint server for contemplative science called MindRxiv—you may share your work through this platform (MindRxiv.org) or another one.
Inquiries

If you have questions about your Mind & Life research grant, please contact grants@mindandlife.org.