The Singapore Psychological Society Student Research Awards (SPS SRA) is back for another year to celebrate our students’ excellence in research! Since its inception in 2004, the Student Research Awards has been acknowledging and celebrating psychological research conducted here in Singapore, and of relevance to the Singaporean community.
Submissions from students currently studying psychology or undertaking psychological research at any educational institution in Singapore are welcomed. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to present their research at the Student Research Awards in December 2026, which will be held virtually.
Awards conferred upon winners include the prestigious Fred Long Award for the overall best presentation and level of research (diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate). Keep your eyes peeled on SPS social media platforms for more information.
Expression of Interest: You may indicate your interest to submit a paper by 4 September 2026 through this Expression of Interest form. You may indicate your interest through the form before finalising your topic and submission. Submitting an Expression of Interest will allow us to connect and provide timely reminders directly via email, and help us with the overall planning of the Student Research Awards. If you do have an initial interest, filling up the form will be most helpful!
*Please kindly note that Expression of Interest is not the actual submission to the Student Research Awards. If you intend to submit eventually, please follow the instructions stated below.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Research has been conducted in Singapore and/or with Singaporean populations in the past year.
- Authors are studying Psychology at an educational institution in Singapore. Please select your level of research on the checklist.
- Research methodology is qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, or systematic review. Literature reviews and meta-analyses are also accepted.
- Individual and group submissions are accepted.
- If your submission is shortlisted, you need to be available to attend the Student Research Awards on 12 December 2026 (Saturday, held in the afternoon). Please email us if you have any concerns so we can advise you as soon as possible.
- If it is an experimental study, it needs to be approved by the IRB in your respective educational institutions.
- Submissions will only be accepted for review if the above criteria have been met.
Submission information:
- Abstracts and research papers should be in APA style, 7th edition.
- Word count should be within 3000, 5000, and 5000 words +/-10% (not including references) for diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate papers respectively. An allowance of +/- 10% of the word count for each category will be accepted. Submissions with word counts beyond the allowance may not be accepted.
To submit via email:
- Complete this checklist to accompany your submission.
- Ensure your paper is anonymised i.e. there is no way of identifying the authors on the paper itself.
- Send your submission and checklist to research-team@singaporepsychologicalsociety.com. The email subject heading should be as follows: SRASubmission_Name of first author e.g. SRASubmission_Bob Chan.
- Indicate your educational institution.
- If your research paper is co-authored, please ask co-authors to email us at to research-team@singaporepsychologicalsociety.com to confirm they have given permission for you to submit the research paper.
- You are encouraged to submit your submission as early as possible.
The deadline for submissions is 23:59, 27th September 2026.
For further information, see our FAQs or contact us at research-team@singaporepsychologicalsociety.com .
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Does the research proposed have to be carried out with real life data?
You can choose to submit quantitative and qualitative papers based on real life experimental data, or alternatively, submit a systematic review paper.
- I am not sure if the topic of my abstract fits well with SRA.
The topic should be relevant and applicable to the Singapore context. If you are unsure if your research meets this criteria please email us at: to research-team@singaporepsychologicalsociety.com .
- Can I make more than one submission?
Yes, as long as submissions are not duplicated i.e. each submission is unique.
- What is an Expression of Interest?
Submitting an Expression of Interest will allow the SPS Research Committee to connect with you directly through email, and help us with the planning of the Student Research Awards. An Expression of Interest is NOT a submission to the Student Research Awards. Indication of interest is highly encouraged even if your topic and submission is not yet finalised.
- Can I submit a paper if I did not submit an Expression of Interest?
Yes. Please follow the submission instructions stated under the “To submit” section above.
- 6. Will I receive email confirmation of my submission?
You will receive an email confirmation from to research-team@singaporepsychologicalsociety.com , once we have confirmed your submission. If you need a copy of this for record purposes, please print or save this.
- What criteria will the research submissions be judged on?
A scoring rubric will be used by our judging panel to evaluate submissions. The rubric will not be made available to students.
- When will I know if my submission has been shortlisted?
Shortlisted authors will be contacted via email by 6th November 2026.
- My paper did not get shortlisted. Can I appeal?
The decision of the judging committee is final. The committee will not respond to further enquiries or appeals.
- Where can I find the APA Guidelines?
APA guidelines can be found here. Submissions must be in APA 7th Edition format.
- What is included in the word count?
The total word count includes tables, figures and captions, but does not include references.
- I cannot attend the online SRA event. Can I still submit a research paper?
Shortlisted authors must be able to attend the SRA event to present their research in order to be eligible to receive an award. Please reach out to us accordingly.