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 a complete Grant Acceptance Agreement along with a Waiver of Overhead and Administrative Fees before the funds are transferred from Mind & Life to your institution. These forms must be completed no later than 3 months after the date of the award notification, or funds may be forfeited.
Grantees are required to submit reports (Post-Meeting Summary and Final Report) by the program’s reporting deadline until project completion. Reports will include:
- narrative reporting (status update, problems encountered, etc.)
- summary of main outcomes and insights
- final list of participants
- budgetary information (in the Final report)
- copies and citations of any related manuscripts submitted or published as a result of this Think Tank
- other deliverables as specified in the application
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 and/or changes in budget) 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 will ideally be completed within two years from the date of notification of the grant, but no longer than three years. If you are unable to complete the Think Tank and related deliverables within two years, you must submit a brief but detailed written request explaining why the extension is necessary and when you anticipate the project will be completed. - Budget Modification
If you need to re-allocate your grant funds after the Think Tank is awarded, you will need to request a budget modification, outlining the new budget allocation and describing the reason for the change.
Dissemination of Findings
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 Think Tank grants outcomes through our own and external media channels, as appropriate. To that end, we request that you provide relevant information (e.g., publications, presentations, websites, media reports, project summaries/outcome, anecdotes, quotes, photographs) to the extent available and with appropriate permissions or anonymous attribution. These can be uploaded with your progress or final report as “additional materials.” We are proud to partner with grantees and their affiliated organizations to tell the story of the Think Tanks that we support in accordance with the highest ethical standards.
In addition, to help promote open sharing of scholarly information, Mind & Life has implemented the following guidelines regarding dissemination of findings:
Preprints: Grantees are required to share completed manuscripts that result from our funding to a preprint server prior to publication (unless extenuating circumstances apply, which must be explained in writing). Mind & Life hosts a preprint server for contemplative science called MindRxiv—you may share your work through this platform.
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.
Acknowledgements
Mind & Life grantees are expected to share findings in a timely manner through professional meetings, publications, or other deliverables. Scholarly publications or presentations resulting from a Mind & Life 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.”
Inquiries
If you have questions about the Mind & Life Think Tank Grant program, please contact ThinkTanks@mindandlife.org.
