Research Grant Program

The University Sales Center Alliance (USCA) offers an annual Sales Research Grant. USCA aims to be recognized as the international leader in increasing the prestige and credibility of the sales profession. The research grant program is designed to acknowledge sales research with potential applications for industry and/or sales educators. A selection committee chooses one to two scholars each year to receive a $5,000 research grant.

Proposals are evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Potential contribution of the research to the field.
• Generalizability of the research findings to the sales profession and/or the classroom.
• Potential for the research to be published in a leading academic journal.

All research methods are considered, including conceptual/theory development, qualitative, or empirical approaches such as field surveys, modeling, textual analysis, or meta-analysis. Preference is given to proposals focusing on business-to-business sales environments, considering the USCA Sales Center membership. The grant is not restricted to USCA schools, but open to all scholars.

Grant Details:

• The grants cover expenses related to researchers, including respondent fees, research assistant fees, and similar expenses.
• Each grant is worth $5,000.
• The grants should not be used for supplementing salaries, purchasing equipment or software, covering university overhead, paying tuition, or supporting conference travel.
• Grant recipients are required to provide a report and executive summary to USCA.
• Grant recipients will be invited to present their research results at the USCA Spring Meeting following the grant award.

Proposal Requirements:

Title Page (to be submitted as a separate document from the proposal document):

• Key Contact Author: Name, address, school, email, and phone number.
• Co-Authors: Names, addresses, schools, and emails.

Proposal document including:

• Research objectives.
• Background/literature review.
• Proposed hypotheses and/or research questions and/or models.
• Methods.
• Contribution to theory and practice.
• Timetable with key process completion dates and the report deliverable date.
• Key references
• Budget, including financial support from other sources, if any.
• Additional materials, if needed, such as figures, appendices, and tables.

The entire proposal, including references, figures, appendices, and tables should not exceed 10 pages.

Additional Attachments:

• Vita(e) of the research team.

Submission:

• Please email your proposals as a Word/PDF attachment to Dr. Alex Haas (alexander.haas@wirtschaft.uni-giessen.de) by November 15, 2024.

2023 Award Winners

Revisiting Buyers’ Role In Value Creation:
From Suppliers ́ Helpers To Sources Of Relationship Value