2026 Association for Counselor Education & Supervision (ACES) Research Grants

The Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) seeks to build the evidence base necessary to deepen the understanding of what shapes counselor education and supervision, how we can best serve communities, and what types of policy and system changes can have the greatest potential for impact. In response to this call, ACES is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) and will award a total of $100,000 in funding across 3 to 5 exemplary projects that demonstrate the potential to significantly advance the body of research in counselor education and supervision.  

An additional grant award opportunity is available from our partners at Intelligent Video Solutions (IVS). IVS is offering a $5,000 grant to an ACES member for the purpose of conducting research that focuses on clinical skills acquisition utilizing technology in the observation process.  This opportunity uses the same application process as the other ACES grants. 

Proposals are due Sept. 30 at 7 pm EDT. Late submission will not be accepted, reviewed, or considered for funding.

Awards will be announced by mid-November. 

ACES invites grant proposals focused on counseling and counselor education research across all specialties that contribute to the advancement of the counseling profession. We are only accepting proposals that address the specific following areas: 

1. Elevating Research Training and Impact (e.g., community-engaged research; outcome research related to counseling, teaching, supervision, leadership, and advocacy; training practices to promote grant literacy, readiness, and outcomes)   
2. Navigating the Intersection of Technology and Counselor Education and Supervision (e.g., use of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence in counseling, teaching, supervision, and research, clinical skills acquisition utilizing technology) 
3. Suicide prevention and comprehensive crisis counseling models — developing and validating counselor-specific crisis response frameworks amid rising need and expanded CACREP crisis training requirements.

Each awarded program should be completed within one year of the award and have clear potential implications for influencing public policy at the state, regional, or national levels. Grantees may request project extensions beyond one year, provided they have appropriate justification and are approved. Upon award notification, information will be provided on how to submit addendums, extensions, and reports. The ACES Research Center will do all post-award management.     

Eligibility: 

Grants are available to Professional or New Professional Member of ACES. Membership must remain active and current throughout the life of the funded project. The projects must be led by a PI who is an active ACES member; however, other members of the team, outside of the ACES domain, may serve a valuable role in the research (e.g., methodologist, statistician, content expert). Therefore, up to one CO-PI can be an individual who is a non-member and any number of key personnel can be non-members. Graduate students cannot serve as PIs but can assume other roles on the grant team.

Please note, an individual may appear on only one proposal as either PI or Co-PI. Applicants who do not meet eligibility criteria will not be considered. The ACES membership number and expiration date must be included in the application process so members are encouraged to have this information available. If your ACES membership is not current, go to the ACES website for renewal instructions.

Guidelines: 

Proposals that do not follow the guidelines below will be disqualified from review. 

No indirect costs (IDC) will be funded under this RFP. Applicants may request up to $25,000. Requests exceeding $25,000 may be considered if the proposal provides a compelling and clearly articulated rationale demonstrating why the additional funds are necessary to complete the project. 

For applicants wanting to be considered for the Intelligent Video Solutions (IVS) grant, please only request $5,000. As a reminder, this grant is specifically to fund research that focuses on clinical skills acquisition utilizing technology in the observation process.

Faculty summer salary may be included as an allowable expense but should not constitute a substantial portion of the proposed budget. All salary requests must be clearly justified in relation to the project’s scope, activities, and anticipated outcomes.

Proposals should not exceed five single-spaced pages (excluding the title page and references) and must adhere to the 7th edition of the APA Manual. Inquiries should be emailed to the ACES Research Center at centeroperations@acesresearch.org.

Submission Site: Submit all proposal materials through Submittable, the ACES grant management system.  The link to the site will be available by Sept. 1 and shared with members once active. 

Formatting Requirements:

• Word Count. Please follow the word count for each section. 
• Citations. APA format (no numerical citations). A Reference document must be included with the application as an appendix.  
• Artificial Intelligence (AI). Any use of AI in the development of the proposal should be properly acknowledged and cited. 
• Tables & Figures. Tables and figures may be smaller than 12-point font but must be legible (minimum of 10-point font). The use of color is acceptable in charts and graphs.  
• Appendices. All appendices must be labeled with the appendix letter and title. 

 Requirements for Awardees: 

• Complete paperwork to process allocations of funds, including submitting an IRB approval letter for the research project within three months of the award announcement and specify if the check is written to the PI or the institution/organization.  
• Complete a mid-year and final report. 
• Recognize ACES in any professional or scholarly products yielded from the awarded program.  
• Submit a 1-paragraph synopsis of awarded program suitable for dissemination in an announcement to ACES membership and on the ACES Research Center website.
• Submit a manuscript to a national or international professional counseling journal based on the funded project. 

Additional information can be found in our Frequently Asked Questions document. Questions need to be directed to the ACES Research Center at centeroperations@acesresearch.org.