What we're looking for

All entries will be judged by members of The Mind Gym's Academic Board. They will be looking for outstanding contributions to well-founded, practical knowledge about enhancing psychological capabilities.

We're looking for reputable research, equivalent to peer-refereed journals in the field. Because of this, we ask that your submissions are:

Pioneering: original in its questions, methodology, context of application and / or theoretical application.

Useful: lead directly to plausible implications for practice, capable of being applied by the general population in real world situations.

Rigorous: the framing of the research questions, design of the study, data analysis and interpretation of results should withstand critical scrutiny.

Engaging: it should deal with an accessible topic that members of the general adult population will find interesting.

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We're looking for specific research with real-world implications. To get you thinking we've included examples of the kind of approach we're interested in. This list is by no means exhaustive; it's your research, we want to hear what you have to say:

• When and how does optimism lead to increased efficacy or happiness?
• How can negative self-beliefs be countered?
• How do people make effective life decisions?
• How can attributional styles, locus of control or self-efficacy be altered?
• What techniques are effective for overcoming procrastination?
• Can we develop empathy and perspective-taking?
• What accounts for individual differences in stress?
• What conditions inhibit creativity?
• How can people become more mindful of their behaviour and impact?

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At The Mind Gym we're interested in positive psychology that can benefit everyone. Even though other areas of psychology are equally exciting and important, for the purposes of this competition they won't be eligible. Just so everyone's clear, we've included some examples of research we won't be able to accept:

• The education of children and adolescents.
• Research about people with identifiable neurological, psychopathological or gerontological disorders - unless you can convince us why this should apply to the general adult population.
• Mastering domain specific kinds of knowledge or skill, like a foreign language or musical instruments.
• Any general exploration of psychological processes that doesn't focus on their enhancement.