Neuroeconomics & Decision-Science Scholarships: 15 Best Scholarships for 2026

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Neuroeconomics & Decision-Science Scholarships: 15 Best Scholarships for 2026

January Deadlines

1) Barry Goldwater Scholarship

Why It Slaps: This is one of the strongest national fits for students on the neuroscience-heavy side of neuroeconomics. If your work leans toward cognitive neuroscience, computational neuroscience, quantitative psychology, or other research-intensive STEM pathways tied to decision-making, Goldwater can be a major credibility boost. It is especially powerful for sophomores and juniors who already have research experience and want a PhD-style future. It is not the best fit for purely soft, non-quant behavioral work, but for students studying the biology, computation, or measurement of choice and cognition, this is elite-tier funding.

Amount: Up to $7,500 per academic year

Deadline: Last Friday in January annually; campus deadlines are usually earlier

Apply/info: Goldwater Scholarship official page

2) AEA Summer and Scholarship Programs

Why It Slaps: This is a high-value pipeline program for students on the economics and econometrics side of decision science. If you are interested in behavioral economics, choice modeling, incentives, markets, applied micro, or research that could later connect to neuroeconomics, this is a serious opportunity. The program gives students intensive academic training in math, microeconomics, econometrics, and research methods, which is exactly the toolkit that makes later neuroeconomics work stronger. It is also one of the cleanest routes for undergraduates who want PhD-level economics preparation without guessing what skills they should build first.

Amount: All-inclusive program support covering tuition, fees, living expenses, transportation, books, and program costs, plus a $3,250 stipend upon successful completion

Deadline: January 31 annually

Apply/info: AEA Summer and Scholarship Programs

February Deadlines

3) APS Convention Society Research Awards

Why It Slaps: This is a smart play for psychology students already doing decision-making, cognition, social judgment, attention, memory, or behavioral science research and planning to present it publicly. It is not a giant scholarship, but it is exactly the kind of smaller, recognition-based award that can strengthen a CV fast. For students trying to build a future in neuroeconomics or decision science, conference-ready research matters a lot. An award tied to a real presentation shows that your work is not just classroom-level interest. It signals research seriousness, which can help with grad-school applications, faculty mentorship, and later funding.

Amount: Two graduate awards of $500 each and two undergraduate awards of $400 each

Deadline: February 1

Apply/info: APS Convention Society Research Awards

4) Neuroscience Scholars Program

Why It Slaps: For graduate students and postdocs, this is one of the strongest community-building programs in neuroscience. If your decision-science work is rooted in brain mechanisms, neural computation, perception, reward, or cognition, this is a high-value professional development opportunity. The best part is that it is not just a line on a resume. It gives mentorship, research community, annual-meeting support, and enrichment funding. For people trying to move from “I’m interested in brain and behavior” to “I am actually building a neuroscience career,” this program can create momentum, networks, and visibility that are much harder to buy or build alone.

Amount: Travel award to SfN annual meetings, two years of SfN membership, and up to $1,500 in enrichment funds

Deadline: Mid-February; the 2026 cycle closed on February 13 at 12 p.m. EST

Apply/info: Neuroscience Scholars Program

March Deadlines

5) NIH Undergraduate Scholarship Program (UGSP)

Why It Slaps: This is one of the best real-money opportunities for undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds who want careers in biomedical, behavioral, or social science research. That makes it a strong fit for students whose version of neuroeconomics is rooted in behavioral science, cognition, mental processes, or health-related decision research. UGSP is especially attractive because it is not just a scholarship check. It is tied to NIH research experience and a much more serious training environment than most standard college awards. For students who want to move from interest to actual research identity, this one can be transformative.

Amount: Up to $20,000 per academic year

Deadline: March 31, 2026 for the application; references due April 7, 2026; EFN form due May 18, 2026

Apply/info: NIH Undergraduate Scholarship Program

April Deadlines

6) Shenoy Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Neuroscience (SURFiN)

Why It Slaps: If you are an undergraduate interested in the brain side of decision-making, this is one of the cleanest fits in the whole guide. SURFiN pays students for in-person neuroscience research during the academic year, which is huge because real research hours matter more than vague interest statements. Neuroeconomics is one of those fields where hands-on lab work, coding, data handling, and mentor relationships can change your whole trajectory. This fellowship helps students who may not already have elite access break into that world. If your long-term path includes reward processing, cognition, behavior, or neural systems, this is a serious opportunity.

Amount: Up to $7,500 total

Deadline: April 21, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern

Apply/info: SURFiN official page

May Deadlines

7) NABE Scholars Program

Why It Slaps: This is one of the best “bridge” opportunities for students whose work leans toward the economics, forecasting, policy, or business-economics side of decision science. It is especially useful if you are building toward labor, consumer choice, market behavior, analytics, or policy-oriented decision research rather than wet-lab neuroscience. The value here is not just the travel stipend. It is the professional network, exposure to applied economics, and access to a field where many students from underrepresented backgrounds still struggle to break in. For the right student, this can open doors to internships, mentors, and applied economics career tracks that later pair well with behavioral or decision research.

Amount: One-year complimentary NABE membership, one complimentary CBE course, and up to $400 travel stipend

Deadline: May 8, 2026

Apply/info: NABE Scholars Program

June Deadlines

8) Psi Alpha Outstanding Psychology Student Scholarship

Why It Slaps: This is a strong fit for high school students already showing unusual commitment to psychology, leadership, and service. If you run or help build a psychology club chapter, organize events, or already think like a future behavioral scientist, this is exactly the kind of early recognition that can help you stand out. Neuroeconomics and decision science are advanced niches, but they usually start with a student who is curious about how people think, choose, and behave. This scholarship rewards that early spark. It is especially good for site readers who are still in high school and need something more realistic than graduate-only funding.

Amount: $500

Deadline: June 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PST

Apply/info: Psi Alpha Awards Overview and Deadlines

9) COGDOP Graduate Student Scholarships

Why It Slaps: This is one of the best direct fits for graduate students doing serious psychology research, especially thesis or dissertation work involving judgment, motivation, memory, reward, self-control, attention, or experimental decision-making. A lot of neuroeconomics-adjacent work actually lives inside psychology departments, not economics departments, and this scholarship understands that. If your project is empirical, theory-driven, and methodologically sound, this can help fund the actual research instead of just rewarding the idea of it. It is especially attractive for graduate students who need support for the messy middle of research, where projects often live or die.

Amount: Up to $5,000 depending on the named scholarship within the program

Deadline: June 26, 2026

Apply/info: COGDOP Graduate Student Scholarships

10) Psi Chi Undergraduate Scholarships

Why It Slaps: These scholarships are broader than “decision science,” but that is exactly why they are useful. Many neuroeconomics and behavioral-science students sit inside psychology majors, and broad psychology scholarships can be some of the easiest high-fit money to win. If you are doing strong coursework, have a research story, and can explain how your interests connect to cognition, behavior, or human choice, this is worth serious attention. It is also a practical pick because it supports educational expenses directly, which makes it more flexible than conference-only awards or research-only grants.

Amount: Eight scholarships of $3,000 each

Deadline: June 29, 2026

Apply/info: Psi Chi Undergraduate Scholarships

11) INFORMS Undergraduate Operations Research Prize

Why It Slaps: This is one of the strongest pure decision-science and analytics fits on the list. If your work is quantitative, model-based, optimization-oriented, or focused on decision systems, this prize deserves real attention. Neuroeconomics students with strong math, statistics, data science, or computational modeling experience often underestimate how relevant operations research and management science can be. But the overlap is real: both fields care about decision quality, uncertainty, prediction, incentives, and strategy. If your project is more models-and-methods than purely brain-based, this one may actually be a better match than a neuroscience scholarship.

Amount: $500 prize plus travel support to the INFORMS Annual Meeting

Deadline: June 30, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern

Apply/info: Undergraduate Operations Research Prize

12) Seth Bonder Scholarship for Applied Operations Research in Health Services

Why It Slaps: This is a sharp fit for students whose decision-science work connects to healthcare choice, systems, outcomes, or service delivery. That may sound narrower than neuroeconomics, but it is actually a powerful adjacent lane because a lot of modern decision science lives in health policy, health behavior, and care optimization. If your work touches decision models, patient pathways, service design, health analytics, or operational choices under uncertainty, this is more relevant than it first appears. It is especially strong for PhD students who want a quantitative applied track with real-world stakes.

Amount: $4,000 scholarship, up to $1,000 travel funding, an additional $2,000 award, and waived INFORMS annual meeting registration

Deadline: June 30, 2026

Apply/info: Seth Bonder Scholarship in Health Services

July Deadlines

13) Psi Chi Graduate Scholarships

Why It Slaps: Graduate students in psychology often need flexible funding that is not limited to one conference or one tiny expense category. That is what makes this scholarship useful. If your graduate work involves decision-making, cognition, motivation, perception, behavioral measurement, or other foundations that overlap with decision science, this is a practical and credible funding source. It also works well for students who are still building a niche and do not yet have a perfectly branded “neuroeconomics” identity. Broad psychology funding can carry you while your research profile becomes more specialized and more competitive.

Amount: Eight scholarships of $3,000 each

Deadline: July 6, 2026

Apply/info: Psi Chi Graduate Scholarships

14) Sharon Stephens Brehm Undergraduate Psychology Scholarships

Why It Slaps: This is one of the cleanest undergraduate psychology scholarships in the country for students with strong academics plus financial need. That combination matters because many decision-science students are high-performing but not always positioned for niche awards yet. If you are a psychology major planning to move toward behavioral research, cognition, neuroscience, or graduate study, this is a strong foundation scholarship. It does not require you to pretend you already have a perfectly polished neuroeconomics profile. It rewards potential, academic seriousness, and the kind of early preparation that future decision scientists absolutely need.

Amount: Eight scholarships of $5,000 each

Deadline: July 10, 2026

Apply/info: Brehm Undergraduate Psychology Scholarships

15) Fund for Racial and Ethnic Diversity (FRED) Scholarship for Emerging Scholars

Why It Slaps: This is a strong targeted opportunity for undergraduates from traditionally underrepresented communities of color who want to continue into graduate study in psychology. For neuroeconomics and decision-science students coming from psychology, that makes it a meaningful fit. Smaller awards sometimes get ignored, but they can be easier to win, easier to stack, and more aligned with actual applicant identity than giant national scholarships. This one is especially worth applying for if your future goals include clinical research, behavioral research, cognition, or experimental work that could later evolve into a decision-science or neuroeconomics path.

Amount: Two scholarships of $1,000 each

Deadline: July 31, 2026

Apply/info: FRED Scholarship for Emerging Scholars

How to choose the right ones fast

If your profile is more brain/lab/research-heavy, prioritize:

Goldwater Scholarship
SURFiN
NIH UGSP
Neuroscience Scholars Program

If your profile is more economics/analytics/modeling-heavy, prioritize:

AEA Summer and Scholarship Programs
NABE Scholars Program
INFORMS Undergraduate Operations Research Prize
Seth Bonder Scholarship

If your profile is more psychology/behavior/cognition-heavy, prioritize:

Brehm Undergraduate Psychology Scholarships
COGDOP Graduate Student Scholarships
Psi Chi Undergraduate Scholarships
Psi Chi Graduate Scholarships
FRED Scholarship

FAQs

Are there many scholarships specifically called “neuroeconomics scholarships”?

Not really. That is the big catch with this niche. Most students in neuroeconomics compete through broader buckets like neuroscience, psychology, economics, behavioral science, cognitive science, or analytics. That is why a smart funding strategy looks wider than the exact major name.

What majors should use this list?

Students in psychology, neuroscience, economics, cognitive science, behavioral science, public health, statistics, data science, management science, analytics, and operations research can all use this guide. The key is not the major label alone. It is whether your work studies choice, behavior, cognition, incentives, uncertainty, or decision systems.

Are smaller research awards worth applying for?

Yes. In a niche field like decision science, smaller awards can be more strategic than giant national scholarships. They help you stack funding, build a stronger CV, show research momentum, and give you proof that reviewers trust your work.

Can high school seniors use this guide?

Yes, but selectively. The strongest early fit here is the Psi Alpha Outstanding Psychology Student Scholarship. High school seniors should also use this list to understand what profiles future neuroscience, psychology, and economics funding programs reward.

What should students say in their essays if they want to study neuroeconomics later?

Talk clearly about the questions you want to study: how people make choices, how incentives shape behavior, how the brain processes reward and risk, how cognition affects judgment, or how data and experiments can improve decisions. That framing helps reviewers see your direction even when the award itself is broader than neuroeconomics.

What search terms should students use for more matches?

Use combinations like:

behavioral economics scholarships
cognitive neuroscience scholarships
decision science scholarships
psychology research grants
judgment and decision making awards
operations research student prizes
analytics scholarships
behavioral science fellowships

Final take

For this niche, the winning move is not waiting for a scholarship with the exact word neuroeconomics in the title. The winning move is understanding where neuroeconomics lives in the real academic world: at the intersection of brain science, behavior, economics, quantitative methods, and research training. That is why the best applicants in this space cast a disciplined net. They apply to neuroscience funding when their work is brain-centered, psychology funding when it is behavior-centered, economics funding when it is incentives-and-models-centered, and analytics funding when it is quant-heavy. That is how you stop missing money that was effectively built for you, even if the label looks broader than your niche.