2026 ISBM Research Competition – Call for Proposals 

Penn State’s Institute for the Study of Business Markets announces Research Competition & Call for Research Proposals..

The rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been met with early enthusiasm and much experimentation. However, many firms struggle to implement AI in organizational operations and customer interactions. Further, much of the research in academia to date on AI has not addressed challenges specific to B2B markets.

ISBM has recognized AI as one of the 2025-2027 ISBM Research Priorities, based on a recent trend study. Interactions with ISBM Corporate Members and industry leaders reveal that while many B2B firms experiment with AI, they hesitate to fully incorporate AI in B2B decision making. Therefore, ISBM incentivizes research on AI in B2B Marketing. Topics can include, but are not limited to:

• AI and B2B customer interactions/experience (from automation to agentic AI)
• AI and sales processes (e.g., lead generation)
• AI and new product development and management
• AI readiness of B2B firms and value chains
• From isolated experimentation to AI integration
• Utilizing synthetic respondents
• Responsible AI, ethical guardrails, managing risk
• Reconciling AI use with climate goals

Further Details:

• Support: ISBM will grants up to $10,000 depending on the need for monetary support and the number of top-quality submissions
• Target: Research teams across the globe and across disciplines (marketing, supply chain, risk management, strategy, industrial engineering, computer sciences, etc.)
• Eligibility: Research proposals showing clear implications for business markets, in alignment with the ISBM mission to advance the theory and practice of B2B marketing.
• Procedure: The competition consists of two rounds, with the following deadlines:
  • June 30, 2026 – Abstracts are due
  • July 15, 2026 –  Selected finalists are invited to submit full research proposals
  • Sept 30, 2026 –  Finalists’ full proposals are due
  • Oct 31, 2026 –  Winners are announced

Submission Information

Researchers interested in the competition should submit an abstract of their research not to exceed five double-spaced pages (excluding references), along with a current vita for all members of the research team. The abstract should address the potential importance of their work to business marketing practice, its theoretical contributions, the research methodology, and the amount and kind of support requested.

The abstract submission deadline is June 30, 2026.

Electronic submissions must follow the following rules:

• Preferred file format is Adobe Acrobat (.pdf).
• Name all files submitted as attachments:
  • Filename for Proposal: AI26-Yourlastname.pdf
  • Filename for your Vita: AI26-Yourlastname-CV.pdf
  • Filename for additional researchers Vita: AI26-Yourlastname-CV2.pdf
• Any other documents submitted electronically should be named in the same manner:
• AI26-Yourlastname-description.pdf

Any emails relating to the research competition should have the following in the subject line: “ISBM 2026 AI-Powered Marketing Competition”. Submissions should be sent as email attachments in pdf format to LNicolini@psu.edu.

Proposals will be judged by an academic panel, consisting of representatives of the ISBM and qualified faculty members from other universities. The panel will not provide feedback to the entrants at this stage. Finalists will be notified by July 15, 2026.

Final proposals not to exceed 15 double-spaced pages (excluding references) are due on September 30, 2026. Winners will be announced by October 31, 2026. All finalists will receive feedback from the academic review panel.

Any pages of the abstract and/or proposal (not including reference pages) exceeding the page limits listed above will not be considered in the review process.

All proposal submissions should be emailed to ISBM Program Manager, Lori Nicolini at LNicolini@psu.edu.

Additional Information

For more information, please contact the ISBM Directors:

Dr. Stefan Wuyts (suw282@psu.edu)
ISBM Director
Professor of Marketing

Dr. J. Andrew Petersen (jap57@psu.edu)
ISBM Associate Director
Associate Professor of Marketing

Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM)
Smeal College of Business
The Pennsylvania State University
Business Building
University Park, PA 16802-3603
Phone:  814-863-278