Small Grants Scheme

There is one online application form with a deadline of 30th September. The successful applications will be reported at the December Council meeting, and at this meeting Council will decide on the allocation of the awards based upon the nature of the project made in the application. The awards will be announced at the AGM, and funds will normally be available from 1st January.

Successful applicants will be required to produce a final project report that will be published in the Palaeontological Association Newsletter, and are asked to consider the Association’s meetings and publications as media for conveying the research results. 

Further details and a full list of terms and conditions for the Small Grants Scheme can be found below. Enquiries may be made to the Secretary (secretary@palass.org). 

Before applying, applicants must first read the Terms and Conditions for Small Grants Awards (below).

Terms and conditions for Small Grants Scheme applications (comprising the Sylvester Bradley Awards, the Whittington Award, and the Stan Wood Awards) are as follows. 

Applicants need not specify to which award they are applying; this will be decided by the Association, as appropriate.

1. Applicants should be members of the Association.
2. Proposals must align with the charitable aims of the Association and comply fully with the Instructions to Applicants.
3. The Association offers multiple awards each year, in honour of three donors, to fund palaeontological research, travel and fieldwork; these are integrated together as the Small Grants Scheme. Applicants need not specify which award they are applying for as this will be decided by the committee following assessment of all proposals.
4. These grants are open to any member of the Association, although preference is given to students, early career researchers, and advocational members. Those in one of these categories should indicate this on the application form.
   An ECR meets all the following criteria: 
   (1) has less than ten years experience after PhD graduation (adjusted pro rata for any periods where an individual was employed in a position where research was not a significant part of the role);
   (2) does not hold an open-ended/permanent contract;
   (3) has not been the PI or equivalent on a research project.
5. Each application should be accompanied by the name and email address of one referee. We do not require a reference to be sent in advance of the application, but the Association reserves the right to contact referees.
6. Awards are made to assist palaeontological research (travel, visits to museums, fieldwork, analytical costs, etc.), with each award having a maximum value of £3000. Please note that this is a maximum, not a target. 
7. Grants are not made to attend meetings.
8. Grants are not made to support Masters-level student projects.
9. A strong case needs to be made for the purchase of non-specialist equipment (e.g. cameras and lenses, computers). The expectation is that such underpinning equipment is widely available as part of well-found laboratory facilities.
10. If applications to other bodies for funding the same project are successful, then payments will not be granted, or will be withheld.
11. If an application is made for funding that relates to a PhD, postdoc, Research Fellowship or other funded position, then a strong case should be made as to why funding is required above that made available as part of existing funding, and why the proposed research was not included when the project was designed.
12. Funding will not be made retrospectively.
13. In normal circumstances awards are made to single individuals, and a case must be made for funding of people other than the applicant.
14. In planning research and recognising contribution and authorship, we strongly encourage investigators to recruit, and involve at all stages of the research and publication process, suitably qualified/experienced local researchers, especially where specimens, materials and/or data are from low-income or middle-income countries. Please consult Palaeontological Association Publication Policies and Ethics guidance.

Projects are assessed by a panel of five Council members.  Proposals that do not meet the criteria above are not considered further. The remaining applications are scored as A, B, or C by each panel member separately, based on the Small Grants Scheme Criteria for Assessment.

Projects scored as A or C by at least four panel members are awarded this as their final score; all others are scored B. Funding is awarded by a series of random draws. At each step (1-5), the next category is added to the pot; no projects are removed. The draw ceases when the monies available are exhausted.  

1. A-graded applications from students, early career researchers, and advocational members are awarded funding. We would normally expect to fund all these applications. If, exceptionally, the amount required to fund A-graded applications at step 1 exceeds the funding available, a random draw will be used to select projects, and the allocation process will not proceed to step 2.
2. All other A-graded applications are considered for allocation of funding. If the amount required to fund all these applications exceeds the funding available, a random draw will be used to select projects, and the allocation process comes to an end. If funding remains, step 3 is invoked.
3. B-graded applications from students, early career researchers, and advocational members are considered for allocation of funding. If the amount required to fund all these applications exceeds the funding available, a random draw will be used to select projects, and the allocation process comes to an end. If funding remains, step 4 is invoked.
4. All other B graded applications are allocated funding. If the amount required to fund all these applications exceeds the funding available, a random draw will be used to select projects. The allocation process comes to an end.

Applications must be submitted electronically. You will be asked to provide the information outlined below. There is a link to the application form at the bottom of this page. 

• Contact Details: family name, given name; email address.

• Your current position. You will be asked to select one of the following. Please note that we do not fund Master’s level student projects. 

  • MSc, MSci, MRes or other Master’s level equivalent student 
  • PhD student
  • Postdoctoral researcher
  • Research Fellow
  • Research academic in a permanent or tenure-track position
  • Advocational palaeontologist 
  • Other (please state)

• Career summary. Please outline your career to date, noting any career breaks. 

• Proposed project title

• Detailed proposed project description (maximum 1000 words; attach as a pdf). Please upload your project description as a pdf. 

• Why do you need funding to carry out this research? If you are a PhD student, a postdoc or a research fellow, please clearly explain why you need this money above and beyond the research funding that was written into your project. 

• Please outline your capability to deliver this research project. Do not re-enter your CV here; instead, explain how you have developed the skills needed to carry out this research (max 500 words). 

• Detailed breakdown of costs. Please state sources for the cost estimates you have provided; e.g., air travel, £450, based on a quote from Expedia.co.uk. Note that the maximum amount awarded is £3000; this is a maximum rather than a target. Please upload a separate document no longer than one page A4. 

• Details of any previous small grant applications to the Palaeontological Association. It is not necessary to list grants from other organisations. 

• Details of one referee. We reserve the right to request a reference from your referee.

  • Name
  • Email

30th September 23:59 GMT