The Palaeontological Association Undergraduate Research Bursaries are aimed at giving undergraduate students the opportunity to acquire research skills and experience that will significantly transform their academic career. The bursaries will support projects co-designed by students and their supervisor(s) that give students registered for an undergraduate degree their first experience of undertaking a palaeontological research project; students and supervisors from all countries are encouraged to apply. The bursaries provide a stipend for the student for up to eight weeks. The scheme is not intended to fund students to undertake routine work for the supervisor(s) and the Association expects the supervisor(s) to provide significant personal mentoring of successful student applicants. Proposals will be assessed as to whether they meet expected standards, and then awarded via an anomymised lottery system, with students from underrepresented groups given priority
- Applications from any country and applicants of any nationality are encouraged to apply.
- The principal supervisor must be an academic member of staff in the same institution as the student, or in a closely related institution such as a museum, as they can give significant career advice and take ultimate responsibility for the student researcher. It is permissible for the student to opt to work in an institution more convenient for their home town in order to remove any cost barriers, but in this case the academic member of staff must be clear in the application that the insurance implications have been considered and agreed by the host institution where the student will actually do the work. The supervisor is also responsible for verifying that the student is registered at the institution stated on the application form.
- The principal supervisor must be a member of the Association at the time the application is received. Supervisors and students applying for the first time who are not members of the Association (and have not been members in the past) can receive free membership for one year and must apply for membership before the application has been submitted. Supervisors and students are requested to contact the Executive Officer for information regarding this.
- If the principal supervisor is on a fixed term contract, then this contract must extend beyond the proposed end date of the project.
- PhD students and postdoctoral researchers within the same, or a closely related, research institution may be named as additional supervisors and share in the training and supervision of the student, thus enhancing the quality of the research experience for the student.
- The rubric and details of prioritization scheme and lottery system are available here:
- Please see also the Palaeontological Association Grant Ethics and Conditions.
Terms and Conditions
Available Funds
- The Association expects to fund multiple projects per year and the total fund available and number of awards made will be at Council’s discretion
- Priority will be given to students from underrepresented groups based on optional self-declared protected characteristics. The Diversity Study Report describes groups currently under-represented in Palaeontology
- Successful applicants will receive funding of £400.40 GBP (or equivalent currency in the host institution’s country at the time the funds are disbursed), per week, pro rata, up to a maximum of eight weeks
- Funds will be disbursed as a single payment made to the department/school
- The stipend is not intended as a salary
- The stipend is non-transferable
- No funding is available for any other costs associated with the project. Supervisor(s) are expected to fund consumables and fieldwork, for example, from other sources.
Student eligibility
- Bursaries are non-transferrable and the named student must be registered for an undergraduate degree for the duration of the proposed project
- The student must not have had any previous experience of independent palaeontological research
- Candidates need not be geologists, palaeontologists or Earth scientists, but must be registered for an undergraduate science degree (NB final year students will not be considered)
- No age limit applies to the awards
Supervisor eligibility
- The principal supervisor must be an academic member of staff in the host institution, or in a closely related institution such as a museum, so that they can give significant career advice and take ultimate responsibility for the student researcher.
- The principal supervisor must be a member of the Association at the time the application is received. Supervisors applying for the first time will receive free membership for one year and must apply for membership before the application has been submitted (see details above).
- If the principal supervisor is on a fixed term contract, then this contract must extend beyond the proposed end date of the project.
- PhD students and postdoctoral researchers within the same institution may be named as additional supervisors and share in the training and supervision of the student, thus enhancing the quality of the research experience for the student.
Eligible areas of research
- The Association exists to promote research in palaeontology and its allied sciences, and the research must fall within this remit. However, supervisors and students who are new to palaeontology are encouraged to apply.
- The awards must not be used to support research on live animals.
Other terms and conditions
- A maximum of one application per eligible supervisor will be accepted per round. This is to ensure that supervisors have sufficient time and resources to support the student throughout their internship
- An eligible student may only be named on one application per round
- No supervisor may be named, as either principal or additional supervisor, on more than one application per round
- Applicants are responsible for checking that applications from their institution conform to these guidelines. If an individual student or supervisor is named on more than one application received per round then none of those applications will be considered further.
- Ethics: The Palaeontological Association expects that any projects requiring ethical clearance from the hosting institution, or from other bodies responsible for overseeing relevant ethical issues, will have been granted ethical approval for the proposed work, if required. Research on live animals cannot be supported.
Applications will initially be assessed to ensure they meet expected standards for the following criteria:
- Quality of the proposed training and personal development opportunities offered by the project and the supervisor(s)
- Scientific rigour of the proposed project
- Feasibility of the project
- Time that the principal supervisor is personally prepared to devote to the project
Scheduling of the research work
The scheduling of the work is a matter for the student and supervisor to arrange by mutual agreement. The only expectation is that the work is completed within the period indicated in the application. In the event that the work is not completed within the timeframe stated in the application, the Association reserves the right to demand repayment of the funds, supervisors will be less likely to receive funding in the future, unless there are extenuating circumstances.
Reporting requirements and dissemination of scientific results
After completion of the work, successful candidates are required to produce a 750 word report of the findings accompanied by 2-3 images suitable for publication in the Palaeontology Newsletter. Successful candidates will also be provided with the option of being interviewed for the Newsletter. This report must be submitted within eight weeks of the stated end date of the project. Successful candidates are requested to prioritise the Association’s meetings and publications as media for conveying the research results.
Notification of decision
Successful candidates will be notified by the end of March. Feedback on unsuccessful applications will be provided upon request by the Secretary.
Deadline
1st February at 23:59 GMT
Online Application
Applications must be submitted by the principal supervisor via the online form submission hosted on the PalAss website; a link to this form can be found at the bottom of this page.
Required Supporting Information
Section A: Project title, duration and student support requested
- Title of research project (20 words maximum)
- Duration of project (in weeks, up to a maximum of eight weeks)
- Proposed start date
- Proposed completion date
- Total amount of support requested, based on a stipend of £332.50 GBP, or its equivalent in local currency, per week of project time
- Currency
Section B: Details of supervisors, host institution and other support for the proposed project
- Full name of principal supervisor
- PalAss Membership number
- Email address of principal supervisor
- Position held by supervisor in the institution hosting the project
- Postal address of principal supervisor
- Email address of principal supervisor
- Telephone number (including dialing code if outside UK)
- Confirmation that this is the only Undergraduate Research Bursary application that the supervisor is involved with.
- Are additional supervisors involved in the project? Y/N If yes, please give details of additional supervisors (Title, first name and surname; affiliations; email address)
- Confirmation that any additional funds needed to support the project are in place
Section C: Student’s details and their motivation for applying (to be filled in by the student)
- Title, forename and surname of student applicant
- Email address
- Institution where student is registered for an undergraduate degree
- Name of degree course and expected year of graduation
- Confirmation that the student has no previous experience of a palaeontological research project.
- What has led you to apply for a Palaeontological Association Undergraduate Research Bursary to pursue this particular project with this particular supervisor? How do you think it will transform the course of your undergraduate career? (300 words maximum).
- A separate form for information about protected characteristics. This can be filled out electronically via a link that the students will receive by email after the application is submitted. The form will state clearly that this part of the application process is optional and include details about why this information is being collected.
Section D: Project Proposal
- Details of proposed research project: Give a short background to the proposed project, understandable to a non-specialist, and the research goal(s) to be tackled (300 words maximum).
- Project methods: Methods and techniques to be used to achieve these goals. If external facilities or personnel will be supporting this work, please give brief details of that support (400 words maximum).
- Project timetable: A proposed timetable of research for the project as a week-by-week breakdown (100 words maximum).
- References: Up to three recent peer-reviewed references may be cited to support the case (no word limit).
- Student role: Provide summary information on the role of the student in executing the research, plans for supervision, including how much direct mentoring the principal supervisor will give, and support of the student. Explain how the student will be involved in the dissemination of any significant results (300 words maximum).
Section E: Ethical clearance
- Does the project require any ethical clearance? Y/N. If Yes: you are affirming that you have ethical clearance for the work and can provide documentary evidence of this clearance upon request.