Awards are made to assist palaeontological research up to a maximum value of £10,000 GBP per award. Normally, grants must support a single research project, or a ‘proof of concept’ proposal with an aim of supporting future applications to national research funding bodies. Field-based projects are also eligible, but the scientific objectives and outcomes of the research must be made clear.
Applications for investigator’s salary costs will only be considered in exceptional circumstances and if awarded all legal and financial liability will lie with the applicant (see: Categories of expenditure for which the Palaeontological Association does not provide support).
Other conditions
Preference is given to applications for a single purpose (rather than top-ups of other grant applications). Applicants must be members of the Association and will normally have a PhD and a successful track record as an independent scientific investigator. Current PhD students (i.e. those who have not yet been awarded a PhD by the application deadline) are not eligible for this scheme and instead should consider the Small Grants Scheme.
Preference will normally be given to candidates who have not previously won an award. Proposals must fit with the charitable aims of the Association. We expect applicants to work in meaningful and mutually beneficial ways with local collaborators as appropriate to the project, and to consider relevant ethical aspects.
Proposals will be ranked on the following criteria:
- Scientific quality of research, novelty and timeliness, likely outputs
- Feasibility
- Value for money and cost effectiveness
- The scientific track record of the investigator
The rubric for this grant is available here:
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At the end of the award period a final report (including receipted accounts) will be submitted for review by the Trustees or, where appropriate, external referees. This final report will also be printed in the Newsletter. Awardees are asked to prioritise the Association’s meetings and publications as media for conveying the research results.
Applications must be submitted electronically through the PalAss website (see below for details of the Required Supporting Information), with a deadline of 1st March. Enquiries may be made to the Secretary (secretary@palass.org).
Successful applications will be reported at the May Council meeting, and funds will normally be available from 1st June. The awards will be announced at the AGM. Feedback on unsuccessful applications will be provided upon request by the Secretary.
Categories of expenditure for which the Palaeontological Association does not provide support
Applicants are advised that the Association does not offer funding through research grants to support the attendance at, or organisation of, conferences, workshops or exhibitions, or any of the expenditure outlined on the Palaeontological Association Grant Ethics and Conditions.
Deadline
1st March at 23:59 GMT
Online Application
Applications must be submitted electronically. The application requires your personal details (as the principal applicant), project details within one uploaded PDF document containg the required supporting information (see below), and the details of three referees that may be approached to review the proposal.
Required Supporting Information
- A CV of the principal researcher, up to TWO A4 pages in length
- A 'Case for Support' of up to TWO A4 pages in length which addresses the following points:
- Underlying rationale and scientific issues to be addressed
- Specific objectives of the research
- Anticipated achievements and outputs
- Methodology and approach
- Programme and/or plan of research
- How the research fits the charitable aims of the Association
- Proposals for wider dissemination of results including those relating to the wider public understanding of science
- Applicants must also list pending and previous applications (with funding bodies and results) for funds to support this or related research.
- A breakdown of the proposed expenditure, up to ONE A4 page in length.
- If other individuals are to be involved with the project, this document must include a clear justification of their role(s) and costs.
Note: This documents must be submitted as a single PDF file, single-spaced with a minimum font size of 11 points, and a minimum margin size of 1.5cm. This file must total less than 10MB in size.
Online Submission