Student Research Grant Program

Tropical Ecology Student Research Grant Program

OBJECTIVES

The Society for Tropical Ecology supports innovative ecological research in tropical ecosystems that is part of  M.Sc. or Ph.D. dissertation projects. Grants of up to €1,000 are awarded with the aim to expand and improve particularly promising research.

DEADLINES AND REQUIREMENTS

There is one deadline a year with the call being published here. The current deadline for research grants is 31. March 2024. The applicants will usually be notified by the end of August and funds will then be made available by mid-September. The grants should run for a maximum of 12 months, the Final Report will be due by October of the following year. The Society for Tropical Ecology grant must be acknowledged in any resulting publication, and a copy of the publication sent to the Society for Tropical Ecology. We further expect successful applicants to provide a short (maximum 0.5 -1 printed page) description of the project including a supporting picture or graphical abstract to be featured on our web page and the newsletter upon receiving the grant money. Sucessful candidates are also requested to prepare a 1-min project video from the field or the lab that should contain some real work experiences from the project to be fetured on our social media platform.

APPLICATION PROCESS

M.Sc. and Ph.D. students from any country and institution may apply, as long as they are members of the Society for Tropical Ecology.  Applications will be evaluated by a scientific panel nominated by the board of the Society for Tropical Ecology. The quality, innovation and feasibility of the planned research are the main criteria. 

One application per deadline is permitted, resubmissions of previously unsuccessful applications are possible if invited by the evaluation panel. The grants are awarded to individuals, not organizations.

The application comprises a CV (1 page maximum, including contact details and information demonstrating the applicant’s eligibility), a support letter by the supervisor (1 page maximum) and a project description in the standard grant proposal format (Theoretical Background, Aims, Methods, Personnel, Calendar, Broader Impacts, References, and Budget; 3 pages maximum, A4, font 11 pt, single spacing, 2 cm margins, graphs and images allowed in the text).

We expect that the grant will fund only a part of the study in most cases. That part (and its budget) should be clearly defined in the proposal, and the source of the additional research costs specified. The funding can be used only for research expenses (field and lab activities, including travel for field work), but not for PI’s salaries, attendance of conferences and training courses, overheads, or publication costs.

The application should be submitted as a single PDF via email to gto.student.grants[at]gmail.com with the subject line including the name of the applicant.