The ATBC Seed Research Grant supports research addressing tropical biology and conservation at Master’s and early Doctoral levels. Five grants of up to $1,000 each will be awarded in 2020. The grant funds may be used for international/domestic travel, lodging, meals, and other research-related expenses. Funds cannot be used to purchase permanent equipment (e.g., computers, cameras, etc.), but consumable supplies are allowed.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be an ATBC member at the time of the proposal submission. If you are not already a member, you can join here.
- Applicants must be enrolled in a Master’s or early Doctoral levels (First or Second year only).
- Applicants may receive only one seed research grant per degree program.
Evaluation Criteria
Efforts will be made to distribute awards evenly across applicants from different geographic regions and groups under-represented in STEM. Proposals will be reviewed and ranked by the ATBC Seed Research Award Committee. Proposals will be evaluated and ranked based on:
1. Scientific Quality and Intellectual Merit:
- Quality of the introductory background
- Quality and significance of research questions being addressed and/or hypotheses being tested
- Appropriateness of the proposed methods for addressing the research questions/hypotheses
- Potential for new discoveries, data generation, and/or development of new research methods
2. ATBC Mission:
- Extend to which the proposed research will contribute to the ATBC mission
3. Broader Impact:
- Strategy for disseminating results to a broader audience
- Quality and creativity of outreach activities
- Student mentoring or training
Application Requirements
1. Application form (online), that includes student's full legal name, email address, home institution, degree program, project title, location of field work, total amount of funds requested, and 250-word abstract.
2. Research proposal, with a maximum length of 3 pages, using single line spacing, 1-inch margins, and a minimum of 11-point font, including all figures and tables, that addresses the following:
- Introductory background
- Research questions and/or hypotheses
- Description of the study site/organism(s)
- Methods, including data collection and analysis
- Expected outcomes of the research
- Research significance and contribution to ATBC’s mission
- Strategy for broadly disseminating research findings to appropriate audiences
- Timeline of proposed activities
- References cited
3. Budget and justification, with an itemized listing of proposed expenses and a description of how these expenses are required to conduct the proposed work.
4. Letter of support from the student’s current graduate advisor, or research collaborator indicating: a) whether the student is making sufficient progress towards his/her degree and is capable of successfully carrying out the proposed project and b) whether the student is within the first two years of its graduate degree.
Submission instructions
- The letter of support should be named as per this example: ‘APPLICANT’S LAST NAME_FIRST NAME_ATBC-SRA_YEAR.pdf’ and uploaded at tropicalbio.org/SRA2020
- Documents 2-3 listed in the Application Requirements, should be combined in one single PDF file named as per this example: ‘LAST NAME_FIRST NAME_ATBC-SRA_YEAR.pdf’. The file should be uploaded at tropicalbio.org/SRA2020
Additional information
Awards will be made at the annual ATBC meeting, and recipients are encouraged to attend in order to receive the award in person. Before funds are awarded, the selected recipients must provide proof that they have all research permits required by the country in which the research is conducted, as well as the country in which the student is enrolled (if those are different). Applicants should consult the ATBC Resolution on Diversity and Inclusion for additional guidance.
Reporting
Students are required to submit a 1-page academic report including research findings, challenges, and images, plus a 1-page financial report with expenses and scanned receipts of major expenses.
Application Deadline: March 10, 2020
Questions should be directed to:
Patricia Delamonica Sampaio and Lisa Davenport
Co-chairs of the 2020 Seed Grant Research Award