Awards are made to encourage educational outreach, public engagement, and related initiatives in palaeontological themes. Normally, the budget for an individual grant would be less than £5,000 GBP (or equivalent currency in the applicant’s country at the time the funds are disbursed). However, under exceptional circumstances, a budget of up to £8,000 GBP for an individual application will be considered. Grants can support either stand-alone complete projects, or they can be ‘proof of concept’ case studies that have their own outcomes but that form the groundwork for a larger bid elsewhere. Applications from any country and applicants of any nationality are welcomed to apply.
Applications for salary costs are permitted, providing a full justification is given, but 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
Proposals must fit with the charitable aims of the Association.
Preference is given to applications for a single purpose (rather than top-ups of grants for existing projects). We particularly encourage applications with an innovative aspect, such as engaging with new media, and especially cases that will disseminate good practice. We also encourage applications aimed at supporting underrepresented groups in palaeontology (see the Diversity Study for more details).
If the principal applicant is a member of the Association they should be signed into the website when submitting the form. Applicants can contact the Executive Officer Dr Jo Hellawell for further information regarding membership.
Preference will normally be given to candidates who have not previously won an award. The application deadline is 1st September and funds will normally be available from 1st November each year. The awards will be announced at the Annual General Meeting.
Proposals will be ranked on the following criteria:
- Fit to the charitable aims of the Association
- Imaginative quality, innovation, and likely spread and impact of the proposal
- Feasibility, value for money and cost effectiveness
- Track record of the investigator in engagement and education initiatives
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. Appropriate parts of the final report will be published in the Association Newsletter. Any publicity associated with the activity must mention the support of the Association.
Applications must be submitted electronically via this webpage (see below for details of the Required Supporting Information). Feedback on unsuccessful applications will be provided upon request by the Secretary.
Categories of expenditure for which the Palaeontological Association does not provide support
Please see the Palaeontological Association Grant Ethics and Conditions.
Deadline
1st September 23:59 GMT. In rare cases where rapid access to funds is critical, applications submitted outside the normal deadlines may be considered.
Online Application
Applications must be submitted electronically.
Required Supporting Information
- A CV of the principal applicant, 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 purpose of the proposal
- Size and nature of audience targeted
- Specific objectives of the programme
- Anticipated achievements and outputs
- Methodology and approach
- Programme for the action
- Means of monitoring effectiveness of delivery
- How the initiative fits the charitable aims of the Association
- Pending and previous applications (with funding bodies and results) for funds to support this or related projects.
- 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: These three documents must be submitted combined into a single PDF file, single-spaced with a minimum font size of 11 points, and a minimum margin size of 1.5 cm. The file must total less than 10Mb in size.