##This post has been updated here ##
Receiving a small grant can make or break many honours and post-grads research. I’ve talked to a few honours students lately that needed funding for what I thought was interesting research but without funds their project couldn’t run. With that in mind I thought that I should share a list of grants I’ve had sitting on my hard drive (and that I will add to if I see useful grants down the track) that may help fund small projects. The list has a bias towards grants in Australia that are aimed at aquatic science, but many are for ecology in general. This list is a work in progress and I’ll add to it as I come across more grants and awards. Feel free to add to the list as well, that would be helpful, as would any tips you might like to add on getting grants.
Some tips for anyone that hasn’t applied for some of the smaller grants from NGOs. Make your application is concise and easy to read and most importantly; try to demonstrate that the granting body will get something out of supporting you. Make sure to acknowledge any organisation that provides support in any media exposure you receive and also give them photos and videos that they can use on their social media, that always goes down very well and you should really go out of your way to do this.
(Edit: a few days after posting this my friend Kylie Soanes posted her grant list, seems we had been working on the same blog idea. Kylies list is more Victorian and terrestrial based plus has some good tips so it worth checking out if you don’t find anything suitable below. You can find her list here).
Award Type | Date Due | Type | Amount |
General Ecology | |||
The Linnean Society of NSW | 1st March each year | Honours/PG | $1500-2500 |
ESA Student awards | 27th of Oct | Honours/PG | $1,500 |
ESA/TNC applied conservation award | 27th of April | Post grad | $9,000 |
ESA/Wiley Fundamental ecology award | 25th of May | Post grad | $5,000 |
ESA Jill Landsberg trust fund scholarship | 30th of March | Post grad | $6,000 |
Australian Wildlife Society Uni Grants | 31st May | Post grad | $1,500 |
Science Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry | 3rd Oct | Honours/PG | – |
The Youth Activity Fund Grant – Explorers org | 5th of Nov | UG/Honours | $500 to $5,000 |
The Exploration Fund Grant- Explorers org | 5th of Nov | Post grad + | $500 to $5,000 |
Ethel Mary Read Research Grant | 30th of April | Honours/PG | $1,500 |
The Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) | Early each year | Honours/Postgrad Travel | Up to $1500 |
Marine and Freshwater | |||
Paddy Palin | 18th August each year | Post grad | $7,000 |
AMSA Allen Award | 28 February each year | Post grad Travel | $2,500 |
Fisheries NSW student grants | Early each year | Honours/PG | – |
Seaworld Research and Rescue small grants | Early each year | Anyone | Up to $25000 |
ASFB Student Awards Various | Early each year | Honours/PG | |
ASFB Michael Hall Student Innovation Award | 30th April | Honours/PG | $2,000 |
ASFB Student International Travel Scholarship | 31st May | Honours/PG | – |
This is great Lachlan!
I’ve been slowly writing up an application for the Hollsworth Wildlife Research Endowment:
http://www.anz.com/personal/private-bank/products-services/philanthropy/granting/granting-programs/small-grants/
And Lizard Island Research Station offers some funding for research at Lizard Island:
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Doctoral-Fellowships
Thanks for posting all of these! I’ll have to check a few of them out.
LikeLike
Thanks Marty. I couldn’t decide whether or not to add in the grants that the big banks have as they are usually not just for postgrads, there are a few around from ANZ,AMP,Bendigo etc that would suit though. I’ve got one for the Hollsworth grant that I was going to submit last round but didn’t finish it in time, so I should finish that for the next round but ill see how I am going…you know how it is haha
Ill add in the Lizard Island link as well. Cheers 🙂
http://www.eqt.com.au/not-for-profit-organisations/confirmed-2015-programs/holsworth-grants.aspx
LikeLike
A few more suggestions that were sent to me. Ill add them all in at some stage
Australian Geographic http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/society/sponsorship/2013/11/apply-for-sponsorship
Australian & Pacific Science Foundation, they do big grants so might be more suitable for PhD http://apscience.org.au/
Nature Foundation SA http://www.naturefoundation.org.au/grants/
Nature Conservation Society of SA http://www.ncssa.asn.au/programs/conservation-biology-grant
Lirabenda Endowment Fund Grant (Field Naturalists Society of SA) http://www.fnssa.org.au/
Sir Mark Mitchell Research F
LikeLike
Ecological consultants of Australian student research grants $2000 http://www.ecansw.org.au/ECA-Research-Grants/
Rufford small grants – 5000 pounds Small Grants for nature conservation projects in the developing world. There are five stages of funding available.
Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund 25,000 US http://www.speciesconservation.org/grants/criteria
LikeLike
http://www.anu.edu.au/students/scholarships-support?field_student_levels_tid=128
LikeLike
One to add to the list: Bommies Award,
http://www.barrierreef.org/our-science/bommies-award
3 min video – need to demonstrate relevance to the GBR and the pressure the reef faces.
LikeLike
https://internationaleducation.gov.au/Endeavour%20program/Scholarships-and-Fellowships/Pages/default.aspx
LikeLike
A nice little write up on grant writing for PhD students
http://rhiannondalrymple.wix.com/rhiannondalrymple#!grantwriting/c1ky5
LikeLike
http://conbio.org/groups/sections/marine/small-grants
http://www.eliteediting.com.au/scholarship.aspx
http://amnat.org/announcements/NomYIAANN.html
LikeLike
Pingback: Fish Thinkers online: 2015 in review | fish thinkers