[United State] Research Fellowship Program - WCS-International
The Research Fellowship Program (RFP) is administered by WCS-International Conservation’s Training & Capacity Building Program and jointly funded by the BP Conservation Programme (BPCP). The RFP is a small grants program designed to build capacity for the next generation of conservationists through supporting individual field research projects that have a clear application to the conservation of threatened wildlife and wildlife habitat. We seek projects that are based on sound and innovative conservation science and that encourage practices in conservation that can contribute to sustainable development. Most of the grantees are professional conservationists from the country of research and/or post-graduates pursuing a higher degree.
Application Guidelines & Procedures
The RFP supports field research in Africa, Asia, and Latin America regardless of the nationality of the applicant. In addition, the RFP has just begun to accept applications from Native Americans (US) and First Nation Peoples (Canada) who intend to conduct work on native lands on issues of direct relevance to wildlife.
Grants are for up to $25,000 dollars, and are for no longer than one year. The average grant is $10,655.
Proposals are submitted in a standard format for two annual cycles with deadlines on March 15 and September 15. They are reviewed for suitability by the relevant WCS Africa, Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, Marine Conservation, and North America Regional Programs with input from BPCP partners, and then those eligible proposals meeting criteria are then sent for peer review. In general, we request reviews from four scientists both on WCS staff and in other institutions. A final decision is made by an RFP committee of WCS and BPCP staff.
While all applications to work in Asian, African, and Latin American countries are considered, we encourage applications from nationals from the following countries:
Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey and Venezuela
Building a Scientific Structure to Achieve Conservation
Since its establishment in 1993, the Research Fellowship Program has been a major international source of small grants to support applied conservation science. In 33 application rounds between 1994 and 2006, over two thousand proposals totaling a little over $23 million have been submitted to the program for funding. Of these, 281 (14.3%) proposals totaling $2.6 million have been funded. We received proposals to conduct research in sites all over the world, funding 117 of 840 proposals received for Latin America, 72 of 502 for Africa, 75 of 477 for Asia, and 13 of 124 for the marine realm. Studies in these regions have spanned the globe from China and Papua New Guinea, to Congo and Egypt, to Argentina and Mexico.
One of the priorities of the RFP has been to help train applied conservation scientists from developing countries. Over 38% of the total funded proposals have come from national conservationists (conservationists who are citizens of the country where they are conducting their research). 45% of grants to work in Latin America have been to nationals, 44% of grants to work in Asia have been to nationals, and 25% of of grants to work in Africa have been to nationals. Collectively, these young professionals will help to apply field-tested conservation science to the challenges facing the conservation community.
Deadline: March 15, 2007
contact:
The Wildlife Conservation Society
2300 Southern Boulevard
Bronx, New York 10460
(718) 220-5100
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