Call for Applications: WCS Research Fellowship Program (Deadlines: March & September 15, 2008)

Dear Equator Net members,

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) offers a Research Fellowship Program (RFP) that provides promising young individual conservationists with an opportunity to conduct advanced and applied biodiversity conservation research to develop key research and associated skills (planning, problem-solving, communication) necessary for conservation practitioners. 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. WCS seeks projects that are based on sound and innovative conservation science and that encourage practices in conservation that can contribute to sustainable development.

Application Details

Location: The RFP supports marine or terrestrial field research in Africa, Asia, and Latin America regardless of the nationality of the applicant. In addition, the RFP accepts 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. While all applications to work in Asian, African, and Latin American countries are considered, CLP funding is restricted to 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. The RFP does not support research in North America (except as mentioned above), Australia, New Zealand, Europe or their territories, or Japan.

Grantees: The RFP will not limit any eligible individual from applying, however, most WCS grantees are:

• Professional conservationists from the country of research, and/or
• Post-graduates pursuing a higher degree

Grants: Grants are for up to $25,000. The average grant is $10,500.

Timeline: The RFP supports projects for only one year, so preference is given to discrete, short-term projects. Projects extending beyond one year must highlight achievable goals at the end of the year for which the funding is requested. Proposals are submitted in a standard format for two annual cycles with deadlines on March 15 and September 15. Final decisions and awards are usually announced at the end of June (for the March 15 deadline) and December (for the September 15 deadline) with funding becoming available in July and January.

Review and Evaluation: Proposals are evaluated on a competitive basis by outside technical reviewers and WCS staff. Projects are evaluated on three major criteria:

• Applicant's potential as a conservation professional: the capacity building value of the proposed project.
• Relevance to wildlife conservation: a clear application of the research results to an important conservation question
• Scientific merit and value: in particular a clearly expressed research question with appropriate methodology and analysis.

For more detailed information about the application process please click on the following link: Application Guidelines & Procedures and download the printer-friendly RFP Factsheet.

Warm regards,

Gaby