Call for grant applications: Research in the intersection of ecology and wild animal welfare science at master’s level

27 May 2019

Are you a student in life sciences deciding on your master’s research topic who wants to make a difference for animals with your work?

Research on wild animal welfare is growing, though it is still significantly behind similar work carried out about domesticated animals. In addition, it often focuses on the welfare of captive wild animals rather than animals living outside human control, either in wild or in other areas (such as urban, agricultural or semi-wild areas). Work in different fields of ecology, in turn, assess many aspects of the lives of these animals, but their welfare is not one of them. Due to the lack of work on this topic, Animal Ethics is calling for applications for grants to carry out research work at master’s level in the fields of wild animal welfare and wild animal welfare biology. A maximum of three candidates will be selected and each will receive up to $5,000.

The project must be for the grantee’s master’s thesis. The project must have strong potential for impact in terms of either informing practice or fostering further academic work. Eligible areas of work include:

Research exploring methods to assess the welfare of animals living in the wild

Work to understand the ways animals can be negatively affected by natural causes, or a combination of both indirect anthropogenic and natural factors (the project should not be focused on anthropogenic harms suffered by animals)

Research on how to assess the ways to aid animals suffering due to those factors (for instance, vaccination, feeding programs, etc.)

Work on urban ecology to assess the wellbeing of animals in urban, suburban, or industrial areas

Applications are open to researchers from most nationalities and countries. An example of research funded by Animal Ethics can be seen here. Also see “Research projects in welfare biology” for ideas of research projects we would like to see conducted.

Eligibility criteria

Applications are open to master’s students from most nationalities and countries, as long as the thesis is written in English. There are no restrictions on the location of the institution where the research will be carried out as long as OFAC compliance requirements are met.

Each grant recipient must submit their thesis in 2020. The result of the work must later be published in open access, either via the student’s institution, on the student’s website, on some other platform, or in open access academic journals.

Grant timeline

Application deadline: July 31, 2019

Announcement of selected candidates: August 15, 2019

Payment of the first part of the grant (max. 50 %): when the project is accepted by the student’s master’s program

Completion of the project: 2019-2020

Payment of the second part of the grant: when the grantee’s thesis is completed and submitted

How to apply

Please submit the following documents (in English) to academic(a)animal-ethics.org:

Your CV

Details of the research project to be developed, including the publication(s) you plan to write with the results and their expected impact

A short cover letter stating why you are the right person to carry out the research project and why the host institution is an appropriate place for it to be developed

Please submit these as three separate documents rather than combining them into one.

About us

Animal Ethics is a nonprofit organization formed to provide information and promote research about issues affecting animals in general, with a particular focus on animals in the wild. We are based in the USA, and also work in Europe and Latin America.