Evolving Earth Foundation Student Grant Program

Our 2018 grant cycle is now open.

The deadline for applications is March 1, 2018.

Overview

Introduction

The Evolving Earth grant program provides grants to support student research in the earth sciences. A total of 10 grants are available each year, for amounts of up to $3,000 per grant. Undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers at accredited U.S. colleges and universities or research institutions are eligible to apply for grant funding.

The emphasis will be on research topics that relate to the mission and priorities of the foundation. Please read our mission statement and review the grant award conditions to determine whether your research is applicable.

You can also see all grant award winners from previous years.

Deadline

THE DEADLINE FOR 2018 GRANT APPLICATIONS IS MARCH 1st, 2018. Applications that are received after the deadline will not be accepted.

Requirements

Your grant application must include:

Applications that are missing any of these major elements will not be considered for funding.

How to Submit

Submit Online

Email grant applications in PDF format only to: grants@evolvingearth.org

Submit by Mail

If desired, grant applications may also be snail mailed to:

Evolving Earth Foundation
P.O. Box 2090
Issaquah, WA 98027

Questions?

If you have questions, please:

Details

Important Notes

Please note that the final signature block on the Grant Application Form is to be signed by an authorized approver for your institution. Most universities have a grant or sponsored research office that is required to review and approve external grant requests. To avoid delays in the processing of any potential grant award, please check the policies at your institution to ensure that your application receives the proper internal approvals before it is submitted to the Evolving Earth Foundation.

Many universities do not allow students to be listed as the Principal Investigator on grant applications. In those cases, the faculty advisor may be listed as the Principal Investigator with the student as co-investigator. The student researcher is expected to write the grant proposal and to perform the work as outlined in the grant application under the supervision of the faculty advisor.

The Evolving Earth Foundation will only provide grants to accredited non-profit institutions. If requested, you may need to provide proof of your institution’s current IRS Tax-Exempt Status. Grant award checks are written to the institution, not to an individual.

Proposal Description


The proposal description should be clear and concise, and must contain the following sections:

  • Proposal Narrative (four pages max, including figures)
  • Bibliography (one page)
  • Student Researcher Education and Experience (one page)

The proposal narrative should discuss the goals and scientific significance of your research, research methodology, timeline for the project, and expected deliverables (publication, public outreach, etc.)

The education and experience section should list academic degrees that have been earned or are in progress, date awarded, institution, and expected graduation date as applicable. Any publications from the last five years should also be listed. This section must also provide name and contact information for the faculty advisor.

Budget

Provide an itemized budget for your project. Requested items should clearly be required for the proposed research. In addition to itemized costs, the budget description should include the following information where applicable:

  • Total budget for the project – including the amount requested from the Evolving Earth Foundation and any additional funding sources. Funding that you have received from internal or external sources will add credibility to your application.
  • Equipment and supplies – provide a list of any consumable equipment or supplies needed to support your research. Non-consumable equipment (i.e. digital cameras, computers/accessories, analytical equipment, etc.) are not normally funded by our grants. If required and not available from other sources, any such equipment in the budget request must be clearly justified.
  • Travel – provide expected costs for travel directly needed to conduct the research.
  • Publishing costs – estimated page costs for publication of research results.

Applicants should note that the following items are not funded by Evolving Earth Foundation grants: institutional overhead and indirect costs, salaries, stipends or fringe benefits, and travel to scientific meetings (except as needed for presentation of grant funded research).

 

Letter of Recommendation

A letter of recommendation from your advisor is required. The letter should be sent separately via email in PDF format only to: grants@evolvingearth.org

Your letter of recommendation must be received by March 1, 2018.

Evaluation Process

Grant applications are reviewed by foundation personnel and are evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Scientific merit
  • Applicability to foundation mission and priorities
  • Quality of proposal
  • Project viability
  • Budget efficiency
  • Strength of letter of recommendation

Grant applications that support our mission in any way will be considered, although preference will be given to grant requests that directly relate to the foundation focus areas:

  • Understanding of paleoenvironments and paleoclimates during different intervals in earth’s history.
  • Understanding of taphonomic processes in terrestrial, marine, and freshwater environments.
  • Evolution, systematics or taxonomy of fossil plant or animal groups.
  • Paleontological, paleobotanical, or paleoecological studies of specific fossil localities. A multidisciplinary approach is strongly encouraged.
  • Relationships of organisms in paleocommunities with each other or with their physical environment.
  • Evolution of landforms and geologic features. This can be on a global, regional, or local scale.

Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by April 30th, 2018. All decisions are final.

Grant Awards and Reporting Requirements

If your application is successful, we will contact the grant administrator listed on your application to coordinate the grant award. Award checks are written to the institution, not to the applicant.

All grants are subject to our grant award conditions.

We require annual updates for your grant funded project, due May 1st of each year until your project is complete or grant funds are expended. Annual reports are informal; mainly we’d like you to check in via email and let us know how things are going. Within sixty days of the completion of your project or the expenditure of all grant funds, we request a formal final report that discusses the results of your project and accounts for the use of grant funding. You may also be invited to share your results in our News section.