Career Development Grant

The Career Development Grant is to assist talented early-career researchers who have recently completed their PhD to strengthen their CVs to help them achieve a career in palaeontology (research or curation). The grant provides funding of up to £2,500, to be paid after submission of thesis and cessation of funding, for any purpose that would lead to the strengthening of the CV via completion of a measurable activity or output. Successful applicants will be notified in the December following the application deadline, with funding available for use from January of the calendar year following the deadline. Under normal circumstances, applicants must be able to take up the funding by April of the calendar year following the deadline.    

The grantee is also automatically enrolled in the PalAss mentoring scheme and will be assigned a mentor by agreement. 

Some examples of things that the grant could be used for include (but are not limited to): 

• Help with living costs while turning a PhD chapter into a publication;
• Help with living costs while writing a fellowship or grant application; 
• Further data collection that would allow a chapter to become publishable; 
• A training course that would lead to skills enhancement;
• A training or research internship in another research group.

The grant cannot be used to pay overheads, open access or page charges, and cannot be used to support employment of another e.g. a student research assistant. Applicants must be members of the Association, should be submitting their PhD in the near future or have recently submitted their PhD (within one year), and should have no other form of substantial financial support on cessation of PhD funding. Applicants who have been awarded a postdoc or fellowship after their PhD, or who have already held a postdoc or fellowship, are not eligible to apply. Upon completion of the activity, applicants are asked to write a short report, which may be published in the Association’s Newsletter. Proposals to make up a funding shortfall from other sources are not eligible. Proposals must fit within the charitable aims of the Association and will be subject to appropriate research ethics considerations. 

Proposals will be ranked on the following criteria: 

• Demonstrable need for funding;
• A clear and well-explained future career plan;
• How the funding will help the candidate to strengthen their CV to achieve their future career plan;
• Feasibility;
• Value for money and cost effectiveness.

The rubric for this grant is available here: The Palaeontological Association Career Development Grant Rubric. Please see also the Palaeontological Association Grant Ethics and Conditions.