CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
| Issuance Date | 10 January 2024 |
| Application Period | 1 February to 31 August 2024 |
| Grant Value | Up to PhP 200,000 for MA students Up to PhP 300,000 for PhD students |
| Download copy of this call | Call for Applications with Application Guidelines |
The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Investing in Sustainability and Partnerships for Inclusive Growth and Regenerative Ecosystems (INSPIRE) Project, a five-year grant facility that supports locally-led conservation and climate actions by civil society groups and local communities in biologically significant areas in the Philippines, is seeking applications for the USAID INSPIRE Student Research Grant Program.
The program will provide individual grants to students undertaking their master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation focusing on topics related to biodiversity conservation, natural resource management, and climate change mitigation, in line with INSPIRE’s biodiversity and natural resource resilience and security objectives.
USAID INSPIRE is being implemented by the Gerry Roxas Foundation.
A. Eligibility Criteria
Minimum requirements for student applicants include:
- being enrolled in graduate or doctoral studies at a Philippine college or university;
- having a thesis or dissertation proposal duly approved by the thesis/dissertation faculty adviser; and
- focusing on a research topic in the fields of biodiversity conservation, sustainable landscapes, and climate change mitigation.
B. Grant Coverage
Funding will cover field research or data collection related to the thesis and dissertation topic, and the analysis and writing of a report on the research undertaken. The funding may be used to support the procurement of essential equipment (not more than PhP70,000), supplies, labor costs for data collection and analysis, travel, meetings and workshops, laboratory and other outsourced services, and other costs that may be needed to complete the funded research activity.
C. Completion Period and Deliverables
The grant will be for a period of 15 months from the date of award to MA students and 20 months from the date of award to PhD students.
By the end of the grant period, the student grantee is required to:
- deliver a presentation on research findings, either through a webinar organized by INSPIRE or at a research forum hosted by a recognized conservation organization, and
- submit a draft of a publishable paper on the findings of the funded research, which INSPIRE can publish as a project output and/or the student grantee can submit as a manuscript to a scientific journal.
D. How to Apply
- Study the application guidelines section below.
- Email your application to [email protected]. Ensure that all required documents are included; applicants with incomplete submissions will be notified.
- Take note of the important dates below.
| Research Grant Calendar | |
| First Day of Submission of Applications | 1 February 2024 |
| Last Day of Submission of Applications | 31 August 2024 |
Notices of award/non-award will be issued within one month from the submission of applications. The student applicant and USAID INSPIRE will craft a mutually-agreed upon budget and workplan prior to the formal award of the grant.
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
A. Priority Research Topics
Research topics allowed under the USAID Student Research Grant Program 2024 include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Habitat and range of threatened species and population distribution
- Wildlife population dynamics (endangered or economically important species of flora and fauna; management indicator species)
- Species assessment and discovery
- Biotic interactions
- Wildlife-human interactions
- Conservation genetics/biology
- Ecological modeling (habitat evaluation modeling, determining habitat structure and diversity)
- Restoration ecology (population and habitats)
- Governance of biodiversity areas (terrestrial, coastal)
- Environment economics
- Ecosystem services
- Ecosystem-based management
- Natural resource valuation
- Spatial data science and ecology
- Combating wildlife trafficking
- Innovative tools and systems for monitoring and enforcement
- Natural climate solutions
- Blue carbon studies
B. Application Documents
The student applicant is required to submit the following documents to USAID INSPIRE:
- Letter of application addressed to USAID INSPIRE’s Chief of Party Rebecca R. Paz
- Proof of enrolment
- Copy of thesis/dissertation proposal duly approved by the Thesis Adviser/Dissertation Committee
- Endorsement of the proposal for funding support by the Dean/Director of the graduate school or institute
- Detailed budget for the grant amount
- Indicative timeline for the research (Gantt chart)
- Updated CV of the student applicant
C. Evaluation Criteria
Applications that meet the above requirements will be evaluated based on three main criteria:
- Relevance to specific biodiversity conservation, resource management, and rehabilitation issues in identified landscape/seascape or key biodiversity area.
- The degree to which research will help address challenges pertaining to:
- Protection of threatened species and habitats
- Combating illegal trade of wildlife and wildlife products
- Sustainable resource use
- Restoration of ecosystem services and functions
- Increasing resiliency to climate change
- Reduction, removal, or avoidance of GHG emission
- New or improved technologies are introduced and can be applied or replicated in other conservation areas.
END OF CALL