The Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center has limited funds available to provide research grants in biology and conservation. These grants include the Jane and Stanley Birge Tropical Research Grant, The Christensen Fund Research Grant in Plant Conservation, Henry B. Cowhey Grant in Tropical Conservation, John Denver Memorial Grant in Tropical Ecology, Stephen M. Doyle Memorial Fellowship, Leo and Kay Drey Grant, Jorie Butler Kent Grant, Jane Harris Grant in Tropical Botany, Mallinckrodt Graduate Fellowship in Tropical Ecology, Mary Osborne Grant, Parker-Gentry Tropical Research Fellowship, Peter H. Raven World Ecology Research Grant, Stokes Family Grant in Tropical Conservation, and Harris Center Research Grants.Graduate students enrolled at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, who are conducting or planning to conduct research for the M.S. or Ph.D. degrees in population biology, ecology, evolution, systematics, behavior, behavioral ecology, biogeography, conservation biology, conservation policy, politics or socioeconomics of conservation, and sustainable development, are eligible to apply for funding. We welcome science that uses molecular biology and other sciences not listed above, but proposals must entail a direct connection to ecology and address a core question in conservation, ecology, and/or evolution. Priority will be given to students beginning their research careers and to those who have not previously received Harris Center funding.
Awards will normally range from $1,000-$4,000.
Successful applicants will have demonstrated that the proposed project will enhance their graduate program.
Proposals should include clear hypotheses/predictions in the narrative. Harris Center research grants will not support tuition, stipends, books or conference attendance. Eligible expenses on Harris Center research proposals include expendable research supplies and reagents, and travel and lodging, all in connection with the proposed work. Funding is available to study research organisms anywhere in the world, although certain scholarships place geographic restrictions on where the research can be conducted.
Any questions regarding eligibility and budget should be directed to the Harris Center Director. Biology graduate students are strongly encouraged to present their proposal and any preliminary results in a Biolunch prior to applying for research grant funds from the Harris Center.
Please submit completed proposals as ONE PDF file (proposal and resume together, along with reports onprevious Harris funding if that applies to you) by the competition deadline to the Harris Center team. Filename should be your surname.pdf. In the same email, send a copy to your advisor. Proposal guidelinescan be downloaded from the Harris Center website: http://hwec.umsl.edu/.
NO HARD COPIES REQUIRED.
Deadlines – Please look for exact dates in email communications from Center faculty or staff.The Fall Competition deadline will generally be 5 p.m. on the first Monday of October. Awards willbe announced in October (students who received support in the previous Spring competition are not eligible for awards in this competition).
The Spring Competition deadline is generally 5 p.m. on the first Monday in March. Awards will beannounced in March (students who receive support in the previous Fall competition will not be eligible forawards in this competition).
GUIDELINES FOR APPLICATIONS FOR HARRIS CENTER RESEARCH GRANTS
Proposal format Copies of previously funded proposals are available from the Harris Center office (Benton 111) for review by applicants. Please note that the guidelines have changed over the years and applicants should not directly model their proposals on those funded in previous years but should follow the current guidelines as detailed below.
Each application should consist of the following components:
Title Page (available from Harris Center’s webpage)
The title page should not exceed one page and should include the name of the applicant, graduate program(Ph.D. or M.S.), project title, project duration, location of field work, total funding requested, a summary of no more than 300 words, history of Harris Center funding and list of pending proposals. Specific hypotheses to be tested should be listed in the Abstract. The project title should be concise and informative. Indicate on the cover sheet whether the proposal has been reviewed by your advisor. Font size should be not less than 12 point and at least 1-inch margins are required throughout the document.Research Proposal The narrative of the research proposal should not exceed four single-spaced pages (not counting supporting figures and tables, bibliography, budget information, and 2-page curriculum vitae) for all applications. Do not embed figures in the proposal text but include as additional pages. The following
headings and sub-headings provide a suggested format for the proposal:
Objectives Project Description Introduction Hypotheses to be tested Methods Significance Project timeline
Budget
An itemized budget should be presented with each item clearly justified. For any projects whose total budget exceeds the amount allowable on a Harris Center Grant, be sure to show funding applications to other sources for those funds. Provide details on budget requests to other agencies here, including name of the agency/agencies, submission date, budget requested and the award announcement date. It is expected that allocated funds will be spent within two calendar years from the time of the award. Eligible expenses on Harris Center research proposals include expendable research supplies and reagents, and travel and lodging, all in connection with the proposed work.
Curriculum Vitae
A two page curriculum vitae should be attached to the proposal. Include in the resume a summary of your academic progress: years in program, courses completed, completion of qualifying exams, proposal defense, etc.
Ancillary information
Proposals that involve research on humans or other vertebrates must conform to human and vertebrateanimal welfare policies at University of Missouri-St. Louis. Guidelines of these policies may be obtainedfrom the Office of Research Administration. Appropriate permits for collecting biological specimens must beobtained or in the process of being obtained prior to accessing funds awarded by the Harris Center.If you have received prior funding from the Harris Center, please append a single page document detailingthe aims of that work and the outcomes of the funding. Please explain what additional funding will makepossible for your project, and why you cannot obtain this funding from another source.
Proposal checklist
A good proposal should address the following questions:
- Do the title and project summary match the purpose and scope of the project?
- Does the Introduction explicitly indicate the validity of the concept to be investigated and leadinto the project description?
- Is previous work adequately used to frame the question to be answered by the project?
- Are the methods appropriate to the research question or hypothesis proposed?
- Is the significance of the work apparent, both to someone in your research area as well assomeone outside your discipline area?
- Have you provided a project timeline?
- Is the budget well justified and appropriate for funding by the Harris Center?
- Did your colleagues and advisor have ample time to review your proposal before submission?
- Have you presented an informal seminar describing your proposal to your lab group or Biolunch?
- Have appropriate protocol forms been reviewed by the University of Missouri-St. Louis AnimalCare Committee? (Research monies from the Harris Center will be withheld until all necessaryprotocols are approved.)
- Have appropriate permits to collect biological specimens been obtained or sought from appropriateauthorities in all countries where research is to be carried out? (Research monies from the Harris Center will be withheld until all necessary permits are obtained.)
Proposal evaluation criteria
Your proposal will be evaluated on its academic merit and probability of success. In addition, preference will be given to students beginning their research careers, projects that have not previously received Harris Center research funding, and students who have demonstrated efforts to seek external research money. All things being equal, consideration will be given to students who are active in Harris Center programs. Students with previous Harris Center support must have on record a final report of previous Harris Center research and provide within the new application a summary of this research and clearly demonstrate why additional funds are necessary from the Harris Center and cannot be obtained elsewhere (see Item 7 on proposal checklist). Reviewers will rate each proposal on academic merit and probability of success from poor (5) to excellent (1) and only proposals in categories 1 and 2 are likely to receive support.