Porcupine
Marine Natural History Society

 

Porcupine Marine Natural History Society Small Grant Scheme 2009

For the second year running The Porcupine Marine Natural History Society is pleased to announce an opportunity to apply for funding for small research projects. A total fund of £3000 is available for small projects of one to three months duration.

Applications will be considered for any small project which falls within the objectives of the Society.

The object of this Society is to promote interest in the ecology and distribution of marine fauna and flora in the N.E. Atlantic.

Projects may be field based or pursued in a laboratory or museum. The projects could vary from basic sorting and identification, to specialist identification/study of a particular taxon of interest.

PMNHS Council would particularly encourage applications to study the Discovery Collections. The Discovery Collections at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (www.nocs.soton.ac.uk), house a great variety of both sorted and unsorted samples from the Porcupine Seabight and Porcupine abyssal plain, and provide an exciting research opportunity that could lead to the discovery of species new to science. The Discovery Collections differ from other collections in that they are dedicated solely to samples from the open ocean and the deep sea. They contain many unique and exotic animals. The Discovery Collections are used primarily for ecological research, and as a result the Collections are currently ordered so that whole samples, and hence communities, may be examined, rather than ranked by taxon, as in most museums. The samples have been collected using both quantitative and semi-quantitative gear, such as multicorers, box corers and acoustically monitored epibenthic sledges, otter trawls and midwater nets. The Collections provide important base-line data on the deep-sea environment for measuring ecosystem change and for studying local and regional biodiversity.

These collections are available for study as part of the Porcupine Marine Natural History Society Small Grant Scheme. Samples would normally be worked on at NOCS in Southampton, but may be studied in alternative approved institutions on a loan basis. Please contact Dr Tammy Horton (Discovery Collections Manager; txh@noc.soton.ac.uk) for further details if you would like to submit a proposal to study the collection.

The purpose of any project would be to make information more accessible to the wider community, and therefore a written summary (e.g. a report for the newsletter and website) of any work undertaken will be expected. The fund may be used for research costs only, and applicants are expected to fund their own living costs.

Eligibility

Applications will be accepted from students, researchers, or any person willing and able to carry out the necessary research, under appropriate supervision if that is deemed necessary. Applicants should be members of the Porcupine Marine Natural History Society (you do not have to be a current member, but must join the society to be eligible). These grants are open to all, irrespective of status, whether professional or amateur marine biologist or environmentalist. Projects will be excluded which are part of the professional work of the applicant or are part of an undergraduate or post-graduate degree programme.

Application

The application for grant should include:

• a full description of the proposed project
• when and where the project will be carried out
• the proposed time scale to complete the project
• the expected outcomes which will result from your project
• proposed publication plans for the results of the project
• a full CV of the applicant, together with details of relevant experience or training
• detailed proposed expenditure for the project

All proposals will be assessed by a panel from the PMNHS Council, and the best proposal(s) granted. The Council reserves the right to not grant any projects in any one round of applications.

Applications must be submitted by 15th April 2009 - late applications will not be admitted.

Please send applications to:

Dr. Julia Nunn, Chairman, Porcupine Marine Natural History Society

Cherry Cottage, 11 Ballyhaft Road, Newtownards, Co. Down BT22 2AW