Deadline: 4-Aug-23
The Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF) is currently accepting applications for human behaviour change research proposals that cover the topic: “Breeding for better welfare: enabling human behaviour that leads to animals experiencing a better life”.
This research call aims to fund innovative projects investigating how they can positively enable changes in human behaviour to improve the welfare of any managed species in the UK, with a particular focus on breeding issues. AWF is seeking projects with a practical application or potential for practical application. The breeding theme is not restricted to genetic aspects and can encompass a range of issues relating to breeding practices that affect animal welfare.
They will also consider exceptional projects on animal welfare issues that do not fall within this call, providing they meet the robust scientific criteria.
In this year’s call AWF particularly welcomes social science and qualitative projects, as these may be particularly effective methods for research aiming to enable human behaviour change. They are encouraging researchers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to apply, fostering a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to address the complexities of animal welfare challenges.
Themes
- Some suggested areas of research within this theme are as follows.
- How can veterinary, animal welfare and para-professionals help change human behaviour to improve animal breeding for better welfare?
- How can they better recognise and avoid or alleviate poor welfare in animal breeds? How can societal norms about this be shifted?
- How can they emphasise to owners the genetic component of several common disease syndromes in order to reduce their future incidence?
Funding Information
- AWF will invest a total of £70,000 into its grant giving this year. They are thus encouraging submissions for small to medium-sized projects in response to this call.
- A total of £40,000 is available for research into horses, cattle and sheep.
- A total of £30,000 is available for research on any species.
Duration
- Projects should be of up to 18 months’ duration.
- Projects are required to start within 6 months from the date the award is granted.
Eligibility Criteria
- The principal investigator should have a minimum of 2 years’ research experience and be based in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Grants can be used to fund Masters students; they will cover the pro-rata costs of a Masters student for the period they are working on the project (i.e. not the taught part of the course).
For more information, visit Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF).