Deadline: 23-Dec-22
The Woodland Trust is seeking applications for its Conservation Research Programme to address one or more of the priority research themes within 24 months.
Priority Reserach Themes
The research priorities are directly aligned with their strategic goals, with an overall focus on creating a world where native trees and woods thrive for people and nature.
- Theme 1: Protect
- To enhance their ability to protect all ancient trees and woods, stop the loss of irreplaceable habitats and carbon stores, and preserve their natural heritage.
- Theme 2: Create
- To enhance their ability to create quality native woods and trees to benefit nature, climate and people into the future.
- Theme 3: Restore
- To enhance their ability to restore the ecological condition of existing native woods and trees and the landscapes in which they sit, to increase resilience and create the conditions for nature and people to thrive.
Funding Information
- Small Research Grant funding of between £20,000 and £60,000 will be awarded for research projects.
- They will consider funding
- Discrete work packages of larger grants/projects, if the Woodland Trust contribution funds a recognizable and isolated part of the project
- Investigators located inside and outside of the UK (in agreement with English and Welsh contract law)
- Empirical and modelling approaches
- Practical conservation work designed to scientifically test or trial a management intervention
- Direct research project costs, such as: project-specific research assistants (including primary investigators if not on permanent, full-time contracts); reasonable travel expenses and sustenance to support fieldwork or key activities (including reasonable adjustments not covered by another source, e.g. Access to Work); small items of equipment; consumables; and reasonable research project dissemination activities (e.g. conference attendance and webinars).
Eligibility Criteria
They welcome applications for Small Research Grant funding from individual investigators and project teams with an interest in the conservation of UK woods and trees, who clearly demonstrate an ability to present and produce scientifically credible evidence.
Funding Conditions
- Research outputs must be relevant to the conservation of UK woods and trees.
- Research must address one or more of the three grant research themes.
- Research must aim to address a specific evidence gap and produce tangible outputs within the project timeframe.
- Research must be a discrete project, or a discrete part of a larger project.
- Before submitting an application, investigators should discuss any requirements to include access to data or sites belonging to the Woodland Trust with the appropriate member of Woodland Trust staff and receive feasibility approval.
- Small Research Grants will be awarded with a single payment, upon agreement of a research grant contract between the Woodland Trust and project investigators (in agreement with English and Welsh contract law).
- The primary investigator will provide a written final report of the results of the research project to the Woodland Trust within two months of the project end. The final report should contain the results of the research, an outline of how the grant was utilised for the research and details of planned or completed outputs, such as scientific peer-reviewed papers.
- The Woodland Trust contribution must be acknowledged in any publications, outputs or publicity relating to the project.
For more information, visit https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/research-and-evidence/conservation-research-grants/