Deadline: 14-Nov-2025
The Wild Animal Initiative’s Seed Grant Program provides small amounts of funding to help researchers develop new ideas or build wild animal welfare questions into existing projects.
The priority topics connected to wild animal welfare include welfare indicator validation, interspecific interactions, population dynamics, cause-specific mortality, landscape ecology, cascade effects, welfare interventions, juvenile welfare, invertebrate welfare, and fish welfare.
Each Seed Grants call solicits project proposals aligned with Wild Animal Initiative’s research priorities, encouraging cost-effective projects that directly contribute to understanding and improving the welfare of wild animals.
The grant offers up to $10,000 USD for a duration of up to two years. Funding primarily covers direct research costs, with other expenses supported if fully justified. However, indirect costs, institutional overhead, and visa sponsorships are excluded.
Seed Grants are open to all applicants, with a particular emphasis on supporting postdoctoral researchers and PhD students pursuing long-term careers in wild animal welfare, as well as established investigators interested in expanding their research scope to include animal welfare components.
Projects may be standalone or add a welfare dimension to an existing study, provided they are led by a principal investigator affiliated with a recognized university, research institution, or government agency.
The eligibility criteria emphasize collaboration and ethical research. Projects must include residents from all countries where fieldwork will occur, and NGOs managing projects must be registered locally.
Research carried out in nations under U.S. sanctions or led by residents of those countries is also ineligible. Projects focused solely on wildlife conservation or those that fail to address animal welfare as the main objective are not considered.
Selection is based on several criteria including scope, impact, engagement, neglectedness, feasibility, research ethics, cost-effectiveness, and relevance to research priorities. Preference is given to projects benefiting large numbers of animals or addressing widespread welfare issues such as hunger or disease.
Applications should demonstrate clear potential for long-term impact, show feasible methodologies, and ensure ethical treatment of animals. Non-invasive methods are preferred, and applicants must justify any potentially distressing procedures.
The application process involves submitting a short Expression of Interest (EOI), which, if shortlisted, leads to an invitation for a full proposal. Proposals undergo rigorous review by experts in relevant research fields, animal care, and ethics before final decisions are made. The review team may request clarifications or modifications, and final selections are typically announced within six months of the EOI deadline.
The deadline for applications is 14 November 2025.
For more information, visit Wild Animal Initiative.
