Deadline: 14-Nov-2025
The Wild Animal Initiative’s Challenge Grant Program provides support to researchers exploring critical research questions that will unlock new avenues of wild animal welfare research and are not prioritized by other funders.
The Challenge Grants prioritize projects that connect wild animal welfare to at least one of several key research areas: welfare indicator validation, interspecific interactions, population dynamics, cause-specific mortality, landscape ecology, cascade effects, welfare interventions, juvenile welfare, invertebrate welfare, and fish welfare.
These themes encompass evaluating and validating welfare metrics, understanding species interactions and population impacts, examining causes of death, exploring welfare variations across habitats, analyzing ecological chain effects, developing interventions like vaccination or contraception, and studying welfare across life stages and diverse taxa including invertebrates and fish.
Each round of Challenge Grants calls for projects within one or more specific themes. These grants, valued between $50,000 and $100,000 USD, can run for up to five years. They must be led by experienced principal investigators but may also support students or early-career collaborators. Applicants may request consideration for a Wild Animal Initiative Fellowship, which offers mentorship and a supplementary stipend to postdoctoral researchers and PhD students pursuing a long-term career in wild animal welfare research.
Eligible projects may be standalone or may add a wild animal welfare component to an existing non-Wild Animal Initiative funded project. Projects must be led by a principal investigator affiliated with a university or research institution such as a government agency. Collaborators must include residents of all countries where fieldwork will occur, and NGOs managing projects must be registered in those countries. The funding primarily supports direct research costs like supplies and materials, though other expenses may be covered if justified.
Projects are evaluated based on several key criteria including scope, impact, engagement, neglectedness, feasibility, research ethics, cost-effectiveness, and relevance to research priorities. The scope considers the number of animals who could potentially benefit, with preference for projects addressing abundant species or transferable welfare issues.
Impact assesses both short-term and long-term potential improvements to animal welfare, while engagement considers how projects might inspire or enable further research or policy action. Neglectedness favors projects unlikely to receive mainstream funding due to their unique welfare focus. Feasibility evaluates whether the proposed methods and team expertise are sufficient, and research ethics ensure the avoidance of unnecessary harm to animals or inequities in international research collaborations. Cost-effectiveness and clear alignment with Wild Animal Initiative’s research priorities are also critical.
Proposals must clearly demonstrate their relevance to wild animal welfare, justify chosen study methods, and outline the time commitment of each team member. Projects that involve harmful or destructive sampling methods are discouraged unless fully justified.
The application process begins with submitting a short Expression of Interest (EOI), which is reviewed for eligibility and relevance. Shortlisted applicants are invited to submit a full proposal, which undergoes external review by experts in animal care, ethics, and technical fields. Applicants may be asked to provide clarifications or modifications before final selections are made. Decisions are generally announced within six months of the EOI deadline.
The deadline for applications is 14 November 2025.
For more information, visit Wild Animal Initiative.
