2024 Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards Competition
The Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards, part of the Graduate Research Excellence Grants, are to assist students in the later stages of their PhD programs. Funds can be used to enhance the scope of dissertation research, such as to conduct additional experiments or field work. Awards up to US $3500 will be granted.
Students are eligible if they are SSE members, will defend after October 15, 2025, and are either 1) in at least their 3rd year of a >4-year doctoral degree program, 2) in the 2nd year of a 3- to 4-year program, or 3) otherwise deemed “advanced” by a letter from their advisor or graduate director. Students should also confirm that the proposed work is outside the scope of other funding currently held by either the student or their advisor.
Application instructions and evaluation criteria will be posted here when available.
Deadline: October 15, 2024, 5:00 PM Eastern
About | Eligibility | Funding | How to apply | Evaluation criteria | Next steps | FAQ
The Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) is pleased to announce the 2024 Graduate Research Excellence Grant (GREG) – Rosemary Grant Advanced Award competition. These awards are to assist students in the later stages of their PhD programs. These grants are part of the Graduate Research Excellence Grants award program.
Only advanced* PhD students who are more than 12 months from defense date at the proposal due date are eligible. Eligibility can be confirmed by the advisor or graduate director stating that the student fulfills these requirements.
*Advanced PhD students are defined as:
Student applicants must be members of SSE, and are advised to join SSE, if not already members, as soon as possible to facilitate their applications.
Previous applicants to the GREG - Rosemary Grant Advanced Award who were not selected for funding are welcome to re-apply if they still meet the other eligibility requirements.
This award is not limited to students in the United States, and we welcome applications from our international members.
Applicants do not have to be enrolled in an evolutionary biology program to apply, but proposals must address a topic in evolutionary biology.
The applicant's advisor is not required to be a member of SSE in order for the student to apply for this award.
Awards will range from US$2,000 - $3,500 and approximately ten awards will be made. Funds can be used to enhance the scope of dissertation research, such as to conduct additional experiments or field work. Funding is not limited to any particular aspect of research. Students should confirm that the proposed work is outside the scope of other funding held by either the student or their advisor. NOTE: Indirect costs may not be charged to any of our awards or grants.
***The 2024 GREG - Rosemary Grant Advanced Award applications will be due October 15, 2024 at 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time.***
1. You must be a member of SSE to access the application. (Join or renew your membership here.)
2. Go to the SSE Awards site.
3. In the top right, log in with your SSE member username and password. If you have trouble loggin in, you can look up your username or reset your password here.
4. Once you are logged in, click the word "here" in "Click here to see your current award options."
5. Click “Submit a new Proposal for ‘2024 Rosemary Grant Advanced Award’" to access the application.
The application will request two documents:
1. Your research proposal and budget (see below for formatting requirements).
2. Signed letter from your thesis advisor or graduate director confirming your eligibility.
Please upload both as PDFs.
Research Proposal Formatting Requirements
Budget Requirements
Please upload your proposal and budget together in a single PDF.
Advisor Letter Requirements
The letter should be signed by your thesis advisor or graduate director. This should include confirmation that:
†If you select "Other" as the reason you meet the "Advanced" criteria, the letter must include an explanation of what makes you an "Advanced" PhD student.
Note: This letter is *not* a letter of recommendation. Include only the information requested.
Sample letter:
Dear Selection Committee,
This letter confirms that [Student Name] is eligible for the SSE GREG - Rosemary Grant Advanced Award. I am [Student Name]’s supervisor. [Student Name] is in the third year of our five year PhD program and is post-candidacy. [Student Name] is more than 12 months from defending their thesis.
Sincerely,
[Advisor/Graduate Director Name]
How to Write Your Research Proposal
Your research proposal should include the objectives, methods, significance, and schedule of your project, including how the award would enhance your thesis work. Focus on convincing the selection committee of the importance of the question, how the funds will allow you to reach certain objectives and expand the scope of your thesis work, and how these objectives fit into your overall thesis project.
Proposals will be evaluated anonymously. Do not include your name in the research proposal.
General proposal structure with approximate length suggestions:
Background (250-500 words)
- Start with the big picture: What is the context of your proposed research? What is already known about this area of study?
- Summarize previous research in this field: What findings will your work build upon? What are the gaps in our knowledge that your research will try to answer?
Research Objective (100-150 words)
- State your specific hypothesis: What is your research question? What will you learn from this study? How will it address a gap in our knowledge of this field?
Methods (250-500 words)
- Data collection: What data will you collect, and how?
- Data analysis: How will you analyze your data?
- Connection to research objective: How will collecting these data allow you to answer your research question?
Significance/Impact (150-300 words)
- How does this research fit into your overall dissertation?
- What effect will these findings have on the field?
- How will this grant help you achieve your research goals?
References
- References may be submitted in any style or format, as long as it is consistent throughout the proposal.
Other notes:
- Use first-person singular pronouns (I, me, and my, not we, us, or our) to describe what you will do.
- Define any jargon terms that people outside of your specific area of research may not know.
- If possible, have someone else proofread your proposal to check for grammar and spelling errors.
Sample Research Proposals
Links to previously funded proposals are available on the application form. Please note that these proposals are not meant to be prescriptive, and are not indicative of what proposals will be funded in this year's award cycle. They are only meant to be examples of the structure and language used in previously successful proposals. These proposals are posted with permission of the authors.
Demographic Information
The application also requests demographic information. Your answers to these questions will not be visible to the review committee during evaluation. Answering demographic questions is voluntary — each question includes an option not to answer, and you may choose to answer as many or as few questions as you wish. Anonymized, aggregate responses will be used to assess demographic patterns in applicants and awardees and to assess any potential bias in awarding, as part of our efforts to pursue equity in awards and grants.
In an effort to better serve student applicants around the globe, a portion of the 2024 Rosemary Grant Advanced awards will be reserved for students whose undergraduate or graduate institution is located in one of the countries eligible for discounted membership through our Global Membership Assistance program.
Learn more about what data will be collected and how they will be used.
Submitting Your Application
At the bottom of the application, you have the option to SAVE or COMPLETE your application. Click SAVE to save your work and come back to it later. Click COMPLETE to submit your application. Your application must be marked as COMPLETE in order to be scored.
After you submit your materials by clicking COMPLETE, you should receive an email confirmation of receipt within 72 hours. If you do not, please contact SSE-Manager@EvolutionSociety.org.
Please email communications@evolutionsociety.org with any questions.
DEADLINE: October 15, 2024, 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (21:00 UTC)
Applications will be reviewed using the following two broad criteria:
1. Proposal structure, logic, and clarity
(A) Motivation of research: How well does the proposal situate the project in the context of the field by stating the big-picture question and/or the broader significance?
(B) Clarity of hypotheses or questions: Are the specific hypotheses or research questions clearly stated? Does the proposal provide sufficient rationale so that the evaluator can understand the logic behind the hypotheses or questions?
(C) Connection between objectives and design: Does the proposal clearly and explicitly tie the hypothesis or research questions and the methods to the broad motivating question? Are the proposed methods appropriate to test the stated hypotheses/research questions?
(D) Explanation of methods / analysis: Does the proposal provide enough explanation of the proposed methods, in language that can be understood by an educated but non-expert reviewer?
2. Scientific contribution
Does the proposed project address an unresolved topic, in a novel or interesting way, that is likely to move the field of evolutionary biology forward?
All applicants will receive decisions on their proposals in December via email and will be able to access reviewer comments on the awards site. In addition, award winners will be announced on the SSE website and at the following year's Evolution meeting during the SSE Presidential Address.
Awards directly to the awardee are typically subject to 1099 reporting, and thus must be included as income by the recipient. All awardees receiving the award directly will need to complete an IRS W-9 or W8-BEN form prior to dispersal of the award. The appropriate form will depend on the awardee's individual tax filing obligations. Alternatively, awardees may have their check deposited in a university research account. This award covers direct costs of research only; institutional indirect costs may not be charged to this award. See more in the FAQ.
Recipients will be invited to present their research in a new virtual GREG Seminar Series hosted by SSE and the SSE Graduate Student Advisory Committee.
Recicipients are encouraged to consider submitting work funded by the Rosemary Grant Advanced Award to Evolution or Evolution Letters. All work published with funds from the award should acknowledge the work as funded by the Graduate Research Excellence Grant - Rosemary Grant Advanced Award from SSE. Please send a link to your paper to communications@evolutionsociety.org after publication for our internal records and so that we may promote your work on social media.
Members are encouraged to contribute to the Graduate Research Excellence Grant award program!
If I get the award, do I have to use the funds by a certain time?
No, there is no deadline for using the funds.
My faculty advisor isn’t a member of SSE - am I eligible?
Yes, if you meet the other requirements - faculty advisors are no longer required to be members of SSE.
I received a Lewontin Early Award already. Does this make me ineligible to receive a Rosemary Grant Advanced Award?
No. Receiving a Lewontin Early Award does not preclude you from receiving a Rosemary Grant Advanced Award, as long as you meet the other requirements and at least one year has passed since you received the Lewontin Early Award. If you received a Lewontin Early Award earlier this year, you may not apply for this round of Rosemary Grant Advanced Awards.
Can I use the award to pay part of my own salary?
No, salaries are not considered a research expense for this award. Awarded funds, can, however, be used to pay hourly wages for student research assistants.
Can I use the award to attend a meeting or workshop?
No. Meeting or workshop attendance and/or travel are not considered research expenses for this award. Travel and lodging for field collecting or sample analysis is permitted.
Can I use the award to purchase a computer?
No. Computers are not considered a research expense for this award.
If you do not see your question here, please contact communications@evolutionsociety.org.
