THE AUSTRALIAN LEPIDOPTERA RESEARCH ENDOWMENT
The Australian Lepidoptera Research Endowment (ALRE), established by Drs Marianne Horak and Douglas Hilton within the Perpetual Foundation, wishes to support taxonomic and phylogenetic research on Australian moths and butterflies by professional and amateur entomologists, and to enhance the curation of the Lepidoptera collection at the Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC).
GRANT INFORMATION
A call for applications will be made by the Endowment in January each year and will outline the amount of funding available and the areas that will be considered for support. The deadline for receipt of applications will be 1 March.
A decision on which applications to recommend to the trustee to fund from the Endowment will be made by the Scientific Advisory Committee and the trustee will advise successful applicants by 31 May. Researchers must provide the Scientific Advisory Committee with a report showing previously funded research has been completed before becoming eligible for potential new funding.
This announcement will be made via email or newsletter to MABA members (sign up for membership to be alerted).
GRANT APPLICATIONS 2023–2024
We are pleased to announce grants of up to $4500 from the Perpetual Foundation - Australian Lepidoptera Research Endowment (ALRE) for the financial year July 2023 to 2024, and we are inviting applications.
APPLICATION
Download the application form here: Application Form
The application form should be submitted by 1 March 2023 by email to Marianne.Horak@csiro.au.
For queries please contact Marianne Horak at Marianne.Horak@csiro.au or via telephone 041749438.
ALRE GRANT PROJECT ELIGIBILITY
Any lepidopterist, amateur or professional, working on the Australian fauna, is eligible to apply for any of the activities considered for support.
To be eligible, grants can only be handled by organisations that hold Australian Taxation Office Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR1) endorsement (covered by Item 1 of the table in section 30-15 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997). Further documentation may be requested during the selection process to confirm an organisation’s eligibility.
The endowment supports endeavors in the following areas of interest on Australian lepidoptera:
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Support for visitors or students to curate parts of the ANIC Lepidoptera collection
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Collecting trips designed to obtain material for specific taxonomic studies
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Molecular, morphological and life-history research to generate data for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies
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Provision of cabinets to amateur collectors to ensure proper housing of material collected or on loan from Institutions
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Preparation and printing of scientific publications
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Travel and accommodation for international researchers to work in the ANIC to undertake taxonomic research and/or curatorial work enhancing the scientific value of the collection
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Scholarships to support undergraduate, MSc and PhD students undertaking taxonomic and phylogenetic research.
SELECTION PROCESS
The applications will be assessed by the ALRE Scientific Advisory Committee and a recommendation with applications to be funded from the ALRE will be made to the trustee in April 2023.
Successful applicants will be advised by the trustee by 31 May 2023 and the grant will be disbursed to the eligible beneficiaries.
GRANTS AWARDED IN 2024
1. Alberto Zilli (ANIC): Unlocking the value of Papuan Noctuoidea holdings at the Australian National Insect Collection ($4,500).
2. Peter Mackey (ANIC): An investigation of the genus Urocoma as part of an ongoing revision of the Australian Lymantriinae (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) ($4,500).
3. Mengjie Jin (ANIC): Phylogeny and taxonomy of Australian Heliozelidae (Adeloidea) ($11,000).