AAS Grants

The American Arachnological Society maintains two funds that support arachnological research. Both are to support the costs of research such as materials, expendables, and travel. Neither provides salary or stipend.

Arachnological Research Fund

Description: The American Arachnological Society Arachnological Research Fund is funded and administered by the American Arachnological Society. The purpose of the fund is to provide research support for work relating to any aspect of the behavior, ecology, physiology, evolution or systematics of any of the arachnid groups. Awards may be used for field work, museum research (including travel), expendable supplies, identification of specimens, and/or for preparation of figures and drawings for publication. Monies from the fund are not meant to augment or replace salary.

Typical Award: $250 to $350
Submission Deadline: January 15 each year
Notification Deadline: April 15 each year

Eligibility: Research grants are awarded only to student and regular members of the AAS who are receiving less than $500 of institutional support for research. If you are from a developing nation, sponsored memberships are available and must be obtained to be eligible for a grant. The AAS is unable to provide support for researchers or students who are from U.S. embargoed countries, but it can provide sponsored memberships. Learn about Membership here.

Application. To be considered for an award from the Arachnological Research Fund, please submit, in English, a cover letter and 4 copies of the proposal detaling your research project.

The COVER LETTER should include:

your INSTITUTION
your POSITION or the STAGE OF YOUR STUDIES (graduate studen, post doctoral fellow, etc.)
your CONTACT INFORMATION including your EMAIL ADDRESS
the TITLE of your proposal
that you are applying for the ARACHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH FUND
and a list of OTHER RESEARCH FUNDS, for which you have applie or which are available to you.

The PROPOSAL should be in English and should be typed in a 12 point or larger font, and should be no longer than 10 pages (including references) double-spaced. It should include these parts:

INTRODUCTION where background information is presented relative to the proposed work. The introduction should include:

a section which places the proposed workin context with currently known relevant information,
a section which provides justification for the proposed work,
and a clear statement of the hypothesis (ses) to be tested, or in the case of revisions, the type of synthesis tha wil be achieved and its significance;

METHODS where the methods, materials, and taxonomic analysis(ses) to be used are clearly and concisely presented;
LITERATURE CITED
BUDGET showing (in detail) how awarded monies will be spent on the proposed research.

Submission: Proposals should be submitted to -

Dr. Deborah Smith, Arachnological Research Fund Chair
University of Kansas
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Program in Entomology
Haworth Hall, 1200 Sunnyside Ave.
Lawrence, KS 66045-7534

Telephone: (785) 864-4340; FAX (785) 864-5321

Email: Dr. Deborah Smith

Proposals must be submitted in English. The four copies of the proposal plus cover letter must be in the hands of the Fund chair by the deadline to be considered. Electronic submission and/or FAX submission of proposals with hard copies to follow is acceptable only if the electronic copies arrive before the stated deadline. If these submission rules are difficult or prohibitive because of cost, erratic postal services or remote location (remote field stations or sites), other methods of submission may be acceptable. For other submission possibilities, please contact the chair of the Fund at the above address, or electronically at deborahsmith@ku.edu. Alternative submissions will be accepted only if the chair has been previously contacted, and all deadlines still apply.

Vincent Roth Fund for Systematics Research

Description: The Vincent Roth Fund for Systematic Research is funded and administered by the American Arachnological Society. The purpose of the fund is to provide research support for work dealing with the systematics of any of the arachnid group. Awards may be used for field work, museum research (including travel), expendable supplies, identification of specimens, and/or for preparation of figures and drawings for publication. Monies from the fund are not meant to augment or replace salary.

Typical Award: $250 to $350
Submission Deadline: January 15 each year
Notification Deadline: April 15 each year

Eligibility: Research grants are awarded only to student and regular members of the AAS who are recieving less thank $500 of institutional support for research. If you are from a developing nation, sponsored memberships are available and must be obtained to be eligible for a grant. The AAS is unable to provide support for researchers or students who are from U.S. embargoed countries, but it can provide sponsored memberships. Learn about Membership here.

Application. To be considered for an award from the Arachnological Research Fund, please submit, in English, a cover letter and 4 copies of the proposal detaling your research project.

The COVER LETTER should include:

your INSTITUTION
your POSITION or the STAGE OF YOUR STUDIES (graduate studen, post doctoral fellow, etc.)
your CONTACT INFORMATION including your EMAIL ADDRESS
the TITLE of your proposal
that you are applying for the ARACHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH FUND
and a list of OTHER RESEARCH FUNDS, for which you have applie or which are available to you.

The PROPOSAL should be in English and should be typed in a 12 point or larger font, and should be no longer than 10 pages (including references) double-spaced. It should include these parts:

INTRODUCTION where background information is presented relative to the proposed work. The introduction should include:

a section which places the proposed workin context with currently known relevant information,
a section which provides justification for the proposed work,
and a clear statement of the hypothesis (ses) to be tested, or in the case of revisions, the type of synthesis tha wil be achieved and its significance;

METHODS where the methods, materials, and taxonomic analysis(ses) to be used are clearly and concisely presented;
LITERATURE CITED
BUDGET showing (in detail) how awarded monies will be spent on the proposed research.

Submission: Proposals should be submitted to -

Telephone: (785) 864-4340; FAX (785) 864-5321

Email: Dr. Deborah Smith

Travel Grants for Meetings

Description: The Travel Grant is for students (graduate or undergraduate) who are presenting authors on a paper or poster, or for retired arachnologists for attendance at the AAS Annual Meeting or the International Arachnological Congress Meeting (during Congress years). Funding for retired arachnologists is provided by a generous gift from the Schlinger Foundation.

Typical award: up to $500 for the annual meeting and $1000 for the Congress
Deadline: May 10 each year

Eligibility: Applicants must be members of AAS and have a demonstrated financial need that cannot be met by other sources.The AAS is unable to provide travel support for researchers, emertus arachnologists or students who are from U.S. embargoed countries such as Cuba.However, the AAS is able to provide sponsored membership to researchers and students from developing nations that are embargoed. Learn about Membership here.

Application: Download a form below. You may type directly into the Word document and send it back, or simply include all required information in the text of an email. Students are required to include a letter from their advisors which can be submitted by email.

Submission: Proposals should be submitted by email to -

Matt Persons Chair, Student Travel Award Committee

E-mail: Dr. Matt Persons

page last updated January 19, 2012