Ernst Mayr Travel Grants

The MCZ awards travel grants for research in animal systematics, known as the Ernst Mayr Grants. The principal objective of these grants is to stimulate taxonomic work on neglected taxa via short visits to museums in order to undertake research needed for the completion of taxonomic revisions and monographs. These include taxa with numerous poorly described species, genera and families known to have many undescribed species in institutional collections, taxa for which it is unknown what proportion of the nominal species are synonyms and difficult genera without keys. It is not the aim of these grants to support largely phylogenetic studies of taxa in which the species are reasonably well known, or to support biogeographic studies. Preference is given to studies that use the MCZ's collections and to researchers who wish to examine MCZ specimens from their country of origin, although applications to work at other museums will be considered. There is enough demand for this support for taxonomic work to make it impossible to also support phylogenetic and other evolutionary studies from the Ernst Mayr Grants.

Typical expenses that may be paid from these grants include travel, lodging, and meals for up to a few weeks while conducting research at the museum(s), reasonable services purchased from the host institution and research supplies. The maximum award is $2,500. Local recipients will receive a check from the Bank of America and foreign nationals will receive funds by a wire transfer to their bank. Due to current regulations, foreign nationals traveling to the United States will not receive funds in advance of travel

Eligibility

This grant is open to all.

Application

Applications must be submitted electronically through CARAT (Centralized Application for Research and Travel). You can begin your work, save it, and return to it at a later time. Applications (including all supporting documents) are due by 5 pm EST on the due date. To apply, please submit the following via CARAT:

  • a short project description and explicit statement of research goals, not to exceed 2 pages
  • itinerary
  • budget
  • curriculum vitae, not to exceed 2 pages
  • three letters of support
  • letter or email from each collection to be visited

Deadlines

Proposals are reviewed twice a year; application deadlines are October 15 and April 1. Awards typically will be announced within two months following the application deadline. Each grantee is required to submit a written report summarizing the scientific accomplishments achieved with the award within one month of travel completion.

Questions

Please email inquiries regarding the Ernst Mayr Travel Grant