The Paleontological Society Collections Grants

The Paleontological Society Collections Grant provides funding for members working in natural history collections to support paleontological/paleobiological curatorial and digitization projects in order to address the backlog many collections face, and support collections care,  management, and broad access. Potential curatorial projects to be funded could include, but are not limited to: 

1. The curation, digitization, rehousing, archiving, or georeferencing of an existing collection, a new accession, or a transferred collection from an amateur, faculty, or other institution
2. Hiring and training both student and early career assistants to help with collections projects
3.  Purchasing curatorial and/or archival supplies, which may include photography or scanning equipment
4.  Shipping and/or moving costs to transfer a private or orphaned collection
5.  Hosting a workshop for training in collections use or management
6. Workshop or training registration fee support (i.e., photography, database use, digitization, etc.)

Grants will be issued from anywhere between $500 to $5,000 (max amount); the number of awards to be made each year is flexible, but likely to be between two and ten. Applicants must be members of the Paleontological Society at the time of application, and can be curators, faculty members, collection managers, collections staff, graduate or undergraduate students, and/or amateur collectors or clubs.

How to Apply(Application below):

Application material must include:

1.  A project proposal, no more than three pages in length (single-spaced), which must include:
1. A project title
2. Names and contact information of participating personnel including
1. Lead project personnel
2. Primary repository contact personnel details
3. The proposer’s Paleontological Society Member Number
4. A brief synopsis of the project, including:
1. A project description and specific project goals
2. Expected outcomes, including how they will be assessed (e.g. number of specimens to be digitized)
3. Significance of the work to the broader community
5. Timeline for project completion

2. A detailed, itemized budget with justification of the uses of the funds. We cannot pay overhead or indirect costs. Attempting to obtain matching funds from other sources is strongly encouraged, although not required.

3. A brief letter of support (no more than one page) from the managing organization or unit directly responsible for the care of the collection indicating support of the project and if matching funds are available.

4. A one page CV for each of the lead project personnel.

All applications must be submitted electronically by completing and submitting via the link below.

Review Process

Grantees will be selected by a subcommittee of the Paleontological Society’s Collections Committee. Evaluation criteria include the goals, significance, feasibility, urgency, likely impact of the project, and the soundness of the budget. Recipients will be notified by August 15th.

Grant Award Procedures

Grant awards can be made directly to individuals or to institutions. Please be advised that if a grantee opts to receive the funds directly, the Paleontological Society is required to issue an IRS 1099 form at the end of the calendar year. The grant funds may or may not be taxable; grantees must make that determination themselves. The Society cannot offer tax advice. Grantees are required to submit a follow-up project report by the following year detailing the project’s outcomes. Details on the reporting requirements will be sent to all grantees.

Deadline: June 1st
Recipients will be notified August 15th
Grantees are required to submit a follow-up project report by August of the following year. 

If you have any questions please contact:
Ashley Dineen
Collections Committee Chair
UC Museum of Paleontology
[email protected]