WILD ANIMAL INITIATIVE’S CHALLENGE GRANTS

Application Deadline: November 1, 2024

LOCATION: USA

Wild Animal Initiative’s Challenge Grants support researchers exploring critical research questions that will unlock new avenues of wild animal welfare research and are not prioritized by other funders. Each round of Challenge Grants calls for projects within one or more specific themes. These flagship projects should be led by experienced principal investigators and demonstrate a high degree of relevance to high priority research areas, novelty, and methodological rigor

ELIGIBILITY:

Challenge Grant projects must be led by an experienced principal investigator, but can include financial support for students or other early-career collaborators. When submitting an expression of interest for a Challenge Grant, applicants may request to be considered for a WAI Fellowship, which offers mentorship and a supplementary stipend to postdoctoral researchers and PhD students pursuing a long-term career in wild animal welfare research. The process and parameters for 2024 fellowships will be shared with those invited to apply at the full proposal stage.  

Eligible projects include those that are standalone, or those that add a wild animal welfare component to an existing non-Wild Animal Initiative funded project to broaden its scope. 

Projects must be led by a principal investigator who is affiliated with a university or other research institution (e.g. a government agency).

Projects must be led by or include collaborators who are residents of all countries where field work will take place. If a project is managed by an NGO, that NGO must be registered in the country where field work will take place.

We prioritize funding for direct research costs (e.g. supplies, materials), though we do fund other expense areas (e.g. stipends, salaries, capital equipment) if they are fully justified relative to the project goals. Further details on what is eligible for funding can be found in our FAQs. We will not reject a proposal based solely on budget without first asking applicants to consider modifications, but applicants should limit their requests to what is reasonably needed to complete the project. 

BENEFIT:

Grant size: $50,000 — $100,000 USD total

Duration: Up to 5 years

APPLY

MELTON FOUNDATION GLOBAL SOLVERS ACCELERATOR

Application Deadline: December 1, 2024

LOCATION: Germany

Each year, a cohort of 20 project leaders connect hearts, hands and minds to unpack and refine their projects, tap into their collective leadership, and ignite transformative change in their communities and towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Global Solvers Accelerator engages emerging change agents from diverse world regions around developing competencies for global citizenship, sustainable development, and collective leadership.

ELIGIBILITY:

The Global Solvers Accelerator is a collective learning journey with and for SDG practitioners worldwide!

You are a young community development practitioner aged between 20 – 35 years

You are curious, responsible, forward-thinking, with a proven track record of social impact, and actively engaged in or leading a local impact project currently

You are looking to connect with like-minded peers to make a better sense of the world together?

BENEFIT:

By joining the Global Solvers Accelerator, participants stand to gain valuable competencies, insights, connections, and more! Here are some key benefits of becoming a part of the program:

CAPACITY BUILDING: The program is a springboard for participants to pivot their capacity in areas like collective leadership, transformative impact, and systemic design. Through stimulating thematic contributions, peer exchange, subject matter advisory, and project assignments, participants boost their leadership competencies as well as their global citizenship skills.

FURTHERING IMPACT: The 8-month learning journey connects emerging change agents worldwide to refine their social impact initiatives, activate their collective leadership potential, and together ignite transformative change that cuts across barriers of place and identity, furthering the SDGs.

MELTON FELLOWSHIP: Upon successful completion of the program, participants are eligible to join the Melton Foundation’s lifelong supported community as Senior Melton Fellow, gaining access to a global community of over 600 change catalysts across the globe, project funding through our Action Grants, travel opportunities to global impact events, and more.

CO-LAB: During the program, actively engaged participants will be invited to attend a fully-funded in-person workshop. The Global Solvers Co-Lab is an integral part of the program and creates the space for participants to connect in person and co-create transformative pathways together.

An integral part of the Global Solvers Accelerator, the week-long Co-Lab retreat is the space for participants to connect in person and co-create transformative pathways together. The Co-Lab 2025 will take place in Gotha and Erfurt (Germany) from 6-12 July 2025 in Germany.

As Co-Sponsors of the event, the Melton Foundation and Ernst-Abbe-Stiftung will cover event-related travel, accommodation, visa-related expenses, learning resources, and materials, among others, to enable all participants to join the Co-Lab regardless of their socio-economic backgrounds! Participants, however, are required to be prepared for international travel, hold a valid passport, and handle any necessary visa processes early and responsibly. 

ACCELERATOR FUND: Participants have the opportunity to tap into immediate financial resources in support of their social impact project. The Global Solver Accelerator Fund pools a significant percentage of the Program Fees collected from participants and will be made available to deserving projects towards the end of the program.

APPLY

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