Call for Applications: Paleo Society Funding for Meetings

Call for Applications: Paleontological Society Funding for Meetings

Due: 5 PM (Pacific time zone), Friday March 29, 2024

Paleontological Society funds are available to support meetings or sessions organized by society members. Our first priority is to provide up to US$1000 to support stand-alone meetings, where your group is organizing the entire conference. If additional funds are available, we can also support speakers at individual sessions within larger meetings. If you are organizing a topical session within a larger meeting, we can provide US$400 per invited speaker for up to two presenters.

The Paleontological Society has a Code of Conduct that applies to society events and members, including at meetings sponsored by the society. Anyone witnessing prohibited behavior should file an allegation report with the ethics committee. We also encourage conference organizers to take proactive steps to create an inclusive meeting; many specific actions are described here.

Stand-alone meeting support

The goal is to support paleontology meetings, with paleontology defined broadly, but the focus of the meeting can include research, education, and/or outreach. We will also consider events that bring paleontologists together with people from other fields. Applications are welcomed from traditional conference-style meetings, short courses or workshops, or working groups. Meeting participants need not be academic paleontologists; events aimed at or including educators, amateur/avocational paleontologists, and/or other members of the public are also eligible for support. If you have any questions whether your meeting is eligible, please contact John Huntley ([email protected]).

Application materials

Please submit the following, as a single pdf document, to John Huntley ([email protected]):

  1. A brief description of your meeting, its intended audience (for example, academic paleontologists, early-career researchers, K-12 educators, members of the public, etc.), names of invited speakers or participants (if any), and estimated attendance.
  2. An estimated budget, including both anticipated sources of revenue and expected expenses. The budget should be itemized, but broad categories (facility rental, refreshments, etc.) are acceptable.
  3. The requested amount of support (up to US$1000) and the intended use of the funds.

Evaluation criteria

At least one meeting organizer must be a member of the Paleontological Society. If requests exceed the available funding, we will consider the breadth of the conference goals, topics, and/or intended audience. For academic meetings, we aim to support those that have strong participation by students and/or by early-career researchers. For meetings with invited speakers or participants, diversity of the participants will also be considered.

Support for sessions at an existing meeting

This track is our secondary priority, but if funding is available the goal is to support participation of invited speakers in sessions that promote links between paleontology and other disciplines. There is a separate, dedicated pool of money for topical sessions at the annual Geological Society of America meeting, so please do not submit applications for a GSA topical session. Applications should be submitted by the organizers of the session, not by individuals wishing to attend a meeting. For example, funds could be used to partially support participation of paleontologists in a meeting normally attended by non-geoscientists. Alternatively, funds could be used to partially offset travel costs of invited speakers from other disciplines at a geoscience or paleontology conference.

Application materials

Please submit the following, as a single pdf document, to John Huntley ([email protected]):

  1. A brief description of the broader meeting and its target audience.
  2. Names of the invited speaker(s) and a brief summary of how their contributions are important for the session and/or will improve links between paleontology and other fields.
  3. Outline why Paleontological Society funds are important for the speaker’s attendance at the meeting (for example, long travel distance, lack of institutional/grant support, early career stage).

Evaluation criteria

At least one session convener must be a member of the Paleontological Society. If requests exceed the available funding, we will base our decision on the potential of the session to foster links between paleontology and other disciplines. We also aim to support student or early-career speakers and will consider the diversity of invited speakers.