Skip to main content
British Poultry Science is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England. It is also a Registered Charity.

Small Project Grant – guidance for applicants

What subject areas might be funded?
BPS encourages applications that are in any way related to poultry education, research, or the industry. The project could be related to any poultry species/breed and any relevant subject area (e.g. nutrition, behaviour, welfare, physiology, genetics etc). The funded work could be concerned with to the applicant’s current line of research/work e.g. someone wishing to acquire a novel technique at a centre of excellence, and then taking that knowledge back to his/her place of work to apply it there; a study tour to visit related universities or companies to promote knowledge transfer by giving workshops/presentations/seminars/lectures; or to enable someone to conduct a small research project, which could either contribute towards a academic qualification or (in the case of someone based in industry) simply to facilitate greater knowledge of a topic. For example, an industry-based applicant may wish to study a specific research area relevant to their employers’ business interests. This would be permissible provided such research would benefit the broader poultry community rather than simply result in a commercial advantage for the company. Note that any studies that involve the use of animals must fulfil the legal requirements for the ethical use of animals according to DIRECTIVE 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes (including the proposed study being assessed by a local ethical review body).

Where must applicants be based to be eligible?
Applicants must be based either at an EU Higher Education Institution (HEI) or employed with a company in the EU that is related to the poultry industry (e.g. poultry feed manufacturer, furnished cage manufacturer, breeding company, etc).

Who may apply?
Anyone registered for a relevant course at an HEI or employed by a relevant company may apply. In either case, there is no age limit, but a person working for a company must be in the early stage of her/his career (i.e. working for 5 years or less in a poultry-related capacity). The applicant will need to provide a letter of support for their application from their line manager, course organiser/supervisor in their HEI and/or relevant host HEIs/companies. The support letter must make clear that sufficient time will be made available to complete the project and (if required) the institution/company has the sufficient research space and equipment. The letter should also indicate the reliability of the applicant to conduct the proposed work, if the work will be beneficial to the individual, and that the institution or company will agree to facilitate the award, if successful. Anyone previously in receipt of a BPS small project grant cannot apply for another one. However, people who have received BPS travel grants may apply.

Application and approval process
Application is in two stages. First, a brief summary of the proposal should be submitted as a Concept Note using the web form provided online (drop-down menu item: Small Project Grant/Small Project Grant Application Form). There are character maxima for all text boxes, importantly 1000 (including spaces) for Concept Note text, so it is best to prepare the text in a word processor and then paste into the form fields.These applications will be assessed twice per year by a sub-committee of the BPS Council of Management and applicants whose Concept Notes are approved will be invited to submit a full application, approximately 2 weeks after the Concept Note closing date. You will be notified to login to the site again for access to the full form. The full Application Form will show your approved Concept Note form fields pre-filled plus empty additional fields to be completed for your full proposal. Completion of all fields is required and again there are character maxima (all including spaces) for all form fields, importantly 6000  for Project Plan text, 1500 for Outcomes, and 1000 each for Benefits and Evidence fields. Both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified of the outcome of this stage. 

There are two submission dates each year, at the end of August and the end of February.

Full proposal applications will be assessed by a sub-committee of the BPS Council of Management and, if provisionally approved, forwarded to the BPS Business Committee for final approval. It is possible you may be contacted for clarification of aspects of your full proposal before a final decision is made.

Timeframe
Concept Note submissions are reviewed twice yearly, in June and December. Applicants that proceed from the Concept Note submission to approval stage will be notified within two weeks of the deadline for receipt of the Concept Note that they can submit a full proposal. You will thereafter have approximately 2 weeks to submit a full proposal. An email notification of the award of a grant based on the full proposal will be given approximately 2 weeks after that, both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified. Thus, the time from Concept Note submission to final decision will be approximately 6 weeks. Funds will be transferred shortly thereafter. The small project should be completed within one year of the grant being awarded.

How much is available?
There is up to £5000 per annum to be awarded in total. The monies will be allocated to the finance department of the HEI or company, to be then drawn down in e.g. consumable purchases, travel, accommodation, subsistence, or time recording to account for the recipient’s time spent on the project. As a guide, subsistence should amount to no more than £20 per day, and accommodation no more than £40 per night. Proof of expenditure may be required, so you are advised to save all related invoices and receipts.

Responsibility of the awardee
You must produce a report (1000-2000 words) on the project work funded by the grant within three months of completion; up to 10% of the grant may be retained by BPS until final report is received. If a publication can be generated from the project then it should be submitted to BPS journal in the first instance.