The following schemes are being offered through the British Ecological Society.
Ecological Ambassadors Scheme
We are looking for up to 20 PhD students based in universities or other research facilities to participate in our Ecological Ambassadors Scheme.
The scheme aims to help PhD students and their departments build relationships with their local schools, develop outreach activities that link to curricula and hopefully encourage young people to consider further study in ecological sciences.
What we’re looking for
- A current PhD student in the ecological sciences registered to a UK institution but can be based abroad
- A member/ or someone willing to join the BES
- Someone who’d like to gain experience in working with A-level students and supporting their transition into Higher Education
What we’re offering
- We will provide a full days training on developing outreach activities, working with school groups and the A-level biology curriculum. This will be hosted at the BES office in London on the 7thOctober 2016
- Small grants for essential equipment by negotiation
- Free BES membership for as long as you are part of the Ecological Ambassadors Scheme
What we hope to achieve
- Development of a series of outreach activities that can be shared amongst everyone participating in the scheme
- Regional member engagement with local schools
- Outreach training for PhD students
Additional asks and rewards
- Opportunities to engage with other activities as a BES representative
- Travel expenses for ambassadors with extenuating financial circumstances
- Brief careers talks within your own institution to Undergraduates
- Write for the BES Bulletin, blog and alumni newsletter
Key dates
Closing date for expression of interest form: 12 August 2016
Candidates notified by: 2 September 2016
Training day: 7 October 10.00am-16.00pm with lunch provided, Charles Darwin House, central London
School liaison: Begins October/ early November depending on activity development
More information
For full information and application procedures please visit the BES website.
The BES Mentoring Scheme
The BES has run a mentoring scheme for women in ecology since 2009. Mentors provide professional support to mentees with everything from a change of career, applying for grants, moving to a lectureship from post-doctoral research or balancing work with family life.
Who can apply?
Mentees must be women BES members, who have completed a Bachelor’s degree.
Mentors must be BES members with more than five years work experience in any sector of relevance to ecology.
You can be based anywhere in the world, as long as you are happy to participate by email, telephone or Skype. Mentoring pairs must keep in touch on a regular basis (via phone, skype or in person). A minimum of 3 contact hours in total will be expected, per month.
We are also developing a mentoring network open to ecologists of any gender and at any career stage.
Key dates
Application deadline: 25 July 2016
Applicants informed by: 1 August 2016
Training day: 30 September 2016
Why mentoring for women?
There is poor representation of women at senior levels of life science professions. Within academia, only 15% of biology professors in the UK are women. This trend is also seen in ecology; a 2013 survey of BES members showed that women are overrepresented at undergraduate and postgraduate levels but increasingly underrepresented at postdoc level and beyond. The BES recognises that encouraging women to remain in ecological careers, all the way to the top, is Society business.
We believe that better retention of women in ecology will lead to the creation of a more diverse, stimulating and talented research community, in an inclusive and positive working environment.
More information
For full information and application procedures please visit the BES website.
Journal of Animal Ecology prize for early career ecologists
Both the British Ecological Society and Journal of Animal Ecology have long been champions of research by early career ecologists. Indeed, there are many examples of early career researchers publishing their first papers from their dissertation in the pages of Journal of Animal Ecology. To continue, and hopefully enhance, that tradition, Journal of Animal Ecology is very happy to announce a new award targeted at early career researchers. With this award, we hope to inspire early career researchers working on any aspect of animal ecology to submit reviews or syntheses that might either summarise their dissertation work, provide new insights into classic areas of animal ecology, or might shed light on emerging fields in animal ecology.
Applicants should have commenced their PhD no more than 7 years prior to the deadline, although reasonable exceptions will be considered (e.g. parental leave or a substantial shift in research area).
The prize will be awarded to the early career researcher who proposed the article and who should take responsibility for leading and writing the paper. We therefore encourage submissions from single authors. If submission of the full paper is invited, any proposals with more than one author should supply a statement from the co-authors confirming that the majority of the work was undertaken by the lead author. An author contributions statement will also be published in all accepted articles.
The Senior Editors will evaluate the proposals and invite authors of papers showing exceptional promise to submit their paper within 3 months. All papers that successfully pass the review process will be published.
The winning paper will feature prominently in the Journal and the recipient of the award will receive £250, a 12-month membership of the British Ecological Society (BES) and free registration for the BES annual meeting if they choose to attend to present their current research.
More information
For full information please visit the BES website.