Guidelines for the submission of Project Proposals

The guidelines for submitting INQUA project proposals for funding are as follows:

1. Read the guidelines below. These are designed to assist you in the application and to avoid misguided applications.
   
2. The application forms and subsequent report forms are fully standardized.
   You must use the forms available on the web at http://www.inqua.tcd.ie/forms.html
   
   If you have trouble downloading a usable version please contact the Secretary-General directly: pcoxon@tcd.ie. In serious difficulty? Then write to the Secretariat direct.
3. Note the deadlines:

   a. The deadline for submitting the Application Forms to the relevant Commission Presidents (click for INQUA Commissions and the e-mail addresses of the Commission Presidents) is Sunday 31st January 2010. The Commission Presidents must have received your application forms by that date. Please e-mail your applications directly to the primary Commission President involved with copies to other Commission Presidents who you consider relevant to your project topic. If your project covers more than one Commission please indicate this at the head of the form. The application form can be downloaded from the INQUA forms page or directly from here.
   
   b. The deadline for submitting Progress Reports is also Sunday 31st January 2010 . Subsequent funding will be dependant on satisfactory progress and reporting submitted within this deadline. The Progress Report form can be downloaded from the INQUA forms page or directly from here.
   
   c. On Completion of a project the Final Report form must be submitted. This can be downloaded from the INQUA forms page or directly from here.

4. There is a great deal of information regarding INQUA and its Commissions (each of which has its own web-site) on the Internet. The Commission Presidents and their linked websites (listed on the INQUA website) are good sources of information about the Commission's activities and should be consulted when preparing applications.

Funding Guidelines 2008-2011

1. INQUA normally provides seed monies for projects.
2. INQUA does not fund field work, which is more appropriately funded by government councils, foundations, and other agencies.
3. Priorities for INQUA funds include international field conferences and workshops especially where they are integral parts of approved projects.
4. Young scientists and scientists from developing countries are given priority for travel assistance.
5. All INQUA projects should be linked to the INQUA Commissions. We will encourage the leaders to co-operate and to submit proposals that include more than one Commission.
6. Projects may be related to the established Sub-commissions, or can be independent projects related to one or more Commission. (It is a good idea to make contact with Commission Presidents to see how a new project might relate to existing work).
7. Project proposals should be sent to the Commission President, not directly to the INQUA Secretariat. All projects proposals should be signed by the commission president before they are submitted to the INQUA Executive Committee for evaluation.
8. All commissions are encouraged to include young scientists in the project leadership.
9. Project should have a confirmed international participation. We will particularly encourage participation by scientists from developing countries or those countries with a low GDP.
10. The budgets should be adjusted to reflect the INQUA economy (see below).

Project Budgets

The INQUA financial contribution to approved projects will necessarily be modest, inasmuch as there are a number of Commissions competing for limited resources that are generated by annual contributions of member countries. Around US$ 50,000 can be allocated to the Commissions per year, i.e. on average a total of US$ 10,000 dollars for each Commission. We will have to prioritize the economical support for new projects. Very few projects can be fully financed by the INQUA money.

Grants to support Commission-approved projects will normally be limited to a few thousand dollars a year per project. These funds are designed primarily as "seed money" to assist commission project leaders to apply for additional funding from various sources to meet their full needs. In 2004 the project grants were mainly given to support some of the following costs:

1. International project workshops.
2. Project-related travels for younger scientists.
3. Projects in third-world countries or in eastern European countries.
4. International project groups in parts of the world where there is a lack of important field data.
5. Projects of importance within INQUA Commissions.
6. Normally no grant will be allocated for Project newsletters, project publications or web sites. We ask you to encourage the project leaders to publish their results in Quaternary International or other established journals.
7. No major grant will be allocated for scientific equipment or analysis. (see the INQUA Statutes and Bye-laws for further information) i. Funding is not given to cover field work costs.

Please contact the Secretary-General (Peter Coxon) if you have any questions about the procedure: pcoxon@tcd.ie

updated: Wednesday, December 16, 2009

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