Objectives of the ICArEHB seed fund

The ICArEHB seed fund (ISF) is an annual fund of ICArEHB to allow its members to conduct selected projects of scientific research in human evolution and prehistoric archeology. The purpose of the ISF is twofold:

1. to enrich the experience and track of applicants, while
2. promoting ICArEHB’s activity in research, education, and science communication, both locally and internationally.

The ISF can cover expenses of analyses (access to equipment or facilities, consumables) and the costs of travel and accommodation required for the fellow to conduct the work of the research program. The rules of FCT apply to determine eligible expenses of travel and accommodation. Salary and stipend cannot be covered by the ISF.

The project must be integrated into a research question with a tangible objective of dissemination in the research community (publications, presentation in conference). The project can be a pilot, original study, or can be inserted into a bigger project if the budget is not available for the proposed work. Once the project has been completed, the successful candidates must i) present during an internal seminar, ii) summarise on the website of ICArEHB the project and its outcomes.

The amount requested can be of maximum 5 000 € per project, and the project must be conducted within 12 months following the announcement of the results of evaluation. All expenses will have to be executed before acquisition closure in October 2023. If the project is conducted within the framework of activities of a non-profit institution, 100% of funding can be requested. If the project is conducted within the framework of the activities of a for-profit institution, the amount requested can be funded up to 50%.

Procedure of application

Applicant:

Applicants must be members of ICArEHB, and the project must fit the strategic orientation. Priority will be given to young researchers (Master, PhD students and postdoc with less than 3 years of postdoctoral experience) and researchers without on-going alternative sources of funding. Applicants should not receive direct writing edits from their supervisors but instead are encouraged to seek support among peers and previous grantees.

Application documents:

The completed application should be sent to iseedfund@icarehb.com before the 1st of December 2022.

1. A Curriculum Vitae of one page with all affiliations and selected most relevant information for the reviewers. 
2. Responses to the following sections in the template document (total maximum 5 pages):
3. Section 1: Project information.
4. Section 2:  What will be the focus of your investigation? What is your main research question? 
5. What evidence will you need to collect to answer your research question? How will you go about collecting and analysing this evidence? 
6. What contribution will your project make to your future career?
7. What contribution will your project make to the scientific excellence and visibility of ICArEHB?
8. Budget: fill in the Excel form appropriately, deleting the example (in red).

Procedure of evaluation

The application is evaluated according to the following criteria:

A) Quality of the project (including scientific impact, feasibility, dissemination, and adequacy of the budget) (60%)

B) Impact of the project on the career of the researcher, on the visibility and scientific quality of ICArEHB (40%)

Each application will be evaluated for each criterion over a scale from 1 to 10 without decimal, and the final grade will be calculated according to the following equation:

Final grade = A x 0.6 + B x 0.4

In case of equality, priority will be given to higher grades in criterion A over criterion B. The applications will be evaluated by at least two (2) reviewers. The reviewers will be selected by the scientific coordinator of the call among the members of ICArEHB who have no conflict of interest with any of the applicants. The reviewers are encouraged to amend and edit the budget and to suggest alternative solutions.

All applications received after the deadline will be rejected. Incomplete applications or those that do not adhere to the guidelines, will not be considered.

Result of evaluation

Within 90 days following the deadline, ranking of the applications according to the evaluations will be transmitted for validation to the Board of Direction of ICArEHB. The top-ranking applications will be funded until the total fund available is used. The results will be announced to each applicant by email.

There is no appeal procedure.

Annual Update

Call 2023

Strategic orientation: all fields of study of human evolution and prehistoric archeology

Scientific coordinator: Dr. Cruz Ferro-Vázquez

Deadline for application: 01 December 2022 23:59 Lisbon time.

Downloads

Previous editions

In 2021 the winners of ISF were Joana Belmiro, Cláudia Relvado and Milena Carvalho.

In 2022 the winners of ISF were Adriana Leite, Elena Skosey-LaLonde and Humphrey Nyambiya.

In 2023 the winners of ISF were Anastasia Eleftheriadou, Degsew Zerihun and William Chase Murphree.