INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES
We strongly recommend downloading the form as a worksheet before beginning to fill it in online. Once you are ready to submit your application, it's advisable to set aside 45 minutes (at least) to complete the online form. Your information will not be saved if you close your browser and return at a later time.
Before getting started, it is important to read these guidelines thoroughly. Applications that are incomplete or filled out incorrectly may be disqualified from consideration.
GENERAL GUIDELINES AND TIPS:
Please always check for typos, and be sure to double check your numbers on the project budget sheet!
Remember that these grants are quite competitive, so it is in your best interest to:
- Give attention both to clarity and detail in your responses.
- Ensure accuracy of the information you are providing.
- Present information regarding your project that makes a strong case for the importance (outcomes and impact), timeliness, and feasibility of what you are proposing.
- Explain precisely why there is an important and engaging story to share about this work through a range of media.
The following guidelines and tips address only the sections of the application where a question might arise, or where further clarification and detail will be helpful in completing the application.
APPLICATION SECTION GUIDELINES AND TIPS:
KEY APPLICANT INFORMATION
Date of Birth: Please note that you must be at least 18 years of age in order to apply for this grant.
Contact Information: Please let us know if you change your home address, phone or email during the course of your project--or even after you have completed your project--as we want to remain in touch with all of our grantees.
Current Employer: If you are self-employed, please indicate, and what title--if any--you may have through your own business. You can also use this section to note if you are employed part-time, or if you are a student.
KEY GRANT PROJECT INFORMATION
Project Title: Please keep your project title concise and try to avoid too much technical language, so the objective of your project would be clear to non-scientists as well.
Field of Study or Area of Exploration: Many projects involve more than one scientific discipline or field of exploration (e.g., a combination of speleology and geology, or robotics and marine biology). It is fine to indicate more than one field, as necessary.
Other Sources of Funding: IMPORTANT - Please be sure to inform The Explorers Club as soon as possible if there are pending funds listed in your application that come through after you have submitted your application.
Total Budget: This should be the total cash expenditure for your project, not including the in-kind support you may have received (e.g. camping equipment, batteries, parkas). Double check to be sure that the Total Budget amount listed on the first page matches the total listed on the budget sheet toward the end of the application.
Project Field Dates: Your field date(s) for the project should last no more than 12 months, commencing with the start date provided in the application. Please note this one-year cap on fieldwork does not include the additional time required for follow-up lab work or scientific publication. Of course, The Explorers Club looks forward to learning the results of any lab work, and requests that you notify us well in advance of any scientific or technical publication. If this is a multi-year project, then you are welcome to apply for the first year--or a subsequent year--of support. We realize that expedition/field project dates can change, particularly due to illness or during a pandemic, or for a project planned in a location that may suddenly experience human conflict or a natural disaster. If you are not able to safely undertake your fieldwork during the dates provided in your application, we will extend your project dates. If you believe, post grant award, that it is not safe to go into the field on your proposed dates, please contact the Explorers Club grant team as soon as possible at grants@explorers.org. Our first priority is that all of our grant teams are as safe as possible when carrying out their projects.
Location(s) of Fieldwork: The Club strongly recommends that projects not be too broad in scope--e.g. working in eight or ten countries within one year--but considers work in up to several locations reasonable in regard to achieving fieldwork objectives.
Project Abstract: This 250-word summary of your project should briefly--and clearly--provide background, stating your project goals, methodologies, and intended outcomes, as well as the potential impact the project may have culturally, environmentally, or both. Please avoid use of scientific jargon and any abbreviations.
ADDITIONAL APPLICANT INFORMATION AND PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS
Education: Be sure to include the last two degrees you have received, or, if you have multiple degrees, please include those which are most closely related to your project. If you have additional training or education relevant to the project outside the traditional academic system, please also include that information in this section.
Qualifications to lead the project: Please provide information in summary form regarding your training and experience that uniquely qualify you to lead this project.
Current or Prior Affiliation with The Explorers Club: Please note that you do not have to be a member of The Explorers Club to apply for a grant, but we would like to know if you have any affiliations--past or present--with The Explorers Club.
Highlights of Media Experience: This is an opportunity to list several of the more notable experiences you may have had working with media which has covered you and your work. Please include related links to the coverage, digital, television/film or otherwise.
Information on Project Team Members: We request basic data, as well as educational and professional information regarding members on your team. We also strongly encourage you to include a local collaborator on your team. The local collaborator could be a scientist, a required governmental representative to accompany you and the team, or a local guide, facilitator and/or interpreter, etc. It is important to fill out this section completely, including citizenship of team members and their role in the project or expedition.
DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This is the focal point of the application, so please be sure to answer all requested information concisely, avoiding unnecessary jargon or abbreviations. You will be asked to provide the following information, so please be sure to address each of the required questions:
Background of the project: This is the introductory statement, which should include the research/exploration question and its significance, and if this is the first season of fieldwork, or a subsequent season of a multi-year project already underway.
Project objectives and intended outcomes: These should be clearly stated, including measurable results.
Details of methodologies employed: Include why you have chosen these particular methodologies to achieve the project goals, and an explanation of any special techniques that may be involved.
Metrics: This is an explanation of how you plan to measure the outcomes of the project.
Uniqueness: This is your opportunity to explain why this project may be unique in its field. However, it is important to cite any projects which may have achieved similar objectives--or attempted to do so--or provide some foundation for your research/exploration. Please be sure to cite any literature related to that work.
Scientific/Technical Publication: Please let us know if you have any plans or intentions for scientific or technical publication concerning the results of the project.
Ethical Concerns: We want to be sure that all applicants have considered potential ethical concerns that could arise during--or as a result of--their expedition or project. This point will be given close consideration in the grant review process, thus applicants will be best served to state any anticipated concerns up front. If you do you not list any ethical concerns, this does not mean that the review committee will not consider or be aware of potential concerns. Thus, it is in your best interest to carefully consider the question prior to providing a response, or lack thereof.
OFAC Compliance: Please read this section of the application carefully. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control has a list of embargoed countries for which you will be required to apply for an OFAC license to carry out your work. Please consult with your attorney regarding the license process, if your project includes work in one of the embargoed countries. You can find detailed information regarding OFAC licensing requirements at: www.treasury.gov/resource-center.
China Restriction: Please note that The Explorers Club will not be able to consider research proposals for work being conducted in China or by Chinese citizens. The Explorers Club is considered a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and we do not comply with the Chinese regulations regarding grant awards by NGOs at this time.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS
Video Statement: (REQUIRED) This is a three-minute (maximum!) opportunity for you to quickly introduce yourself, discuss your proposed project objectives, provide a quick summary of your team and your methodologies, and to very briefly describe your intended outcomes--and, in short, to convince the committee why your project merits support. The video will also aid the committee in gaining a stronger sense of how you communicate about your work. Please be sure that you appear on screen for at least a portion of this statement. If you do not appear on screen, you will be asked to submit a revised video. Try to record your video in an interesting setting, outside, if possible, where there is no distracting noise in the background, and in early morning or late afternoon, when the light is best.
CVs/Resumes: (REQUIRED) This application requires CVs or resumes from the applicant and all team members. Please attach your CV, along with those of team members. If you have some local collaborators who do not have a CV, then please provide some information about them and why they are important to include on the team. (e.g. a local, highly experienced river guide). PLEASE ALSO ATTACH A HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOGRAPH OF YOURSELF THAT HAS RIGHTS CLEARANCE, along with the photo credit. The photo may be used in press and for promotional opportunities, should your application be approved for funding.
Maps, photographs, and possible brief video of the area you propose to explore or investigate are extremely helpful in evaluating your project and better understanding the context in which you will be working. Up to four images and a map will suffice, and no more than two minutes of video, if available. Images of the specific topic you are researching/exploring are important--as is an image or two of the research setting and broader landscape.
Letters of Recommendation: (REQUIRED) You are required to provide the committee with two letters of recommendation. Please ask someone to write the recommendation who is well acquainted with you and your work, and who is also familiar with the project you are proposing. We strongly encourage you to share your project description with these individuals in advance of their writing a recommendation for you. Letters of recommendation should not come from your team members.
Permits: The Explorers Club expects that all grantees will carry out their fieldwork or expedition after having secured any required permits. While you may not actually receive your permits until you are in country--or close to the project location--please do briefly explain in your application the status of any required permits, including when you expect to receive them. If you have secured the permit, please attach a copy. If you expect to receive your permit once in the field, please email a copy to The Explorers Club grants team as soon as you are able. The grant review committee is well informed on permitting issues. You must demonstrate that you have thoroughly investigated any permitting requirements and are proceeding accordingly.
PROJECT BUDGET
Other Sources of Funding: The program encourages additional concurrent funding of your project. Please note any cash funding already secured, as well as funding requests that are in progress. Please notify the grants team as soon as any funding requests in progress do come through, so we can make special note for the committee review.
Media/Promotional Requirements Tied to Additional or Prior Project Funds: We will also want to know in advance if there are any media or promotional requests tied to your additional sources of support so we can make efforts to coordinate. Please also note in this section if you have any prior media commitments regarding the project beyond those listed for other sources or support (e.g. a book contract). If you have already received a grant for this specific field season that requires you to give first right of refusal to tell the story of the project in popular media, please contact Explorers Club staff as soon as possible to see if this funding might disqualify you from receiving a grant from an Explorers Club program.
Budget Form: Please note the following: Grants do not cover salaries for yourself or team members. However, if you have local guides, assistants, and others providing special services (e.g. lab analysis), you may include a reasonable fee for their work in the budget. Grant funds do not cover business class airfare. If you have lab or other costs which are not included in the budget form, please enter these expenses in the “miscellaneous” section. Hotel expenses should be reasonable. For example, the standard lodging rate for a US government employee is $96 per night. Also note that the standard rate for meals and incidentals should be no more than $55 per day, per person. Finally, please do check the numbers in your budget, and please also be sure that the totals on your budget sheet match the budget totals provided in the second (Key Grant Project Information) of the application!
Budget Notes/Explanations:
Please use this section to justify/provide additional detail regarding your expenditures.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF FIRST RIGHTS/SIGNATURE
At the end of the application, you will find a paragraph, prior to the signature line, that outlines the basic rights that The Explorers Club requires, if your application is approved for funding. This involves the first right of refusal to cover your expedition in a range of media, including digital and television content. Again, please be sure before submitting your application that you have not already agreed to provide other funders this first right to tell the story of your expedition or project through popular media, which would be in conflict with the terms of our grant agreement.
Please note that scientific and technical publications are an exception to this request, though timely notification of such publication is requested.
You will be provided more detailed information regarding these first rights--and general obligations and conditions of being a grantee--in the grant agreement that will be sent to you, should your project be selected for funding. The grant agreement, and related team member agreement form, must be fully executed before The Explorers Club can release your grant funds.
You will also find a link to The Explorers Club Code of Ethics, which should serve as a guide for you and your team as you carry out your project. Please be sure to read this brief document.
Thank you for applying for an Explorers Club Grant!
