** ECT SMALL GRANTS SCHEME TEMPORARILY CLOSED **
Due to unprecedented demand for our small grants during the first half of 2024, our budget for awards is now fully-committed this year. We have therefore closed our small grants scheme temporarily to any further applications this calendar year. The scheme will re-open on 1 January 2025.
To be eligible for an ECT grant, all specified activities must be undertaken on, or associated with, a long-term experiment (LTE) within the UK that is currently on the ECT register. Download this list of eligible sites.
Grants are provided to fund research and to cover travel costs associated with collaboration. The ECT also provides funds to undertake essential maintenance at LTEs, and to assist with data curation activities.
Grant recipients must comply with the ECT Data Policy which is available here.
ECT’s Small Grants Scheme is currently supplemented through a co-funding partnership with the Ramble Worldwide Outdoor Trust.
Small Grants
We provide funds of up to £3000 for research projects undertaken on LTEs that are currently on the ECT register. Funding can be used to cover the following costs:
consumables;
to facilitate extraordinary work such as supporting visiting scientists, students or public engagement;
support for researchers to visit or to facilitate comparative studies between existing long-term ecological experiments;
support for data curation activities, including database development and on-line archiving.
Recent Awards:
DR ELENA ARRIGONI (PICTURED CENTRE) - AN AWARD OF £3000 TOWARDS THE COSTS OF EQUIPMENT & CONSUMABLES FOR MAINTAINING THE EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENTS AT THE THURSLEY COMMON AIR POLLUTION DEPOSITION LONG-TERM EXPERIMENT IN SURREY [CO-FUNDED BY RAMBLE WORLWIDE OUTDOOR TRUST]
DR SYLVIA TOET - AN AWARD OF £1745 TO ENABLE VITAL CONTINUITY OF THE ANNUAL VEGETATION MEASUREMENTS AT THE CORS FOCHNO LONG-TERM CLIMATE CHANGE EXPERIMENT IN MID-WALES
DR KONSTANS WELLS - AN AWARD OF £3000 TOWARDS CONSUMABLES FOR COMPARING THE GUT MICROBIOME-PARASITE HEALTH STATUS OF GRAZING ANIMALS ON DIFFERENT GRASSLANDs AT THE ROWDEN pLOTS LAND DRAINAGE EXPERIMENT IN DEVON
DR SCOTT HAYWARD - AN AWARD OF £3000 TOWARDS THE COSTS OF SPECIES-LEVEL IDENTIFICATOIN OF THE INSECT SAMPLE ARCHIVE FROM THE BIFOR-FACE LONG-TERM CLIMATE CHANGE EXPERIMENT IN STAFFORDSHIRE. SAMPLES ARE BEING PROCESSED FOR DNA BARCODING AS PART OF THE uk-WIDE BIOSCAN PROJECT RUN BY THE SANGER INSTITUTE
DR ROBERTO SALGUERO-GOMEZ - AN AWARD OF £3000 TOWARDS THECOSTS OF CONSUMABLES FOR TRACKING PLANT COMMUNITY RESILIENCE USING PHENOCAMS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (aI) AT THE RAINDROP LONG-TERM DROUGHT EXPERIMENT AT WYTHAM WOODS
DR ELLEN FRY - AN AWARD OF £2855 TOWARDS THE COSTS OF CONSUMABLES FOR INSTALLING EQUIPMENT TO PHOTOGRAPH AND MONITOR ROOT GROWTH AT THE AINSDALE DUNE SLACKS LONG-TERM GRazing EXPERIMENT ON THE LANCASHIRE COAST
DR CICELY MARSHALL - AN AWARD OF £3000 FOR TRAVEL & SUBSISTENCE TO calculate biodiversity units at MULTIPLE ECT sites using Natural England’s Biodiversity Metric 3.0. Biodiversity units will be correlated with the long-term species datasets held by ECT experiments to validate metric performance. Intended outputs include a scientific publication and advice for policymakers.
DR CAROLINE MEHARG - AN AWARD OF £3000 TOWARDS CONSUMABLES COSTS FOR CHEMICAL & MICROBIAL ANALYSIS OF SOIL AT THE HILLSBOROUGH LONG-TERM SLURRY ADDITION EXPERIMENT IN NORTHERN IRELAND. THIS WILL PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO IMPACTS OF SOIL MANAGEMENT ON MICROBIAL BIODIVERSITY AND HOW THIS INTEGRATES WITH SOIL CHEMISTRY TO DRIVE COMPETITION IN GRASSLAND PASTURES.
DR JONATHAN HOLLAND - A CONTRIBUTION OF £1020 TOWARDS THE COSTS OF CO-HOSTING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT FOR THE HILLSBOROUGH LONG-TERM SLURRY ADDITION EXPERIMENT AT THE aGRIFOOD & BIOSCIENCES INSTITUTE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Dr josep barba - an award of £1914 towards field consumables for work at the bifor-face lte in staffordshire looking at how future atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations affect tree stem carbon dioxide & methane fluxes in mature oak woodland
PROF ANDREAS HEINEMEYER - AN AWARD OF £3000 TOWARDS THE COSTS OF PEAT CORING & SAMPLE ANALYSIS AT THE MOOR HOUSE HARD HILL GRAZING/BURNING EXPERIMENT IN UPPER TEESDALE [CO-FUNDED BY RAMBLE WORLDWIDE OUTDDOR TRUST]
Dr JULIA COOPER - AN AWARD OF £3000 TOWARDS A MAJOR DATA CURATION PROJECT TO SECURE OVER 120 YEARS OF DATA GENERATED FROM THE PALACE LEAS LONG-TERM GRAZING/FERTILISATION EXPERIMENT IN NORTHUMBERLAND
Prof David gowing - a special data curation award to support the curation of years of survey data from the somerford mead long-term experiment in oxfordshire, and its archiving within nerc’s environmental information data centre (EIDC)
Dr JILL KOWAL - AN AWARD OF £3000 TOWARDS THE RENEWAL OF THURSLEY COMMON LTE IN SURREY. A NEW TEAM WILL MEASURE THE ABILITY OF HEATHLAND VEGETATION & BELOWGROUND MYCORRHIZAL FUNGAL COMMUNITIES TO RECOVER 10 YEARS AFTER PERSISTENT ELEVATED NITROGEN TREATMENTS. THIS INFLUENCES ECOSYSTEM CARBON SEQUESTRATION.
DR KRIS HART - A £2000 GRANT TOWARDS THE COSTS OF PROCESSING TREE LEAF SAMPLES FROM THE BIFOR-FACE EXPERIMENT THAT REQUIRE CAREFUL PREPARATION & CURATION TO GUARANTEE THEIR LONG-TERM STORAGE FOR FUTURE ANALYSIS
dr kris hart - £2000 towards costs of sample archiving & data curation at BIFor-face long-term experiment in staffordshire
Student Grants
We provide funds of up to £3000 to support students undertaking undergraduate or postgraduate research projects at LTEs currently on the ECT register. Funds might be used for:
consumables or specialist equipment required for the experimental research;
travel and accommodation, enabling students to work on LTEs where no institutional funding exists.
Please note that ECT no longer supports conference travel/accommodation through this scheme.
Student Grant applications require a personal reference provided by the project supervisor, to be submitted along with the grant application form.
Recent Awards:
one of the dipwells in the plots at ainsdale dune slacks LTE in west lancashire
£750 has been granted to PhD student Fanni Tanka at Loughborough University towards consumables and travel for her PhD research at the Ainsdale Dune Slacks long-term grazing experiment in West Lancashire. Her project aims to quantify how soil methane fluxes may vary depending on environmental conditions and long-term grazer exclusion. Soils from the plots will be incubated ex situ to determine the capacity for methane emissions from dune slack soils at a range of soil saturation levels and temperatures.
FLUX TOWER AT THE BIFOR-FACE CO2 ELEVATION EXPERIMENT IN STAFFORDSHIRE
£750 has been granted to PhD student Sophie Mills at the University of Birmingham towards her attendance at the EGU23 conference to present results on pollen analysis from the BIFoR-FACE long-term CO₂ elevation experiment in Staffordshire. The project involves interesting use of AI technology. Read Sophie’s post-conference blog article for more information.
Please note that conference travel requests are no longer eligible under the ECT’s small grants scheme
BIFOR-FACE ELEVATED CO2 EXPERIMENT
BIFOR-FACE EXPERIMENT ELEVATED CO2 ARRAY TOWER
£1000 has been granted to PhD student William Hagan Brown at the University of Plymouth towards the costs of thermocouple equipment for his doctoral research project at the BIFoR-FACE long-term experiment at Norbury in Staffordshire. The project is looking to understand the impact of elevated CO₂ on the canopy temperature of mature oak trees. The thermocouples enable detailed measurement of leaf temperature of oaks, and the results will provide validation for measurements using thermal infrared sensors at the canopy scale.
£2560 has been awarded to PhD student Andrea Rabbai at the University of Birmingham towards the costs of phenocam installation for his PhD project at the BIFoR-FACE long-term experiment in Staffordshire. The project is looking into the response of young mixed and monoculture tree plantations to an innovative coupled irrigation and fertilisation system (fertigation) management aimed at improving forest productivity, carbon sequestration capacity, and the ecosystem services associated with healthy forests.
BIFOR-FACE EXPERIMENT IN NORBURY, STAFFORDSHIRE
£2000 has been awarded to PhD student Katy Faulkner at the University of Warwick towards the costs of consumables and travel for a project at the BIFoR-FACE long-term experiment in Staffordshire. The project will investigate the impact of high rainfall events on forest soil microbes under the future (elevated) atmospheric CO₂ levels currently being simulated at the experiment.
A particular focus of this work will be the microbial groups that play a key role in carbon cycling.
WARDLOW hay cop IN DERBYSHIRE
£2000 has been awarded to PhD student Chris Taylor at the University of Sheffield towards a summer research project at the Wardlow Hay Cop LTE in Derbyshire. The project will investigate how nitrogen and phosphorus-limited grassland plants respond to elevated CO₂ and nutrient addition. Data will be collected on community composition and biomass, and plant tissue C:N ratios to determine if nutrient limitation could restrict plant carbon uptake or if plants use additional carbon to alleviate nutrient limitation.
![buxton climate change impacts laboratory [bccil]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54f09635e4b02703b86201fa/1552912232408-4XLYY4ZXHG3DLTTBDAM9/IMG_0026.JPG)
buxton climate change impacts laboratory [bccil]
£1000 has recently been granted to PhD student James Edgerley at Lancaster University to use our Buxton (BCCIL) LTE for his studies on ecosystem responses to changing climate. After the extreme summer drought of 2018, James is investigating whether 25 years of moderate drought and warming will make soil microbial communities more resistant or resilient to extreme weather events.
cors fochno lte, near Aberystwyth, wales
An award of £1000 was made last year to PhD student Luke Andrews at York University to use the Cors Fochno LTE for his studies on the effects of climate change on carbon sequestration in peatlands. Following a decade of climate manipulations at this LTE, accurate and continuous monitoring of climatic variables will generate more refined net ecosystem carbon budgets.
An award of £1000 was made to Dr Raj Whitlock/Cameron Hughes-Daly for a student project investigating the response of soil protozoa to 20 years of simulated climate change at BCCIL.
Maintenance Grants
We provide grants of up to £5000 to assist with the maintenance and repair of equipment and infrastructure at LTEs currently on the ECT register.
Recent Awards:
GRAZING SHEEP IN ONE OF THE EXPERIMENTAL PLOTS AT TULLOCH IN ABERDEENSHIRE
A £2404 award to Rob Graham at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) towards the costs of upgrading the sheep fencing around the plots at the SRUC Tulloch long-term rotational grazing experiment in Aberdeenshire. This will help ensure the continued welfare of the livestock in an agroecological rotation experiment that is unique in Europe.
one of the co2 sparging arrays at the bifor-face experiment in oak woodland in staffordshire
A £3000 award to Alexander Armstrong (PI Sami Ullah) at the University of Birmingham towards the costs of repairing the automated soil gas-flux system at the BIFoR-FACE long-term elevated CO₂ experiment in oak woodland at Norbury in Staffordshire. [co-funded by Ramble Worldwide Outdoor Trust]
sylvia toet and former PHD STUDENT LUKE ANDREWS OPERATING A GREENHOUSE GAS ANALYSER AT THE CORS FOCHNO EXPERIMENTAL PLOTS
A £3000 award to Nina Overtoom (PI Sylvia Toet) at the University of York towards the costs of repairing and replacing essential research equipment at the Cors Fochno long-term climate change manipulation experiment near Borth in mid-Wales. [co-funded by Ramble Worldwide Outdoor Trust]
DR ROBIN PAKEMAN at the glen finglas experiment, with one of the large replicated grazing enclosures on the glen slope in the background
A £2038 award to Principal Investigator Robin Pakeman at the James Hutton Institute towards the costs of repairing damaged fencing around the grazing enclosures at the Glen Finglas long-term upland grazing & biodiversity experiment in west Scotland.
one of the grazing exclosures at nash’s field long-term experiment, silwood Park, berkshire
A £5000 award to Ecological Analyst & Facility Manager Catalina Estrada at Imperial College Silwood Park for repairs to the fencing surrounding the grazing exclosures at the Nash’s Field long-term grassland grazing and fertilisation experiment in Berkshire.
water table depth monitoring point at nidderdale site, north yorkshire
A £3848 award to Principal Investigator Andreas Heinemeyer at the University of York for equipment repairs/replacement at the Peatland-ES-UK experiment. The grant will be used to replace failing water table depth loggers and renew battery packs across the experiment’s three sites in the Yorkshire Dales and the Forest of Bowland.
NIDDERDALE SITE (NORTH YORKSHIRE) OF PEATLAND-es-uk long-term EXPERIMENT
A £1150 award to Principal Investigator Andreas Heinemeyer at the University of York for equipment maintenance at the Peatland-ES-UK experiment. The grant will be used to repair and service one of the ageing LI-COR 8100 CO₂ gas analysers used across the experiment’s three sites to measure net ecosystem exchange and soil respiration.
meteorological station at the mossdale site (north yorkshire) of peatland-Es-UK long-term experiment
A £1360 award to Principal Investigator Andreas Heinemeyer at the University of York for maintenance at the Peatland-ES-UK LTE sites in North Yorkshire and Lancashire. The grant will be used to repair and maintain the LI-COR 8100 gas analysers that are employed in the monitoring of CO₂ fluxes at the experiment. This enables the measurement of net carbon exchange from vegetation and soil in the field.
PI mariecia fraser surveys the unmanaged ‘wilding’ plot at brignant long-term experiment in mid-wales
A £2955 award has recently been made to Principal Investigator Mariecia Fraser at IBERS-Aberystwyth for the Brignant Plots LTE at Pwllpeiran in mid-Wales, now in its 25th year! The grant will be used for the essential renovation of plot fencing, repairs to the site weather station and the renewal and upgrading of the site network of microclimate sensors.
data logging at the mossdale site of the peatland-es-uk long-term experiment
An award of £3000 was made to Principal Investigator Andreas Heinemeyer at the University of York for the Peatland-ES-UK LTE in north-west England. The grant will be used to upgrade and replace ageing rhizon peat water samplers. This will enable continuation of seasonal water quality sampling and the support of two PhD projects assessing management and climate impacts on carbon cycling and associated ecosystem services in UK blanket bogs.
How to Apply
Please download and complete the required Grant Application Form. Please also view our grants scoring criteria to help you include the necessary information in your application.
All costs must be clearly justified within the budget section. Any costs that are not justified will not be considered. Please ensure all costs are clearly calculated in GBP (British Sterling).
On completion please e-mail us the application form. Receipt of your application will be acknowledged and we aim to notify applicants if they have been successful or not within two months of receipt.
