Research Grants

This page is used to provide your assessment scores for each application. Please use the rubric below the application details to enter your name, your scores, and any notes on the application.

Revisiting the taxonomy of Euphorbia subgenus Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) in India

Project summary:

Subgenus Euphorbia is the most diverse of the four subgenera with nearly 60% of Indian taxa exhibiting endemism. Species delimitation for several taxa remains obscure due to morphological plasticity and a poor understanding of phylogenetic information. The study of the systematics of subgenus Euphorbia aims at resolving these taxonomic complexes.

First Name:

Oshin Sharma

sharma.oshin@gmail.com

Highest degree:

M.Sc.

Year obtained:

2016

Applicant Status:

Current student

India

Flowering plants, Fossils

Relevant publications (minimum 1, maximum 4):

Scoring Rubric

Your name:

c1. Scientific Merit

Scientific impact of the study in the proposed taxonomic group or the flora and funga of a geographic region – up to 10 points
Contribution to the generation of novel systematic/taxonomic/floristic data – up to 5 points
Quality and significance of questions being addressed – up to 10 points
Adequacy of methods for testing the research question (data collection/analysis/use of different tools) – up to 10 points

This proposal scores:

/35

C2. Community Building

Applicant’s potential for completing goals of the proposal within the time frame, and of professional success (based on CV, considering career stage) – up to 10 points
Explicit inclusion of (a) the use and generation of collections, and (b) conferring with taxonomic/nomenclatural experts – up to 10 points
Perceived need where more points are given for applicants from low- or middle-income countries – up to 5 points

This proposal scores:

/25

C3. Broader Impacts

The proposal will yield durable benefits and be disseminated through publications (e.g., taxonomic revisions, checklists, new data provided for existing databases, websites) – up to 20 points
The proposal involves taxonomic training, fieldwork, and herbarium visits – up to 10 points
The proposal involves outreach, mentoring, and mobility exchange – up to 10 points

This proposal scores:

/40

This proposal is well-written and outlines a plan to sample and study one of the most species rich genera of angiosperms, Euphorbia – the proposal will support two key activities: travel to herbaria and field sites for collection and study and molecular phylogenetic work. For herbarium and field studies, the applicant unfortunately does not identify specific locations, nor the anticipated number of collections for study and collection, which makes it difficult to determine the contribution of these efforts to the overall scientific need. For the sequencing studies, it is assumed that for such a large genus, a large database of sequences already exists and that newly sequenced material will contribute to a larger, existing database of sequences for comparative analysis; however, this is not discussed in the proposal and so it's unclear what the phylogenetic background of the work currently looks like and the significance of the new samples to the larger needs for understanding evolution in this genus/subgenus.

Applicant Details

email:

Country:

Target organism/s:

Previous publications

Applicant's CV

Proposal

Budget

Budget (USD):

1990

Department of Botany, S.P. Pune University

Affiliation:

Grant Assessment

Last Name:

Has the applicant applied for an IAPT Research Grant previously?

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