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Small Collections Grant Conditions

The IAPT provides competitive grants for the improvement and maintenance of botanical collections (herbaria) of algae, fungi, and plants.

Grants are open to small herbaria with up to 100,000 specimens as recognized in Index Herbariorum with updated information not older than two years. Proposals from herbaria located in any part of the World will be considered, but proposals to support herbaria in low- and middle-income countries will be prioritized.

We prefer funds used for a combination of topics related to digitization projects and those that emphasize processing specimen backlogs, shipping for exchange of collections or for rescuing endangered collections to other herbaria, curation and conservation of specimens, or other herbarium-related activities. Applications will be assessed based on the submitted projects demonstrating collection improvement (60%), matching methods and funding (20%), and broader impacts (20%). See "Proposal Evaluation" below for more information on the assessment criteria.

 

Proposals must follow the guidelines below:

  1. The call for proposals opens on 1st Dec 2025 and closes on 28th Feb 2026.

  2. Applicants must be IAPT members at the time of the grant submission to be eligible for an IAPT grant.

  3. The award should preferably be used for collection improvements such as digitization projects, processing specimen backlogs, shipping endangered collections to other herbaria, curation and conservation of specimens, and other herbaria-related activities. Requests for materials to mount herbarium specimens will also be considered.

  4. Applications must be submitted by a collection director, curator, or manager.

  5. Applications from herbaria that have received an IAPT Small Collections Grant within the past 3 years will not be considered.

  6. Proposals must be written in English, including: (i) herbarium code, (ii) name of the applicant, (iii) country, (iv) institution, (v) project title, (vi) objectives, (vii) a succinct description of the problem that the grant will seek to solve, (viii) time table, and (ix) proposed budget to be prepared using this excel template.

  7. The proposal should not exceed two pages (single-spaced, 12-type font). There will be no exceptions, and proposals exceeding two pages will be rejected without review.

  8. Applicants should include a short CV not exceeding 3 pages.

  9. All documents must be submitted in a Portable Document Format (PDF).

  10. The project should be submitted via the IAPT website using the online form. If this is not possible, applications may be submitted via email to the IAPT Managing Secretary (office@iapt-taxon.org). Any applications via email must follow the same character and file size limits imposed on the online applications.

  11. All proposals received will be acknowledged by e-mail. Please contact the IAPT Managing Secretary (office@iapt-taxon.org) if you submit a proposal but do not receive a confirmation within a week.

  12. The maximum award is US$ 3,000.

  13. The selected projects will be announced on the IAPT web page and through e-mails to all the applicants.

 

Applications open: 1st Dec 2025

Applications close: 28th Feb 2026

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Proposal Evaluation

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Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

 

1. Collection Improvement (max. 120 points)

  • Facilitating access to the physical collections by digitization (e.g., data entry, setting up database structure with an outline of the platform to be used, purchasing equipment, and imaging specimens) – up to 30 points.

  • Enhancing physical collections by improving the conservation status of specimens in the herbarium (e.g., better folders, protecting covers, mounting paper, labeling, etc.) – up to 30 points.

  • Curating specimens (e.g., updating families, species identification, identifying types) – up to 20 points.

  • Increasing our understanding of the flora or funga by making new herbarium specimens available, such as processing of backlog or collecting and mounting of new specimens from understudied sites – up to 20 points.

  • Securing collections by distribution of duplicates (or orphan collections) to other regional or international herbaria or shipping endangered collections to another herbarium – up to 20 points.

 

2. Methods & Funding (max. 40 points)

  • Match between the proposed budget and methods for the aims described – up to 10 points.

  • Perceived need, the extent to which the project will benefit from IAPT funding: e.g., due to active floristic work or contribution to poorly collected sites, due to threatened conditions of collections, and for the degree of involvement of others (outreach and education). We give more points for herbaria in low- and middle-income countries – up to 20 points.

  • Sharing duplicate specimens with other herbaria – up to 10 points.

 

​3. Broader Impacts (max. 40 points)

  • Degree of regional importance of the collection or the taxonomic importance of the targeted collection – up to 10 points.

  • The project will yield durable benefits (specimens, digitized metadata, databases, websites) – up to 15 points.

  • The project involves outreach/mentoring and broad dissemination – up to 15 points.

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