The Plymouth Marine Sciences Education Fund (PMSEF) is a charitable body, established to provide funds to enable students and early career scientists to attend scientific conferences and symposia or to attend advanced training courses or workshops in the marine sciences. A grant of up to £250:00 may be awarded to successful candidates following scrutiny of their applications.
Applicants for funding should be from one of the following Plymouth Marine Sciences Partnership organisations:
The awards will be advertised during October 2010 with a deadline date for submission of applications at the end of January 2011. The Trustees of the PMSEF form the scrutiny panel with successful applications being announced in the following April.
Each year, usually during October, the Annual Marine Science Lecture is held in one of the University of Plymouth lecture theatres given by eminent professors on a topic of their choice. The 24th Annual Marine Science Lecture will take place at 6:30 pm on Tuesday 12th October 2010 in the Devonport Lecture Theatre, Portland Square, University of Plymouth. The speaker will be Professor Geoff Boxshall from the Natural History Museum, London.
The Association awards a number of grants each year to Members for work to be carried out in Plymouth. A limited number of bursaries, to a maximum value of £1,000, are available to enable undergraduates to gain experience by working in the MBA Laboratory. For botanists they are funded from the Mary Parke Fund. They are available throughout the year but students wishing to be considered for the summer vacation are advised to apply before the end of February.
Read about our 2011 Bursary Winners.
To enable scientists to work at the Citadel Hill Laboratory either as independent visitors or in collaboration with the Association’s research programme.
The individual bursaries will have a maximum value of £1,500 in any one financial year (1 January to 31 December). The funds awarded may be used to cover travel expenses, subsistence or the purchase of chemicals and apparatus at the discretion of the Director.
Applications may be submitted throughout the year but the funds for any particular year have usually been allocated by the end of March.
Successful applicants will be required to become members of the Association.
The current value of the Ray Lankester Investigatorship is £1,500 per calendar month for a maximum of five months. The funds can be used at the discretion of the Investigator to enable the proposed schedule of work to be carried out, which must take place within 2 years of the award being made. The awards are intended to provide opportunities for established researchers to work at the Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association (Citadel Hill, Plymouth).
Read more about the Ray Lankester Investigatorship
Applications are invited from post-doctoral scientists interested in research in Marine Biology for the first Peter Baker Fellowship. In the first instance, one Fellowship will be awarded each year. The Fellowship may be held at any time during the year and will provide living and travel expenses for the successful applicant to spend approximately two months working at the Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth. Bench fees will be waived and a small sum may be available to assist with research expenses. Applications are particularly encouraged from those interested in physiological research.
Read more about the Peter Baker Fellowhip
Molly Spooner was an eminent marine biologist who worked at the MBA between 1934 and 1976. She was best known for her work on the effects of oil pollution which culminated in 1973 when Molly was appointed as adviser to the Department of the Environment on oil pollution precautions and procedures. Molly died in 1997 and bequeathed a sum of money to the MBA to encourage enterprising students to experience marine biological research at the MBA.
A bursary up to a maximum value of £900 is awarded each year to enable a student to work at the MBA over the summer with an MBA Fellow.
To apply for this award you must be a graduate or postgraduate student and a member of the Marine Biological Association.
Applications should be made by letter to the MBA Director (or email: sec@mba.ac.uk), at the following address:
Spooner fund student bursary
Professor Colin Brownlee
The Laboratory
Citadel Hill
Plymouth
Devon
PL1 2PB
Each year at the Plymouth University Awards Graduation Ceremony, the MBA provides a prize to the best marine-themed honours project, awarding the best performing student with MBA Membership and a bursary of £160 per week for 4 weeks to carry out research at the Citadel Hill laboratory.
With periods of tenure up to five years are also available from time to time. These are advertised nationally and internationally in the scientific press and applications undergo a rigorous review procedure overseen by the MBA Council. The Fellowships provide a salary, laboratory facilities and a grant for recurrent expenditure.