Companion Animals NZ

Companion animals trust funding application research award notes and conditions

Overview of award

Through this award Companion Animals Trust aims to fund research that is relevant to the field of companion animal welfare and urban animal management and provides new insight into companion animal welfare and human-animal interactions.

Amount of Funds

Companion Animals Trust Research Study Award will fund projects up to $10,000 per annum to a maximum of $20,000.

Disclaimer

Companion Animals Trust reserves the right not to distribute funds in a funding round where applications received are not sufficient in number or do not meet the requirements of the award or goals outlined in the Companion Animals Trust Deed. Companion Animals Trust is a discretionary Trust and the decisions of the Trustees are final.

Use of Funds

  1. Projects funded by Companion Animal Trust awards may not be altered from those specified on the application form and in the award Terms and Conditions without prior written permission from the Companion Animal Trust. No additional funds will be provided unless Companion Animal Trust decides so in its absolute discretion.
  2. The Companion Animal Trust award funding cannot be used for social enterprise initiatives, capital works or expenses, conference attendance or salaries (with the exception of a fixed term research assistant positions).
  3. Where funds are granted to an institution for the employment of staff at that institution, or for work to be carried out by a private individual, Companion Animals Trust is not the employer. It is the responsibility of the host institution to ensure that individuals are employed in accordance with employment legislation.
  4. Any equipment purchased from a Companion Animals Trust award will become the property of Companion Animals Trust and should be used only for the activities approved. At the end of the project the ownership and future use of the equipment will be reviewed by Companion Animals Trust.

Acknowledgement of Funding Body

  1. Companion Animals Trust’s financial support must be acknowledged in all publications, presentation, press-releases and any other publicity surrounding the work. Copies of publications arising from the work must be forwarded onto Companion Animals Trust on their publication and Companion Animals Trust must be notified when the work is presented at conferences and meetings etc.
  2. It is the responsibility of the host institution, the award holder and any co-investigators to communicate research funded by Companion Animals Trust to the public at local, national and international levels. As appropriate, and to raise awareness of the role of science and research in advancing companion animal welfare.
  3. Companion Animals Trust reserves the right to promote the findings and publication of the work through press-releases and social media avenues.
  4. Award recipients will provide Companion Animals Trust with a copy of any published manuscripts that arise from the work.

Eligibility

At this time Companion Animals Trust will only fund companion animal welfare research conducted within New Zealand.

You may only submit one Research Study Award Proposal per funding round.

Your organisation must be a registered charity, incorporated society or both to apply for funding.

You must supply a minimum of two quotes for any product or service you are requesting funding for (excluding microchips and Companion Animals NZ Register registrations if applicable).

Applicants (organisation or individual) currently being investigated by the SPCA are not eligible to apply.

Upon receipt of successful application, the receiving organisation, and any individual associated with it, will work collaboratively with Companion Animals Trust around any concern they may have about Companion Animals Trust as an organisation, the Trustees and Office holders, or the work they carry out. Should and issue arise where a recipient has concerns, they agree to raise the issue directly with Companion Animals Trust.

Application Dates

There is one funding rounds per annum. Applications for the Research Study Award must be received by the FEBRUARY closing date advertised on the website.

The completed application from and supporting documents must be submitted via our website.

Successful Applications

Applicants will be notified of their success in writing.

Payment of Award

Upon receipt of successful application, recipients will be asked to return a signed declaration agreeing to the conditions outlined in this document.

The payment of all awards will be made electronically.

Prior to payment, successful recipients must provide an encoded bank account deposit slip or tax invoice.

Half the amount of the total awarded grant will be paid at the start of the project. The remainder of the grant will be paid after the interim report is received and signed off by Companion Animals Trust Trustees.

Experimental Methods – Application Notes

When completing Section 10.0 Experimental Methods please include the following:

Include the number of animals, source of animals, treatments, sampling schedules, expected outcomes.

Include a thorough description of your proposed data analysis. Where practical include sample size calculations. In the case of surveys include the target response rate.

For applications involving animal ethics describe whether animal ethics has been sought, the status of the application and which animal ethics committee has been applied to. If animal ethics has already been granted please attach the approved animal ethics application and approval notification to this application. If animals are involved in your study but animal ethics is not required justify why. If the research involves owned companion animals also include the owner consent form as an appendix. Companion Animals Trust will only transfer approved funding once animal ethics has been awarded. Companion Animals Trust will not provide funding for animal ethics applications.

For applications that involve human participants indicate whether human ethics is required, whether it has been sought, the status of the application and which human ethics committee had been applied to. If human ethics has already been granted include the approved human ethics application and approval notification as an appendix to this application. If human ethics is not required justify why.

If the proposed study is testing a drug, enrichment device, artificial pheromone or any other animal related product please confirm the availability of the product and the support of the manufacturer.

Reports

Recipients must provide an interim report at the agreed midpoint of the project. This report must include work to date, milestones reached, budget expended and obstacles encountered. A template will be provided.

At the completion of the project, recipients must provide a brief account (less than 500 words) of their project written in an easily accessible style suitable for inclusion in publications such as newsletters, websites and on social media platforms. This should explain the background of the study, any key findings and their benefit to companion animal welfare. Where possible recipients should provide photographs illustrating the project and the animals involved.

The brief summary must be received by the Companion Animal Trust 3 months after the agreed completion date of the project unless otherwise agreed with Companion Animals Trust.

Oral Presentations

Companion Animals Trust may invite recipients to present an overview of their project.