The Endowment fund of the Meteoritical Society supports a variety of activities through grants given from the General Fund, including activities that broaden public awareness and knowledge about meteorites, that help young people to establish scientific careers in the study of meteorites, that help scientists from under-developed countries study meteoritics and planetary science, and that facilitate recovery of meteorites for scientific and educational purposes.
The General Fund also supports several ongoing activities, including prize money for the Leonard Medal, which honors outstanding contributions to the science of meteoritics and closely allied fields, and the annual Pellas-Ryder Award, which recognizes the best planetary science paper first-authored by an undergraduate or graduate student published in a peer-reviewed journal.
In recent years, the Society has used the General Fund to support travel awards for students and early-career researchers to attend the Society's Annual Meeting. Selection for these awards is done through the organizers of the Annual Meeting and should be applied for under the guidelines and procedures set out on the Annual Meeting website.
The General Endowment Fund has grown to a substantial fund thanks to generous donations from Society members over many years. Your continued support for this fund is vital for our ability to support worthy projects in the future. See the Gifts and Contributions page for more details on how to donate.
Grants Supported by the Endowment Fund
Two different types of grants are supported by the Meteoritical Society Endowment Fund:
- Community Grants – further the goals of the Meteoritical Society through activities and projects proposed by Meteoritical Society members
- Research Grants – support research activities by student and early-career Meteoritical Society members
View all Endowment Fund news stories to read about previously funded activities and their accomplishments. News stories are also tagged specifically as either Community Grants or Research Grants.
Although grant applications are accepted at any time, consideration of applications is only carried out following two annual deadlines: 15th January and 15th June of each year. The sections below provide application details.
Community Grants
The Endowment Committee will consider requests for funding to support activities that further the goals of the Meteoritical Society. The guidelines given below are not requirements. The Endowment Committee may consider requests that go beyond some of these guidelines.
- Applicants must be current members of the Meteoritical Society. Visit this page to join or visit the member portal to check that your dues are paid for the current year.
- In general, grant requests should not exceed $5,000, although higher amounts have been awarded on occasion in the past. Matching funds from other sources are viewed favorably, but are not required.
- Funds may be awarded for any activity that furthers the goals of the Meteoritical Society. However, preference will be given to those activities that lie outside of the normal Society activities and activities typically funded by government agencies. The goal is to introduce meteoritics and space science to a wider audience and to provide opportunities to those who would not otherwise have them. Funds are not given to individuals but to programs, conferences, workshops, etc. In general, workshops associated with the Annual Meeting should be self-supporting.
- Requests should be made using this template. Requests should include the amount requested, other sources of funding (or sponsoring organizations), a tentative budget for how the funding will be used, and a description of the planned activity that is detailed enough for a diverse group of members of the Society to be able to make an informed decision. The submission should be planned so that it is considered in the regular evaluation periods, allowing a Council decision at least three months before funding is needed.
- Requests can be submitted at any time, but will be considered twice a year, starting on January 15 and June 15. Decisions will be reached by the Council meeting in March and at the Annual Meeting in the summer. Requests should be sent to the Meteoritical Society Secretary: metsocsec@gmail.com
Each grant comes with the following conditions:
- The Meteoritical Society should be acknowledged by name in any written materials coming from such projects or in any presentations.
- A final report using this template should be sent to the Meteoritical Society Secretary metsocsec@gmail.com and the Chair of the Endowment Committee within one year of completion of the project, and this report may be shared publicly. This summary should include a brief description that can be used to illustrate the types of programs that have been supported, the number of people who participated in the program, and a brief critique of what worked well and what did not work well. The goal is to assist future grant recipients in making their project successful. Negative comments in the critique will not be considered negatively in future requests.
Research Grants
The Meteoritical Society Research Grant aims to promote collaborative research in the fields of meteoritics and planetary science. This includes:
- Promoting interactions of researchers across borders.
- Aiding novel and interdisciplinary research ideas not yet funded elsewhere.
- Broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in scientific research and helping to develop the grant recipient’s independent research career.
The Meteoritical Society Research Grant is open to students and early-career researchers. Full details on applicant eligibility, eligible costs, grant details, and the selection process are available here. In summary:
- Applicants must be current members of the Meteoritical Society. Visit this page to join or visit the member portal to check that your dues are paid for the current year.
- The typical amount of money awarded per grant will be approximately $1,000 to $3,000. In exceptional cases, up to $5,000 may be awarded. The expected timeframe for a grant is one year.
- Applications can be submitted to the Meteoritical Society Secretary at any time, but will be considered twice a year, starting on January 15 and June 15. Decisions will be finalized by the Council meeting in March and at the Annual Meeting in the summer.
- Applications must be made using this template and comply with the page limits set.
- Submitted applications will be assessed by the Endowment Committee and eligible proposals will be ranked based on stated evaluation criteria, including novelty, scientific quality, impact and feasibility.
- A final report using this template should be sent to the Meteoritical Society Secretary metsocsec@gmail.com and the Chair of the Endowment Committee within one year of completion of the project and may be shared publicly.