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GRANTS

The grant program is administered by the Grants Committee of the Stuntz Mycology Fund. Please address questions and completed applications to Dr. Steven Trudell, Grants Committee Chair (mycecol[at]uw.edu).

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Grant Program Guidelines

(Revised July 2018)

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Guiding Principles for Granting

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The object of the Stuntz Mycology Fund (SMF) grant program is to provide financial support for mycological research and education in the Pacific Northwest. Although a wide range of mycological subjects can be considered, priority will be given to projects involving mushroom-forming fungi ("macrofungi," "macromycetes"), as they were the focus of Dr. Stuntz's research. Applicants do not necessarily have to reside in the Pacific Northwest as long as the research involves or pertains to Pacific Northwest fungi or the educational activity takes place in the Pacific Northwest and benefits the Pacific Northwest mycological community.

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For purposes of the SMF grant program, the Pacific Northwest is considered to comprise Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, southern British Columbia, and southeast and south-coastal Alaska. The SMF and its supporting organization, the Daniel E. Stuntz Memorial Foundation (DESMF), are small organizations and, as such, SMF must limit the size of the grants we award. We aim to award grants totaling approximately 5% of the DESMF's corpus each year, with a maximum of 10% in any calendar year. Most past awards have been for less than $10,000, and the largest has been under $15,000. Given the limited resources, SMF favorably views projects that have obtained (or will obtain) matching (or greater) funding from other sources.

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In order for an award to be made, a grant application must be approved by a simple majority of the SMF Board of Trustees (for most Individual and Institutional Grants) or the SMF Grants Committee (for Mini and Small Grants, and for selected Individual and Institutional Grants for $1000 or less).

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Each grant application must include a proposed budget that shows how the requested funds would be used. Depending on the grant category and specific nature of the proposed research or educational activity, allowable costs could include items such as travel expenses, laboratory analyses, stipends or honorariums, compensation for non-salaried individuals such as undergraduate or graduate students, expendable supplies, and equipment. Salary, institutional overhead, and page charges are not allowable costs except under extraordinary conditions. Support for attendance at a professional society meeting in order to present results of a SMF-supported project will be considered, but generally will not be awarded in advance of the project work being carried out successfully. Budgets should include sufficient detail, such as descriptions of items, numbers of samples, quantities required, unit costs, and total costs, to allow reviewers to clearly understand the request and to be able to match the budget details with the description of the proposed activities.

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The Dr. Patricia Allynson Winter Fund comprises roughly half of the DESMF's resources and the late Dr. Winter directed that grants from this Fund reflect her expressed priorities. Thus, consideration of applications that would be awarded from the Winter Fund (as determined by SMF) will be guided by Dr. Winter's following order of preference:

  1. Female students of mycology who plan to continue in the teaching profession

  2. Other students of mycology

  3. Post-doctoral research or study in mycology

  4. General support of mycology classes or activities

  5. Expenses for visiting lecturing professional mycologists

  6. Amateur mycology students and/or support of their activities

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The foregoing order of preference does not apply to consideration of applications that would be awarded outside the Winter Fund.

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Types of Grant

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There are four categories of grant - Mini, Small, Individual, and Institutional:

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  • Mini: These grants typically are awarded to K - 12 teachers or other educators in the Pacific Northwest for purposes such as purchasing supplies for class or individual student (such as school science fair) projects that relate to fungi. The maximum amount of a single award is $250. They are intended for quick-turnaround, with disbursal of funds made within 30 days of receipt of a complete application whenever possible.

  • Small: These grants typically are awarded to mushroom clubs/societies and other similar organizations as matching funds for purposes such as purchasing mycological books and visual media, purchasing audio-visual equipment, and conducting educational events such as forays and lectures by guest speakers. The awards will generally be under $1000. They are intended for quick-turnaround, with disbursal of funds made within 30 days of receipt of a complete application whenever possible.

  • Individual: These grants are awarded directly to individuals who normally are not working under the auspices of a college/university, herbarium/fungarium, museum, or other not-for-profit organization.

  • Institutional: These grants are awarded to students, researchers, or teachers who are affiliated with, or are working under the auspices of, a college/university, herbarium/fungarium, museum, or other not-for-profit organization. All funds are to be used for the proposed research or educational activities; salary and institutional overhead are not allowable costs except under extraordinary conditions.

Application foms

Types of Grant

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Applications for Mini Grants and Small Grants, and for Individual and Institutional Grants of $1000 or less, will be accepted at any time. Applications for Individual Grants and Institutional Grants of more than $1000 are due by 1 March and 1 October each year in order to be considered at our spring and fall Board meetings, respectively.

If an application is received after all available funds for a given year have been awarded, the applicant will be given the option of withdrawing the application or having it considered during the following year.

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Grant Application Review for Mini Grants and Small Grants

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The SMF Grants Committee Chair will acknowledge receipt of the application, confirm that the appropriate category is being applied for, and review the application for completeness. If it is not complete, it will be returned with a request for the needed information. Once it has been accepted as complete, the application will be routed to the Grants Committee members. After review and any clarification from the applicant and/or discussion among the Committee-members has been completed, the Committee will vote whether or not to award the grant and, if so, the amount of the award. The applicant will be notified of the decision and funds disbursed to successful applicants within 30 days of receipt of a complete application whenever possible.

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Grant Application Review for Individual Grants and Institutional Grants

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The SMF Grants Committee Chair will acknowledge receipt of the application, confirm that the appropriate category is being applied for, and review the application for completeness. If it is not complete, it will be returned with a request for the needed information. Once it has been accepted as complete, the application will be routed to the Grants Committee members and any additional reviewers. After review and any clarification from the applicant and/or discussion among the Committee-members has been completed, the Committee will vote whether or not to forward the application to the full Board of Trustees for a decision at the next Board meeting. The Board will vote on whether or not to award the grant and, if so, the amount of the award and any conditions attached to it. The applicant will be notified of the decision and funds disbursed to successful applicants as soon as practicable after the meeting.

For acceptable applications for Grants of $1000 or less, the Committee will decide whether or not a decision by the full Board is necessary. If it is, the application will be processed in the same manner as other Individual and Institutional applications. If the Committee feels the application need not require involvement of the full Board, it will conduct its review and decision process as expeditiously as practicable.

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Grant Application Evaluation Criteria

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  • Is the category of grant applied for the proper one, given the nature of the proposal?

  • Is the application complete?

  • Does the application provide sufficient information to allow a decision to be made?

  • Does the proposal focus on fungi, especially mushroom-forming ones?

  • Does the applicant live and/or study and/or work in the Pacific Northwest, or

  • Would the proposed activities take place in the Pacific Northwest (as we have defined it) or involve or pertain to Pacific Northwest fungi?

  • Does the proposal involve research and/or education? If so, on a scale of 1 to 10, how important is the research to our region and/or how much need is there for the education program?

  • Would the proposed activities and/or their results be of interest and/or relevance to the broad Pacific Northwest mycological community, both amateur and professional?

  • Would the proposed activities promote a better understanding of fungi by the general public in the Pacific Northwest?

  • Is the proposed project one that is suitable for consideration for an award from the Dr. Winter Fund?

  • Has the applicant obtained (or attempted to obtain) funding from other sources?

  • Does the applicant appear qualified to carry out the proposed activities?

  • Has the applicant received prior funding from SMF or DESMF? If so, were those activities completed successfully?

  • Does the proposed budget seem reasonable in light of the proposed scope-of-work and other sources of funding?

  • If SMF decides to approve an application, can the full amount of the requested budget be awarded, or must the amount be reduced in order to accommodate awards to other successful applicants?

  • Will the data and results be used in ways that are consistent with the goals and objectives of SMF?

  • Does the applicant have a reasonable plan for disseminating the results to the Pacific Northwest mycological community?

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History of Grants and Non-grant Awards

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# Grant awards: 126
Total grants awarded: $380,022
Mean award: $3,016
Minimum award: $50
Maximum award:$14,227
Median award: $1,969
Additional non-grant awards (17): $48,274
Total support awarded: $428,297

Past Grant Recipients

Past Grant Recipients

Grants awarded by SMF:

Grants awarded by DESMF:

Non-Grant Support:

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