Deadline: November 14, 2025

Applications are open for the Wild Animal Initiative’s Challenge Grants 2025. The Wild Animal Initiative’s Challenge Grants support researchers exploring critical research questions that will unlock new avenues of wild animal welfare research and are not prioritized by other funders.

Each round of Challenge Grants calls for projects within one or more specific themes. These flagship projects should be led by experienced principal investigators and demonstrate a high degree of relevance to high priority research areas, novelty, and methodological rigor.


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Grants

  • Grant size is between $50,000–$100,000 USD total.

Eligibility

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  • Challenge Grant projects must be led by an experienced principal investigator but can include financial support for students or other early-career collaborators. When submitting an expression of interest for a Challenge Grant, applicants may request to be considered for a WAI Fellowship, which offers mentorship and a supplementary stipend to postdoctoral researchers and PhD students pursuing a long-term career in wild animal welfare research. The process and parameters for fellowships will be shared with those invited to apply at the full proposal stage.
  • Eligible projects include those that are standalone, or those that add a wild animal welfare component to an existing non-Wild Animal Initiative funded project to broaden its scope. 
  • Projects must be led by a principal investigator who is affiliated with a university or other research institution (e.g. a government agency).
  • Projects must be led by or include collaborators who are residents of all countries where field work will take place. If a project is managed by an NGO, that NGO must be registered in the country where field work will take place.
  • They prioritize funding for direct research costs (e.g. supplies, materials), though they do fund other expense areas (e.g. stipends, salaries, capital equipment) if they are fully justified relative to the project goals. We will not reject a proposal based solely on budget without first asking applicants to consider modifications, but applicants should limit their requests to what is reasonably needed to complete the project. 

Application

Expressions of interest are due November 14, 2025. If the EOI is shortlisted, the applicant is invited to develop a full proposal. If you have expressed interest in a fellowship in addition to your main project, you will also be informed at this stage of whether they will continue to evaluate you as a potential fellow.

Click here to apply


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For more information, visit Wild Animal Initiative’s Challenge Grants.

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