BOTA Student Assistance Program (BOTA-SAP)

PRE-PROPOSAL application

BOTA-SAP is a program to assist students in North and South America who undertake independent research on native bamboo. Grants of up to $1000 USD are available as full or partial support of the research proposal. Undergraduate students will apply up to $600 USD, master degree students up to $800 USD, and Ph.D. students up to $1000 USD.

• All proposals must be based on the BOTA mission and objectives (see our Mission and Objetives page)
• Priority will be given to proposals that require substantial amounts of fieldwork. To that end, the program will fund the costs associated with transportation, lodging, food, as well as materials needed for field collection. BOTA expects the student’s university to provide support such as herbarium-type materials and is unlikely to fund these. BOTA-SAP will not fund items such as a computer, camera, international travel, and publishing.
• BOTA-SAP financial support is awarded to the student, not his/her university, and is administered by the student with permission of his or her thesis advisor or professor that is documented by a letter of approval.
• Funds are allocated according to the budget included in the approved proposal. It is the student’s responsibility to use and account for the funds in the manner agreed upon.
• For an undergraduate thesis, all work must be completed within one year of receiving funds. Two years are allowed for Master’s and Doctoral theses.
• A financial and academic report will be sent to BOTA with BOTA acknowledged in the thesis and any future publicity.

The application process requires two steps.

PRE-PROPOSAL: Students are invited to submit a one-page summary of the proposal to Dr. Eduardo Ruiz-Sanchez (ruizsanchez.eduardo@gmail.com). A pre-proposal can be sent at any date and considered as they are received.

FORMAT FOR APPLICATION TO THE BOTA-SAP PROGRAM

All application materials may be submitted in English, Spanish or Portuguese.

E-mail as Microsoft Word document to Dr. Eduardo Ruiz-Sanchez.

• Application date:
• Your name, nationality and email address:
• The name and location of the University:
• Name of your Thesis Advisor:
• Level: Bachelor ( ) Masters ( ) Doctorate ( )
• Title of the Proposal:
• Summary:

Duration of project (months):

The next step is by invitation only. A student with acceptable pre-proposal will be invited to develop and submit a full proposal using these guidelines: BOTA-SAP PROPOSAL APPLICATION (a downloadable pdf file here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hfg8l4pbks4blxp/bota-sapproposal.pdf?dl=0).