British Veterinary Association‘s charity, Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF), secured £12,000 from the Benefact Group to fund its student grant scheme, which is now open for applicants.
Applications can be submitted by undergraduate students students in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing, animal welfare studies, agricultural sciences, zoology, and social sciences, who are interested in conducting short research projects focused on animal welfare.
The AWF student grant scheme aims to award successful applicants first hand experience in scientific research, while deepening their knowledge and understanding of animal welfare, with previous projects awarded grants valued between £500 and £5,000.
Chair of AWF, Julian Kupfer, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for students to engage with scientific research and gain hands-on experience whilst furthering their understanding of animal welfare.
“This will help them to develop essential skills for their professional careers as well as creating valuable evidence and research for the animal welfare sector to reflect upon and learn from.”
AWF grant scheme
A previous grant recipient, Ellie Miller, who was awarded an AWF student grant in 2022 for her project focusing on pain in calves and decisions around treatment among farmers in the UK, spoke highly of the opportunity.
Miller also won the 2023 RCVS ‘Fellows of the Future’ competition with her AWF-funded research project.
“This project was a fantastic opportunity to deepen my understanding of undertaking research and has allowed me to learn more about a topic I am passionate about, developing my understanding about animal welfare issues.
“I have found the whole experience fascinating and it has made me even more excited about becoming a farm vet.”
This years projects will be funded by the Benefact Group, a philanthropic group of financial service providers, via it’s annual Movement for Good programme which donates over £1 million to research projects in the UK.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Benefact Group for this generous grant. Robust scientific evidence is needed to address the many welfare issues faced by animals today.
“This funding ensures we can keep supporting students to make a real difference in addressing the challenges animals face and help build a strong pool of future animal welfare advocates, whose work is rooted in science,” said AWF Manager Erika Singh.
Since the inception of AWF’s Student Grant Scheme grant in 2016, the foundation has invested more than £85,000 in student research projects, addressing critical animal welfare issues from investigating the use of enrichment feeding with pet dogs to exploring the relationship between habitat biodiversity and donkey welfare.
The deadline for AWF grant submissions is Friday, 28 February 2025.
