59th Annual Congress of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa

Background

The Trust of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa was created to support the Society and the broader discipline of Grassland Science. This discipline is seen as encompassing the understanding of natural systems used by wildlife and livestock, planted pastures and the people whose livelihoods depend on these systems in order to promote best practice for sustaining these systems into the future.

Towards furthering this aim, the Trust sees the fostering of communication and networks among students and professionals in these disciplines as a foundational activity. The Trust hopes to stimulate these through providing the means for groups from Universities or other Higher Education Institutes (HEI) to attend the annual Congress.

Sponsorship offered



Trust offers sponsorship up to a maximum of R25 000.00 to a group from a University or other HEI to attend the Grassland Society of Southern Africa's annual Congress (app.glueup.com/event/59th-annual-congress-of-the-grassland-society-of-southern-africa- 95103/​)

The sponsorship is aimed to cover registration of a member of staff and two or three students. The balance of any funding can be used for transport or accommodation on receipt of a motivation. If the group wishes to utilize the contribution towards travel to bring more than three students using shared vehicles, these students are strongly encouraged to apply for separate funding for individual students.

Criteria for selection

The group will consist of a member of staff and two or three post-graduate students from an accredited South African Higher Education Institution. The staff member doesn't need to be the supervisor for all students. We will accept applications from staff employed by Research Institutes, even if they are not affiliated with a university. However, in such cases, they must act as supervisors for the students accompanying them. All people making up the sponsored group will present a platform paper or a poster at the congress. Recently enrolled students may present a Research Proposal in poster form. The subject matter of the papers and posters must be within the grassland discipline as broadly defined above. The abstracts must be accepted by the Local Organising Committee.

None of the members of the group are required to be existing members of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa. All members of the group will receive one year's free membership by attending the Congress. Various factors, including contributions to the grassland discipline, financial need, distance traveled to the congress, and broadening of the number of institutions represented at the congress, will be considered by the selection committee when making their decision. Applications from people who have not previously attended GSSA Congresses are encouraged. All Members of the group will attend the Congress for its entire duration (3 days). The funded group will be requested to write a short article on the congress for Grassroots, the GSSA's popular publication. This can cover any aspect of the congress (from fun to facts).

Application process

Applications must be received by the administrator of the GSSA (info@grassland.co.za) marked "Trust Group Sponsorship" by the 17 May 2024.

The Application must include the following:

● Name of University or HEI

● Full name, department where employed and position of staff member

● Full names, department, and degree for which registered, of 2 or 3 students.

● Title, authors and short abstract of each participant's presentation, indicating if it is a platform or poster presentation. If accepted, full abstracts must be submitted by 17 May 2024.

● A budget of costs for attending congress including registration, accommodation and transport (include details of mileage, vehicle hire costs etc. as relevant). Include any co-funding that you have available or hope to secure.

● A short motivation (no more than (no more than 500 words) of why this group deserves to be funded to attend the GSSA Congress.

Final matters

The decision of the selection committee is final

Trust reserves the right to determine the amount available for funding an individual group

Trust reserves the right to make no allocation

For more information contact the administrator at info@grassland.org.za