Outreach Fund
The European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) is pleased to announce an Outreach Fund, available globally to promote evolution-related activities, with a total annual budget of 10000 euros. The goal of this initiative is to promote knowledge about evolution to the general public. Applications for funding will be accepted for educational initiatives that promote evolution, translation of evolutionary material (books, films, websites) intended for a general audience, public outreach seminars, public exhibitions, etc. Applications will be accepted twice yearly (deadlines March 15, September 15); (application form) and should be submitted by email to Olga Vos (Subject: Outreach).
The applications will be evaluated by the Outreach Committee:
Sally Otto (University of British Columbia)
Isabelle Olivieri (University of Montpellier)
Bas Zwaan (University of Leiden)
The following proposals for spring 2010 have been chosen by the committe to receive a grant:
*Özpolat: Bringing the understanding of evolution to Turkish primary schools*
*Funding provided: €1700 (requested €1700)*
This outreach initiative will allow the non-profit organization Hard-workers for Evolution to distribute informational packets to science teachers in Turkey associated with the Turkish translation of the Understanding Evolution (http://evolution.berkeley.edu/) website. This information package will include a brochure about evolution and a CD containing an offline version of the website (http://EvrimiAnlamak.org in Turkish), as well as printable website articles.
*Campos: Evolving Evolutionary Ideas*
*Funding provided: €2000 (requested €2000)*
Funding from ESEB will allow the development of teaching kits for use in Portuguese elementary schools, where evolutionary concepts are currently not taught. Funding will be used to develop and build 20 kits and to pay for travel expenses of visits with the kits to schools during the school year. The kits will include flower seeds to demonstrate genetic drift, buttons and plastic pearls with different colours to demonstrate natural selection, cards with images of different organisms to demonstrate how taxonomy relates with evolution, small mirrors and genealogical trees to demonstrate the heritability of characters.
*Salamitou: Twelve Spotlights on Evolution*
*Funding provided: €3000 (requested €3000)*
An award from the ESEB Outreach fund will allow the development of an exhibition entitled "Twelve spotlights on Evolution" composed of 12 posters. Each poster will include photographs and short descriptions that illuminate an important aspect of evolution. This exhibition will present both basic notions of evolution and up-to-date research results, explained in a very accessible way and designed to interest a general audience. The posters will be displayed to the general public at scientific events and at places such as student libraries and shopping malls in the Paris area.
*Braeckman: A philosopher in nature. Evolutionary theory explained to children.*
*Funding provided: €2500 (requested €2500)*
A large empirical literature in educational psychology indicates that children and adolescents hold wrong beliefs about evolutionary biology. Given the importance of educational materials in the home environment, there is a need for children's books that explain evolution and natural selection in simple terms. Funding from the ESEB Outreach Fund will allow the illustration of a children's book designed to convey ideas like natural selection and descent with modification, to be distributed at least to primary schools in Flanders, Belgium and The Netherlands. The book will be initially written in Dutch and available for translation.