The Lake Baikal Foundation for Environmental Applications and Research is glad to announce the start of the new application campaign of the «Baikal Initiative». The goal of the grant competition, initiated by the Foundation in 2017 and held for 4 years, is support for young scientists who implement scientific and applied projects, carry out field-based scientific studies and expeditions focused on protection of lake Baikal and development of the Baikal nature area. In 2020-2021, as in previous years, 1 million will be divided by three winners, who will implement the projects involving fundamental and applied scientific researches on the preservation of water resources, flora and fauna of the Baikal region, and development of citizen science on lake Baikal. The latter nomination is new and it aims to improve the existing practices and involve the population in collecting data about the local environment.
The regulations of the Baikal Initiative contest 2020-2021 and the application form can be accessed at the link. The applications for the fourth contest are accepted from the 22nd March till the 30th June 2020 in electronic form through the Lake Baikal Foundation’s mail – bi@baikalfoundation.ru. Following the results of Expert Council’s evaluation, the Foundation will announce at least three finalists before the 1st September 2020. At the second stage – from the 15th September till the 15th December – the finalists will have to secure additional financing – 20% of the budgeting specified in the application. All projects should be implemented from 1st February 2021 to 31st December 2021.
The experience of previous years has demonstrated the effectiveness of co-financing system, which simultaneously addresses the issue of popularization of science and draws the society’s attention to the value of scientific studies in the sphere of environmental protection activities. The projects’ co-financing was provided by the fund-raising on the crowdfunding platforms and by the engagement of the partners.
The previous years results can be found on the Foundation’s website in the News section.
Photo: Kristina Makeeva