The All Catfish Species Inventory (ACSI) is a project funded by the United States National Science Foundation that seeks to describe all catfish species in 5 years.  For more information on the project, see homepage.

An exceptional feature of ACSI is the large number of taxonomists and students (over 200 participants from 31 counties) who will participate in the project.  Each participating ichthyologist, including graduate students and advanced undergraduates, is eligible for small awards from ACSI to support completion of the species inventory of catfishes.  We welcome your requests for funding!

Activities that may receive funding include:
1. Travel to museums to examine types and other specimens.
2. Field work to yield examples of new catfishes (travel money, supplies, and small equipment).
3. Image capture of type and other important specimens (large-scale imaging projects may request funds for cameras and other photographic equipment provided each item costs less than $1000 and is purchased as "supplies"). Click here for guidelines/suggestions for image capture projects. Large-scale imaging projects are encouraged to send a few sample images to Mark Sabaj (sabaj@acnatsci.org) for review.
4. Short-term support to senior researchers to hire students/assistants to aid in completion of species descriptions. 
5. Graduate students may themselves apply for travel and short-term research assistantship support. 

To request funding:

NON-student participants should send the following information in English via e-mail to: Larry M. Page, in care of Griffin Sheehy at gsheehy@flmnh.ufl.edu, or by regular mail to Dr. Larry M. Page, Fish Division, Florida Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 117800, Gainesville, Florida, 32611-7800 USA.

Graduate student participants should send the following information in English via e-mail to: Jonathan W. Armbruster at armbrjw@auburn.edu, or by regular mail to Dr. Jonathan W. Armbruster, Department of Biological Sciences, 331 Funchess Hall, Auburn University, AL 36830, USA.

NOTE: If you have other external funding for the project that you propose to ACSI, please identify the source(s) of the external funds and the amount of support AND please explain how the objectives of that support differ from those in your proposal.

Name of applicant:
Email address:
Phone number:
Fax number:
Institution and mailing address:
Total amount requested in US$:
Project starting date:
Project ending date:   
Social Security Number (U.S. citizens and residents only):
Description of project:
Include a brief description (no more than 3 pages) of the activity for which funding is requested.  Include an itemized budget (airfare - see note below, hotel expenses, vehicle rental, purchase of seines, visa fees, etc.).  The description must explain the relevance of the project to the goals of the All Catfish Species Inventory and state clearly that the research is expected to result in the descriptions of one or more new species of catfishes.  Include information on the catfish families and genera, and the geographic areas to be studied, number of new species to be described (if known, or why you assume new species will be discovered), and how the funds requested will be used to complete the project.

IMPORTANT:
1. You will receive an email notification when your application is received.  If you do not hear from us within 7 days that your application has been received, please contact us at gsheehy@flmnh.ufl.edu, lpage1@ufl.edu, or by phone at 352-392-1721, ext. 483.
2. If any of the information requested above is missing, the application will not be considered for funding.
3. Any air travel to, from, between or within a country other than the U.S. which will be assisted by funding from this project must be provided by, or under a code-sharing arrangement with, a U.S.-flag air carrier if one is available.  Tickets or documentation for e-tickets must identify the air carrier's designator code and flight number.  If one is not available, please indicate this in your application.
4. Students must arrange for an email or letter of support from their advisor to be sent. 
5. If work is to be done at a museum or laboratory away from your home institution, a supporting email or letter from the curator or collaborating researcher must accompany your application. 
6. Participants who receive travel funds to visit museums are expected to take digital images or photographs of primary types of catfish species and to make these images available through the ACSI website.  Click here for guidelines and suggestions for imaging specimens.  (Making images of all primary types of catfish species available on the internet is a primary goal of ACSI, and all participants - funded or not - are asked to submit images to the ACSI website as they become available by sending them electronically to Mark Sabaj at: sabaj@acnatsci.org.)
7. Participants requesting funding are expected to participate in reviewing manuscripts submitted to Zootaxa or other journals in a manner that contributes to prompt and high quality publication of grant-supported research.