Early-career researchers | students and early career professionals

We define an early-career researcher as someone who is currently a student or anyone who is five-years post their last degree.

Information for ECRs

The BOU has a long history of supporting students and in recent years we have extended this support to early professional researchers (three years post their last degree).

In addition to long-standing support of reduced subscription rates and research grants, we now have a career development bursary scheme aimed at students and early professionals, and member travel awards. So, we have even more funding opportunities for you to undertake your own research and broaden your research experience.

We have an ongoing engagement with students and early professionals to keep us up to date with what early-stage researchers want from the BOU, both now and in the future. Early-stage researchers now sit on many of our committees to ensure that what we deliver is relevant to the early-career researchers as well as the wider ornithological research community.

Join the BOU from just £20

Your own personal subscription to IBIS and a host of other benefits from just £20! What are you waiting for!
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Career Development Bursary scheme

The BOU offers funding for your research project. Whilst our long-standing Small Grant scheme is open to everyone, our new Career Development Bursary is only open to BOU student and early-career subscribers.
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Small Research Grant scheme

Our small grant scheme provides funding up to £2000 per application and is open to all members. PhD students can apply for funding from this scheme if the project is to make up a distinct chapter of their thesis.
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Member conference attendance grants

We fund our members to attend key international ornithological meetings to present their work, encouraging low-carbon travel.
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Reduced rates for BOU conferences or even come for free!

We offer reduced rates and even some free places to BOU student and early-career subscribers!
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Presenting at the BOU spring conference

Early professionals are given priority when we are selecting presentations (oral and poster) for our annual conference.
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Submit a paper to Ibis

Around 60% of the research we publish in IBIS is by early-career researchers, so we are often the first journal early professional researchers submit to.

Coupled with our 5* promotion of our own published articles on social media, priority access to #theBOUblog, we ensure you published paper gets seen.
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BRANTA – the BOU Register of Avian Thesis Abstracts

Anyone who is about to undertake, is working on, or has submitted either a Doctoral or a Masters thesis on an ornithological topic anywhere in the world is invited to submit an abstract for inclusion in BRANTA.
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Get involved!

Do you want to do more with the BOU? Contact us!