NatSCA is pleased to invite applications to this year’s Bill Pettit Memorial Award.

Up to £2,000 of grant money will be made available to NatSCA members every year to support projects including the conservation, access, and use of natural science collections.

Charles Arthur William ‘Bill’ Pettit (1937-2009) started his career with the National Institute of Oceanography but moved to the Manchester Museum in 1975 to become Assistant Keeper of Zoology. In his time at Manchester, Bill worked tirelessly for the collections and was instrumental in projects such as FENSCORE as well as numerous publications. It is in recognition of his commitment to natural science collections that we would like to offer this annual award.

Applications are invited under a wide range of categories. Each project will be considered on its own merits by the NatSCA committee and the committee’s decision, including not awarding any money that year, will be final. Grants up to £2,000 are available. To apply please put together a 700 word project proposal, which must include:

• The name and status (e.g. charity, individual, local authority) of the applicant
• The proposed outcomes of the project and benefits to the museum
• Detailed costs
• Accurate timescale (including any work undertaken so far and the project end date)
• Details of other funding/match funding already secured for the project

Grants will be considered on an annual basis in January or February. The deadline for 2012 grants is Friday December the 14th. Successful applicants will be announced at the NatSCA annual general meeting and are required to produce a report/article on their project for publication.

Grants are open to NatSCA individual or institutional members only.

Please contact David Gelsthorpe for further information or to submit a grant application: