Dear fellow ecologists,

Continuing with our goal of supporting ecologists in the early stages of their scientific careers by providing them with funding opportunities, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Joint Call for Research Projects for Early-Career Researchers in 2025 by the Iberian Society of Ecology (SIBECOL), the Spanish Association of Terrestrial Ecology (AEET), and the Iberian Association of Ecology (AIL). The Iberian Association of Limnology (AIL) joined this joint initiative in 2022, and this year, for the second time, we are launching the call together.

This multiple call is open for research projects in any topic and ecosystem within Ecology (theoretical, terrestrial, freshwater or marine), but please see the specific call of each society below.
Any member of SIBECOL, AEET, AIL, SPECO or SEEEE can apply to either call (SIBECOL-AEET-AIL). In the event that a researcher applies to several calls simultaneously, they must take into account that the projects to be presented in each call must be substantially different and that only one project can get awarded.
This call wants to support both researchers in their initial stages of their scientific career, as well as those in somewhat more advanced stages, for which reason it differentiates various fellowships for pre-doctoral researchers, recent post-docs and more advanced post-docs, thus increasing funding possibilities of their scientific projects across the different research stages in which they are.
This call wants to be equal and accessible to all ECR. Moreover, SIBECOL, AEET, AIL, SPECO and SEEEE are signatory to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), so the evaluation of the projects will be done under such criteria.

To do so, the combined call of research projects for ECR SIBECOL-AEET-AIL in 2025 is organized in the following calls:

SIBECOL research projects:
Proposals can be led by one or two researchers and must be related to experimental or theoretical Ecology of aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems. Proposals that integrate the study of more than one ecosystem (terrestrial, freshwater, marine) or that have a theoretical or methodological orientation, which transcend the delimitations between types of ecosystems will be positively valued, although such inter or multidisciplinarity is not imperative. Proposals must be written in English.
●      Starting early career researchers project grant (Starting ECR): Early-term post-doctoral researchers (PhD defense < 3 years before the publication of this call). One fellowship of 3,000 €.
●      Advanced early career researchers project grant (Advanced ECR): Mid-term post-doctoral researchers (3 < PhD defense < 8 years before the publication of this call). One fellowship of 4,000 €.

AEET research projects:
Research projects led by a single researcher in any topic and ecosystem within Ecology (theoretical, terrestrial, freshwater or marine). Proposals can be written in English or Spanish. Three different options exist:
●      Taking the lead (Tomando la iniciativa): Pre-doctoral researchers who have not yet defended the PhD thesis. Two fellowships of 2,000 € each.
●      Gaining independence (Ganando independencia): Early-term post-doctoral researchers (PhD defence < 3 years before the publication of this call). Three fellowships of 3,000 € each.
●      Consolidating the research (Consolidando la investigación): Mid-term post-doctoral researchers (3 years < PhD defence < 6 years before the publication of this call). Three fellowships of 4,000 € each.
Within the modalities “Gaining independence” and “Consolidating the research”, priority will be given to the awarding of a “Carlos Herrera” grant in each modality for projects that aim to advance knowledge of the ecosystems of the Sierra de Cazorla (Jaén, Andalusia).
In order to guarantee the total impartiality of the evaluations, the reviews will be double- blind, that is, the project reports will be anonymized. The CV of the applicant will not be subject to evaluation.
 
AIL research project:
Only young members of SIBECOL or sister societies can apply. These can be students or postdocs who defended their PhD thesis up to 6 years before the publication of this call. The projects submitted should be designed to include a large number of participants but they should also be feasible with a low number of participants. The call has the following characteristics:
●      Original research on any aspect of the ecology of inland waters and potential to involve as many young members from different institutions as possible.
●      The project should be completed within two years after the team constitution; publication of scientific outputs is not included within this time frame.
●      This 5th call for projects has an available budget of 4,500 euros (VAT included) for the implementation of the selected project, which can be supplemented by funds provided by the participants.
All the necessary information and documents to apply for any of the three calls can be found in the following links:
●      SIBECOL projects: http://sibecol.org/en/sibecol_ecr2025
●      AEET projects: http://www.aeet.org/es/convocatorias/proyectosinvestigacion.html
●      AIL project: https://www.limnetica.com/es/proyecto-jóvenes-ail
 
The call will be open from March 15th until June 15th 2025 (23:59 H. UTC+1). To be considered, the project proposals must follow the regulations of the respective call and be presented using the application form format. Please, check the regulation and the evaluation criteria of each call carefully. To submit your proposals, send an email with all the required information to the Secretary of the respective Society:
●      SIBECOL projects: secretariat@sibecol.org
●      AEET projects: secretaria@aeet.org
●      AIL project: secretaria@limnologia.net
The Secretary of SIBECOL, AEET or AIL will confirm the successful application with a read receipt. In case of doubts with any of the project calls, do not hesitate to contact the respective Secretary. 
We encourage all researchers in Ecology to spread this multiple call across their networks to achieve the maximum participation of ECR.
Thank you in advance for your participation and we wish you a lot of success.
 
On behalf of the Committee Boards of SIBECOL, AEET and AIL.

We are pleased to announce that resolutions of the calls for the Starting and Advanced research projects in Ecology led by early career researchers, launched by SIBECOL and AEET for the year 2024, are now available.
 
The reviewers of both calls have highlighted the outstanding quality of the received proposals, which has made the selection of the awarded projects very competitive. We sincerely thank all the participants of this call and encourage them to continue working to pursue high scientific standards with enthusiasm and creativity.
 
Fifth call of SIBECOL Projects for Early Career Researchers – 2024
The aim of this call is to support early career ecologists by providing them funding opportunities, fostering the collaboration among them, and promoting multi- and interdisciplinary research in Ecology.
The general statistical descriptors of the revisions are: