CES is delighted to announce a new funding initiative, thanks to a generous donation from Eric and Peggy Peterson. Click here to learn more about the donors.

The awards will run from 2023-2027 and help support and increase the global reach of cultural evolution research by supporting early career researchers, outreach efforts, and capacity building in Low-and-Middle Income countries.

The award scheme is as follows. Note that modifications in number of awards and award amounts may be made for 2025-27, based on an assessment of interest and impact that the different award categories generate in 2023-25.

1. ACE Building Research Capacity Award

The following application is for one award of up to $6000 to support either:

1. A researcher from a Low-and-middle-income (LMIC) or Global South (GS) country to visit a host institution anywhere in the world to obtain training or collaborate with cultural evolution research. (Application type 1)
2. An established cultural evolution researcher from anywhere in the world to visit a host institution in an LMIC/GS country. (Application type 2)

We are ideally looking to support visits that are at least 3 months or longer. Visits should be focused on providing training in cultural evolution theory or methods, or developing research collaborations that help advance research capacity in LMIC/GS countries, or contribute to professional development of a scholar from an LMIC/GS country.  Visits can occur in the award year or the following year.

Next call to be announced Spring 2025

2. ACE Outreach Awards

One award of up to $2500 for supporting activities to translate cultural evolution research for a non-academic audience or students outside of the field of cultural evolution. This can include activities such as

• – travelling to study communities to disseminate research findings;
• – translating a book or paper to another language;
• – creating a professional video or film of a research project;
• – developing dissemination materials;
• – organizing a high-school student event hosting a meeting with policy makers
• – preparing webinars, course materials, or workshops for undergraduate students

Next call to be announced Spring 2025

3. ACE Early Career Research Grants

Two awards of up to $3000 each to support research projects in cultural evolution.

2024 call now closed, next call to be announced mid-2025.

4. Conference travel awards

We will give out four travel awards of up to $1500 during the CES conference years (2024 and 2026) for researchers from Low-and-middle income countries to attend the CES conference in person.

Applications now closed for CES 2024 in Durham. Next call opens Spring 2026 prior to CES 2026.

The Cultural Evolution Society gives this award to a researcher who has shown outstanding contribution and potential in the field within 5 years of gaining their PhD.

This award is intended to highlight and recognise the emerging researchers who have already made an impact on our field through their scholarship, or by integrating their research activities with superlative mentorship or training or academic service that has contributed to enhancing the scientific impact of the field.

Competitions will be held every two years in conjunction with the bi-annual conference.

Eligibility: Applicants must have completed (had conferred) their PhD within the last five calendar years. Time spent outside of the academy, in non-employed or non-salaried status, or on leave, including for medical or parental leave, can be subtracted from the 5 year period. Applicants must be current members of CES. Previous applicants and finalists can re-apply as long as they meet the eligibility criteria.

Award: The winner of the award will be given the opportunity to present a plenary talk highlighting their work at the bi-annual Cultural Evolution Society conference held the same year. The cost of travel, accommodation and registration fee to attend the conference will be covered by CES. We do not want to dissuade applicants who might not be able to travel to the 2024 conference. As such, we aim to be flexible in terms of giving the recipient the opportunity to give their plenary talk virtually, or defer their plenary talk to the next conference if virtual attendance this year is not possible.

Review: The CES awards committee, currently chaired by executive committee member Dr. Simon Greenhill, will review applications. Outside reviewers will be sought as needed if the committee members feel they do not have sufficient expertise regarding a particular topic.

Award announcement will be made by July 1, 2022. The awards committee will follow best practises in the review process, to minimise the impact of implicit or explicit biases that disadvantage underrepresented groups in the academy

Applications for 2024 are now closed.

For queries about the New Investigator award, please contact Simon Greenhill, CES Awards committee chair ([email protected]).

Past winners:

2024: Helena Miton, Stanford Graduate School of Business

2022: Nicole Wen, Brunel University London

Thanks to the generosity of the John Templeton Foundation (Grant #61913), the Cultural Evolution Society is running a major funding scheme to address big questions in the field of Cultural Evolution. After all, how our cultures evolve (including how information is transmitted, how people make decisions, and the interaction with our biology) is a pressing issue in a world in which our cultural activities are causing rapid, and drastic, social and physical changes.

Sorry, this grant scheme has now ended.

Find out more about this grant scheme on the CES Transformation Fund website.