The competition is open to students who apply by early registration for the course in USOS. The registration window starts at 8:00 am Tuesday 17 January 2023 and finishes at 12:00 pm (midnight) Friday 20 January 2023.

After registration USOS list is completed, the registered students will be emailed with information how to be verified with respect to entry requirements and submit research projects (see below for competition description and rules).

Competition description

Course dates (duration of the stay in the field station): 7-26 August 2023

Deadline for submitting project proposals: 10 February 2023

Competition will be settled by 20 February 2023

The aim of the competition is to subsidize the participation of 12 students in the "Tropical ecology - field course" at a research station in Costa Rica. The support does not cover expenses incurred outside the period of teaching at the field station, including the costs of air travel and local travel. Students of Biology, Environmental Protection and Management, Ecology and Evolution at the Faculty of Biology of the Jagiellonian University can apply.

The competition can be entered by students who meet the entry requirements of the course "Tropical ecology - field course" (WBNZ-850) listed in the syllabus (“Completion of any ecology course. Completion of the "Tropical Ecology" course or equivalent. Knowledge of the English language at an intermediate level at least.”), or students who, at the time of the opening of the competition, are in the process of completing the required courses and will receive positive final grades from these courses no later than in the winter examination session (academic year 2022/2023).

Competition rules

The criterion considered when resolving the competition will be the idea for a research project carried out during the course.

Candidates present an idea for the research project they would like to carry out during the course, taking into account the specific environment around the field station (rainforest in Costa Rica) and the expected duration of the project (14 days).

A project proposal must be prepared in English and contain the following information (brackets provide the maximum number of characters with spaces for each section):

• name and surname of the student
• project title
• a summary of the research idea (max 2000 characters with spaces)
• an outline of the research plan for 14 days (max 2000 characters with spaces)
• a list of necessary equipment, materials and laboratory facilities (max 600 characters with spaces)
•  evaluation of the realism of the project being conducted during the course (max 600 characters with spaces)

Scoring of project proposals (total: 0-15)

• Meritorious value (0-6)
• Summary (0-3)
• Plan (0-3)
•  Realism of the projects (0-3)

The project should be prepared in the form of a Word file in the following format: MS Word file, maximum 2 pages, standard margins 2.5 cm, font 12 points Times New Roman, line spacing of 1.