About this opportunity
Freshwater species in Africa are often known better by the people who collected them than by the databases that guide conservation. Specimens sit in museum drawers and institutional archives, recorded on paper, invisible to the maps that decide where protection goes. The FBIS Africa small grants programme pays African data holders to do that unlocking work, and pays for it properly.
An award of USD 5,000 to USD 10,000 covers the unglamorous middle of the job: collation, digitisation, cleaning and quality control, georeferencing, metadata preparation and standardisation. What comes out the other end is a published dataset on the FBIS Africa platform, pushed onward to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, where a researcher or planner working on another basin can actually use it.
The Freshwater Research Centre leads the programme with support from the JRS Biodiversity Foundation and the GBIF Biodiversity Information for Development scheme. Applications close on 9 November 2026, the grant period runs from January to June 2027, and a submission is made by emailing the completed form with the Project Leader's curriculum vitae to the address on the call page.
What you receive
- A grant of USD 5,000 to USD 10,000 to prepare existing African freshwater biodiversity records for publication
- Funding for data collation and digitisation, cleaning and quality control, georeferencing, metadata preparation, and formatting and standardisation
- Publication of the mobilised dataset on the FBIS Africa platform and onward to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility
- Technical support from the FBIS Africa team while the data is formatted with the FBIS Africa Data Upload Template
- A six month grant period from January to June 2027, with help toward filling data gaps in underrepresented countries, basins and freshwater ecosystems
Who can apply
- Applications are welcomed from African freshwater biodiversity data holders
- Eligible organisations include universities and research institutions, museums and natural history collections, government agencies, non government organisations and freshwater biodiversity programmes
- Individual researchers or data custodians may apply when they work through an eligible host institution
- The proposed records must represent African freshwater biodiversity occurrence data that is not already published to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility
- Each record must carry at least a taxon name, a sampling date and spatial coordinates, meaning latitude and longitude
- The data must have clear ownership or custodianship with permission for publication, and must be capable of being mobilised during the January to June 2027 grant period
- Eligible taxonomic groups are freshwater fishes, amphibians, molluscs, crustaceans, Odonata, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera and Megaloptera
- Applicants must specify the number of unpublished occurrence records they propose to mobilise
Who should not apply
- Data already published to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility is not eligible
- Records without clear ownership or custodianship and publication permission cannot be funded
- Data that cannot be mobilised within the January to June 2027 grant period is out of scope
Documents to prepare
- The Africa Freshwater Biodiversity Data Mobilisation Small Grant Application Form, completed
- The Project Leader's curriculum vitae
- A short project motivation
- Details of the proposed datasets, including the number of records and their geographic coverage
- Confirmation that the records are not already published to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility
- The proposed mobilisation activities
- On award, a signed FBIS Africa Data Sharing Agreement and data formatted with the FBIS Africa Data Upload Template
How to apply
- Read the call for applications on the FBIS Africa small grants page at https://fbisafrica.org/small-grants/
- Download the FBIS Africa Small Grants Application Form from that same page
- Complete the form with your dataset details, record counts, geographic coverage and proposed mobilisation activities
- Attach the Project Leader's curriculum vitae
- Email the completed application to nazley@frcsa.org.za with the subject line FBIS-Africa small grant application submission
- Send everything before the deadline of 9 November 2026
Selection process
- Applications are scored against published weights: data quality, covering reliability, taxonomic accuracy, metadata, completeness and georeferencing, at 30 percent
- Data quantity, the number of unique occurrence records to be mobilised, at 30 percent
- Geographic extent and priority, including the contribution to filling data gaps in underrepresented countries, basins and freshwater ecosystems, at 25 percent
- Capacity to deliver, covering relevant experience, technical and institutional capacity and the ability to complete the work during January to June 2027, at 15 percent
- Additional consideration may be given to historical or irreplaceable datasets, threatened or endemic species, conservation priority areas, opportunities for capacity development and regional collaboration, and overall value for money
- Successful applicants sign an FBIS Africa Data Sharing Agreement and submit the completed dataset and associated metadata, which are published to FBIS Africa and pushed to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility
- Grantees complete the required technical and financial reporting
Sources and verification
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Questions applicants ask
How much can I request?
Grants range from USD 5,000 to USD 10,000 for work carried out between January and June 2027.
Who can apply?
African freshwater biodiversity data holders, including universities, research institutions, museums, government agencies, non government organisations, freshwater biodiversity programmes, and individual researchers working through an eligible host institution.
What must each record contain?
At minimum a taxon name, a sampling date and spatial coordinates, that is latitude and longitude. Abundance, sampling method, photographs, habitat and water quality measurements are welcome but not essential.
How do I submit?
Complete the application form, add the Project Leader's curriculum vitae and email it to nazley@frcsa.org.za with the subject line FBIS-Africa small grant application submission, before 9 November 2026.
Where does the funded data go?
Every dataset mobilised through the grant is published on the FBIS Africa platform and pushed to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Important disclaimer
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