Special Topic Networks

Currently funded networks

ADAPT – Ancient DNA studies of Adaptive Processes through Time
Organizers: Andrew D. Foote (Bangor University, UK), Marie Louis (University of St Andrews, UK), Michael D. Martin (NTNU University Museum, Norway), Ole Seehausen (University of Bern & EAWAG, Switzerland), Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, (University of Bern, Switzerland), Eline Lorenzen (Natural History Museum of Denmark & University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Thomas P. Gilbert (Natural History Museum of Denmark &University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Matteo Fumagalli (Imperial College London, UK), María C. Ávila-Arcos (National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico), Love Dalén (Swedish Museum Natural History, Sweden), Tomas Marques-Bonet (Institut Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Barcelona, Spain), Nina Overgaard Therkildsen (Cornell University, Ithaca, USA), Daniel Wegmann ( University of Fribourg, Switzerland), Jennifer A. Jackson (British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK)
Funding period started in 2017

Ecological genomics of coevolutionary interactions 
Organizers: Amandine Cornille (University of Paris Saclay, France), Daniel Croll (University of Neuchatel, Switzerland), Dieter Ebert (University of Basel, Switzerland), Eva Stukenbrock (Max Planck Institute, Germany), Aurélien Tellier (Technical University of Munich, Germany), Peter Tiffin (University of Minnesota, USA).
Funding period started in 2017

European Drosophila Population Genomics Network (DrosEU)
Organizers: Andrea Betancourt (University of Liverpool, UK), Thomas Flatt (University of Fribourg, Switzerland), Josefa González (Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Barcelona, Spain), Mike Ritchie (University of St. Andrews, UK), Bas Zwaan (Wageningen University, The Netherlands)
Funding period started in 2015

Linking local adaptation with the evolution of sex differences
Organizers: Hanna Kokko (University of Zurich, Switzerland), Erik Svensson (University of Lund, Sweden), Florence Débarre (Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology, Paris, France), and Tim Connallon (Monash University, Melbourne, Australia)
Funding period started in 2015

Call for Applications for Special Topic Networks

The next call will be announced in late 2018.

Small symposia, workshops and courses in various formats can perform functions complementary to those of the ESEB Congresses, allowing more focused interactions within specialist areas, forging new links between previously separate areas or fostering interdisciplinary and innovative ideas that merge specialized fields. One-off events can be valuable but the returns for connected series of events can be even greater. Therefore, ESEB invites proposals for Special Topic Networks (STNs) that will support dynamic and flexible series of small meetings and/or other networking opportunities in focused and currently active research areas.

Each STN will be funded for up to 6 years (subject to review after 2 and 4 years of operation) with an annual budget of up to 10 000 Euros. Four STNs were initiated since 2015 and further STNs will be initiated every other year. The format of these STNs is up to their organisers and innovative ideas are encouraged. All fields of evolutionary biology are eligible.

Applicants should provide a proposal with the following components:

  1. a description of the research area to be targeted, showing why it is timely to address it in this way and outlining the expected benefits to the field from the STN (max. 1000 words),
  2. a plan for the first two years of operation of the STN and an outline of activities over the remaining years (max. 500 words),
  3. the names and affiliations of the proposed organisers, with brief (max. one page) CVs, and
  4. a budget, with brief justification, for the STN activities proposed for the first two years.

Applicants should also identify an institution that is prepared to open an account in which the funds can be deposited and managed by the applicants. ‘Overheads’ will not be paid to this institution but reasonable direct administrative costs will be eligible. Funding for each 2-year block will be subject to approval by the STN Committee, established by Council, following receipt of a report of activities in the preceding 2 years. The institution managing funds will be asked to provide a certified statement of expenditure to accompany the report. The principal criterion for renewal will be evidence that the funding provided had been used to further interaction in the topic area.

Applications should be sent to the ESEB office email (office@eseb.org) as PDF files by 31 March 2019.

Proposals will be assessed by an independent STN Review Panel appointed by the STN Committee following the closing date and ensuring no conflict of interest by panel members. The STN Review Panel will make funding recommendations to Council. The result will be announced after the next Council meeting, at latest on 31 August 2019.

The principal criterion for selection of an STN will be its focus on an active area of research within the scope of evolutionary biology. Preference might be given to STNs that propose new connections between sub-disciplines or that focus on the resolution of current controversies. A score for this criterion based on part (1) of the application will account for 50% of the overall panel score. It is primarily for the proposers to demonstrate the need for an STN, the potential for it to stimulate progress and the activities that will enable the network to be effective. A typical STN might organise one small discussion meeting per year but it might also organise training events and its members might work together to generate resources or publications. Interaction among members might be fostered, between meetings, using social media, online discussion forums or similar. A score for the effective and innovative nature of the plans laid out in part (2) of the proposal will account for 25% of the overall panel score. The final 25% of the score will be based on the budget and adherence to the following guidelines:

  1. A proposal should be supported by at least three ESEB members (membership in date on the closing date for applications), from at least two and typically three countries and taking gender issues into account, who commit to organising the STN for its duration (or to finding appropriate replacements if forced to step down). A member should support no more than one proposal in a given application round and organisers of current STNs should not be proposers of new STNs.
  2. STNs should organise at least one meeting in the non-Congress year following its inception and one in its final non-Congress year. Complementing these meetings with an innovative range of other activities is strongly encouraged.
  3. STNs should consider offering a contribution to the ESEB Congress in their final year of operation.
  4. Each STN should maintain an active presence on the web, with access possible from the ESEB website at least to ‘public’ areas. We appreciate that STNs may wish to maintain some private working space, for example for the preparation of publications.
  5. STNs may have a core membership and restrict some activities to this core group but generally their activities should be as open as possible to all interested participants.
  6. STNs may wish to seek additional funds from other agencies, or from participants. If this is considered essential for the planned activities, then a strategy should be outlined in the proposal.
  7. ESEB members should be given priority and, where appropriate, given subsidised access to STN activities where numbers are limited or where there is a cost to participation.
  8. STNs should strive to involve the widest possible range of participants in terms of career stage, gender and nationality.
  9. ESEB support should be recognised in all promotion of STN activities and in any publications or other output arising from STN activities.

For any further information or enquiries, please contact the chair of the STN committee, Roger Butlin (r.k.butlin@sheffield.ac.uk).

The STN Committee,
Roger Butlin, Ellen Decaestecker, and Simone Immler