The International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE) is the leading association for people interested in the behavior and welfare of confined or domesticated animals. Although ISAE tries to keep the cost of attending its annual congresses as low as possible, they are too expensive for some to attend, particularly for scientists from developing countries where animal welfare science is relatively new and not well funded. The Society has developed a Fellowship for farm animal behavior and welfare scientists and others wishing to attend the congress from developing countries, including, but not limited to, those countries identified as having the potential to move towards intensification of production (Table 1). This is the sixth year for ISAE DCCAF program, and this can not only benefit the attendees with free Congress registration and travel bursaries, and we would like to make it a great experience for networking, learning about applied animal behavior research and animal welfare, and building long-term engagement with ISAE to continue global development of our field.

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Aim
To foster the advancement of farm animal welfare in developing countries by supporting animal behavior and welfare scientists and others from emerging economies to attend a one-day pre-congress workshop on animal welfare concepts (to be given by internationally recognized leaders in animal welfare science and representatives from relevant industries), the four-day ISAE annual congress, and a one-day post-congress farm tour (possibly including fish, cattle, pig, poultry and sheep farms). The allocation will be the full sum equivalent to the cost of the registration, accommodation, reasonable travel expenses, visa fees and subsistence.

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To be eligible

1) The person must be active in farm animal welfare science (e.g., active in one or more of research,
teaching, education, policy, standard setting and outreach), in or from a developing country (Table 1).
2) The person must be able to travel freely to Curitiba, Brazil for the ISAE Congress and other activities
between July 21 to 26th, 2024, with an approved visa if required.

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Application procedure

1) The application should contain the following information and must be in English (applications with
missing information will not be considered):

a. Name of applicant.

b. Postal address and email address (or fax number).

c. Your occupation or position, e.g., student, early career researcher, active researcher, government employee, official veterinarian, past researcher etc., and a brief summary of duties associated with that position.

d. A brief characterization of the current animal agriculture in your home country (for instance, the proportion of smallholders compared to industrialized systems, growth within different sectors and some of the main animal welfare challenges).

e. 1) Please justify why the award should be received (15%), 2) Why this fellowship is essential for you to attend the ISAE conference (15%), 3) What you hope to gain from attending the Congress (30%), and 4) How you expect to apply the new knowledge to improve farm animal welfare in your home country (40%).

f. An estimated budget, including the total cost of congress attendance (registration, accommodation, travel, visa fees and subsistence).

2) The application information requested above should not be more than 2 pages. It should be accompanied by a brief CV of no more than 4 pages, including major accomplishments, whether or not a previous DCCAF was awarded, a list of selected publications and/or presentations by the applicant (if applicable), and a copy of any abstract that may have been submitted to the 2024 ISAE congress.

3) The applicant should submit the application to isaedevelopmentoffice@gmail.com by February 29th, 2024.

4) The applications will be evaluated by the DCCAF review committee.

5) Successful applicants will be notified by 30 April 2024.

6) Registration will be completed on behalf of the awardee. The travel bursaries will either be sent directly to the applicant, or bookings can be made on the applicant’s behalf if preferred. If requested, ISAE will help the successful applicant identify the most reasonable travel to the meeting and write a letter that can be used when applying for a travel visa, if required.

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Factors that will be taken into consideration in the decision process

1) Potential for impacting farm animal welfare in the home country.

2) There is little or no possibility of attending the congress without financial support.

3) There is little or no possibility of obtaining sufficient financial support from elsewhere (applicants should state where else they have applied or could apply for financial support).

4) Country of citizenship and current residence.

5) Whether a previous DCCAF was awarded will be considered, and priority will be given to new applicants where applicable, as we want to provide this opportunity to as many candidates as possible.

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Abstract submission
Abstract submission is not a requirement for the application, and will not be a factor in our decision, but we encourage submissions on the Congress themes (https://www.isae2024brazil.com/) or about animal behavior/welfare studies in your country.

 

Except for theoretical contributions and reviews, abstracts should include a statement of purpose, methods used, results (including data and brief statistics) and conclusions. See the ISAE Guidelines Appendices II and III for more information (https://www.applied-ethology.org/Procedural_Guidelines.html), particularly regarding the ethical use of animals (https://www.applied-ethology.org/Ethical_Guidelines.html).

 

Abstracts must be submitted before 19th February 2024, as instructed by the Congress organizers. Abstracts will be subject to the normal Congress abstract review process.

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Code of conduct at the ISAE conference
ISAE holds a high value on EDIA (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility) and has an anti-harassment policy (https://www.applied-ethology.org/res/ISAE%20Procedural%20Guidelines%202022%20October.pdf). We want to provide a welcoming and respectful environment for all Congress attendants regardless of their gender, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, career stage, caring responsibility, etc. Therefore, Congress attendants are expected to act in accordance with ISAE’s values and policy. Any misconduct will be investigated, and disciplinary actions taken once confirmed. DCCAF awardees are expected to
participate fully and actively in all activities of the DCCAF program. Awardees will need to agree to sign the terms and conditions of the award before it can be received.

 

For any questions on the DCCAF program, please contact the ISAE Development Team isaedevelopmentoffice@gmail.com.

Table 1: FAO Potentially Intensifying Countries:
Derived from Figure 5.2 www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2414e/i2414e05.pdf

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