AWI Implementing Refinement Grant

The AWI Implementing Refinement Grant, offered by the Animal Welfare Institute, aims to enhance the welfare of animals in experimentation. Grants up to $8,000 support equipment purchases or staff training for implementing proven refinements. Eligible applicants must be from the U.S. or Canada, and projects should be completed within a year. The grant focuses on improving animal lives beyond basic needs, ensuring no funds are misused for indirect costs or basic care.

The Animal Welfare Institute is dedicated to alleviating animal suffering caused by people. We seek to improve the welfare of animals everywhere: in agriculture, in commerce, in our homes and communities, in research, and in the wild.
Use of animals for food, clothing, health products, experimentation, education, entertainment, companionship, or other purposesMeans used to breed, raise, capture, manage, transport, or kill themCruelty to or neglect of individual animalsDegradation and destruction of habitat
We seek scientifically grounded protections for animals in all settings, and robust enforcement of those protections.
The AWI Implementing Refinement Grant supports the implementation of refinements to improve the welfare of animals in experimentation. AWI offers grants of up to US$8,000 toward the purchase of equipment or training of staff for the purpose of implementing refinements known to improve the welfare of animals in experimentation.
It is AWI policy that no award funds can be used for indirect costs (e.g., overhead) or for the purchase of animals, unless they will ultimately be rehomed (i.e., adopted or retired to a sanctuary). Proposed refinements must be implemented within one year of receiving funds. Depending on the complexity of the proposed refinement and/or the applicants’ existing expertise using such equipment, AWI may choose initially to fund the purchase of a smaller amount of equipment for applicants to pilot/trial before funding the rest.This grant is intended to improve the lives of animals in experimentation above and beyond meeting their basic needs. Refinement requests for nontraditional research settings will require additional justification to be considered for funding.

Eligibility

This grant is open to residents of the United States or Canada for equipment and/or training intended for use in the United States or Canada.

Ineligibility

Requests for basic husbandry or medical care that should be provided de facto by the institution will not be eligible for funding.Projects that inflict avoidable stress or that require killing animals as part of the process of implementing the refinement will not be funded.