Stuntz Mycology Fund Institutional Grants

Stuntz Mycology Fund Institutional Grants go to students, researchers or teachers working under the auspices of a college or university, herbarium, museum or other not-for-profit organisation. All funds must be used for the proposed research or educational activities. Across the Fund, grants average $1,000 to $6,000.

Requests of more than $1,000 are due by March 1 and October 1 each year, for review by the grant committee and trustees soon after those dates, with notifications by late April and late November. Requests of less than $1,000 are accepted at any time.

Past awards have funded DNA sequencing of herbarium macrofungus collections, specimen storage, post-fire and mycorrhizal field research, truffle and lichen surveys, herbarium revitalisation for undergraduate research, K-3 mycological teaching materials, and community cultivation and education programmes.

The Fund defines the Pacific Northwest as Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, southwest British Columbia, and southeast and south-coastal Alaska. Applicants who do not live in the region may still apply if their research involves Pacific Northwest fungi. Priority goes to projects involving mushroom-forming fungi — macrofungi — the focus of Dr. Daniel E. Stuntz's own research.

Contact the Grants Manager by email with either a letter of inquiry or a completed Institutional Grant application; the form is linked from the Fund's How To Apply page. Requests over $1,000 are due March 1 and October 1; smaller requests are accepted any time.

A proposed budget must be part of every application, detailed enough — item descriptions, numbers of samples, quantities, unit costs and totals — for reviewers to match the budget to the activities described. Applicants must also include one or two letters of reference from colleagues, instructors, faculty advisors or employers who can speak to their abilities.

The Fund does not accept applications from for-profit organisations or commercial companies, or for salaries, institutional overhead, federal or institutionally set mileage and per diem rates, page charges, or college and university tuition. Allowable costs include expendable supplies, laboratory analyses, equipment, conference expenses, travel at $0.31 per mile and sometimes camping fees, honoraria for visiting guest speakers, and compensation for non-salaried people such as undergraduates assisting as part of their curriculum. The Fund looks favourably on lean projects and on projects that draw funding from other sources as well.