AWI Refinement Research Award

2025 Dates and Deadlines

• The application cycle will open on August 11 and close on October 13 at 11:59 pm ET.
• Funding decision notifications will be sent in December.

If you would like to receive an email notification when the submission process begins each year, please send an email to [email protected]. You will be able to remove yourself from this email list at any time.

How To Apply?

Please submit a completed application form using the online submission system. You will be asked to provide a detailed study proposal, a breakdown of the proposed budget, a CV/resume, and a letter of support from the host institution. You can preview the application here. 

Who Can Apply?

• This award is open to residents of the United States or Canada, and the project must be conducted in the United States or Canada.
• Animal care staff, veterinarians, students, and researchers are welcome to apply.
• Applicants can apply every year and will be equally eligible for funding even if they have received funding in previous years. Projects that were submitted but not selected for funding in previous years can be resubmitted.
• Applicants may submit more than one application per funding cycle, and AWI may consider, at its discretion, funding a second project by the same applicant if, during that cycle, funds remain after all worthy projects from other applicants have been funded. In most cases, however, AWI will fund no more than one project (through either a Refinement Research Award or an Implementing Refinement Grant) per applicant per funding cycle. 

What Can Be Funded?

• Projects can be conducted in any setting (laboratory, farm, zoo, sanctuary, shelter, etc.), but the study’s conclusions must be applicable to animals used in experimentation.
• Proposals may be part of larger research projects, but the portion included in the proposal should be broadly applicable, and the research component must be completed within one year (shorter durations are encouraged).
• Projects that inflict avoidable stress or that require killing animals as part of the methodology or outcome measures will not be funded.
• 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 be rehomed (i.e., adopted or retired to a sanctuary) at the end of the study.
• Salaries or stipends may be included in the budget proposal.
• Costs to disseminate results (e.g., conference expenses, publication fees) will not be funded.

What is the Review Process Like?

• Applications are reviewed by two independent reviewers who are not affiliated with AWI.
• Applications are anonymized by AWI staff members before they are sent to the reviewers, and reviewers score each application independently (i.e., without input from the other reviewer or from AWI staff members).
• Reviewers score applications based on the following criteria:
  • Compatibility with the award’s aims, scope, and eligibility criteria
  • Impact (depth, breadth, generalizability, innovation)
  • Feasibility (strength and weaknesses of study design, methodology, and analysis)
  • Overall merit
• Once reviewers submit their scores, AWI staff members select the highest-ranking projects for funding. The number of projects funded in any given year depends on funding availability.

If you are interested in being an independent reviewer, please contact us at [email protected]. Reviewers cannot submit project proposals for funding in the same year that they are reviewing.

Additional Information

• Award recipients must agree to submit a 500-word summary of the results of the project, including photographs (if applicable), at its conclusion. This summary may be edited for potential publication, with the recipient’s approval, in the AWI Quarterly magazine.
• Award recipients must agree to submit their results for publication in an appropriate journal or presentation at a widely attended scientific meeting.
• If IACUC or ACC approval is needed, award recipients will need to provide their approved IACUC or ACC protocol title and number before funds will be disbursed.
  For additional information, please contact [email protected].