Bonn, 21 January 2008 -The UNEP/CMS Thesis Award on Migratory Species Conservation, sponsored by National Geographic Deutschland and Lufthansa, is now open for applications until May 2008. The award of 10,000 EURO (c. 14,650 US$) will be offered at the 9th Meeting of the Conference of Parties to CMS (COP9) in Rome in December 2008, in affiliation with Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK) and the Global Register of Migratory Species in Bonn. The Secretariat of the Bonn Convention on Migratory Species advertises this award to promote scientific research and conservation of migratory species, as defined by the convention.
The thesis should provide new data and insights into the biology and ecology of migratory species or external factors disrupting their migration patterns. Research results must be applicable to conservation measures to the benefit of migratory species.

Applications for COP9 Awards will be accepted until 31 May 2008. A licensed educational institution must have accepted the study as a Ph.D. or doctoral thesis. All theses accepted since the last COP8 (November 2005) may be submitted.

From all online applications, 10 theses will be short-listed by an advisory board of 20 international experts, covering different regions and animal groups. Referees will not see any personal data, such as candidates´ address, email, home institutions or names of supervisors. Their pre-selection is only based on abstracts and publications (if available). In addition, candidates should outline the relevance of their work for migratory species conservation by a short statement (max. 300 words).

Short-listed candidates have to submit 3 hardcopies for detailed review by two experts. A final Jury, consisting of 8 scientists and conservationists will meet in Bonn, in August 2008, to nominate the winner. Their decision is based on the expert reviews, the candidate´s statement, and the Jury’s assessment of the potential for migratory species conservation (Jury’s decision is final ).

Submitted hardcopies are not returned, but will remain in the libraries of the CMS secretariat and the ZFMK. Bibliographic data and English abstracts of all theses will be transferred and permanently stored within the Global Register of Migratory Species (GROMS) bibliographic database.

The winner should be willing to make his/her original data widely accessible through the CMS Information System and the GROMS database (except sensitive data). The Secretariat and the ZFMK will eventually provide support to generate appropriate data repositories and related metadata, as well as online and/or hardcopy publication of the winner´s thesis.

Click here to apply online for the Thesis Award 2008 on Migratory Species Conservation Website:
http://www.thesis-award-2008.info

or contact Carlos SANCHEZ OSES.
You can also send your thesis by mail to the ZFMK, with an accompanying letter explaining its relevance for species conservation to:

Dr. Carlos SANCHEZ OSES
Coordination of the Thesis Award on Migratory Species Conservation
(UNEP-CMS & ZFMK)
c/o Ornithologische Bibliothek
Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig
Adenauerallee 160
D-53113 Bonn, Germany.