Required Application Form

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The New Zealand Society of Animal Production (hereinafter referred to as "the Society") has received funds from the AgResearch Animal Genomics Platform which have been invested as fixed deposits or debentures to provide income to be disbursed through grants made from the AgResearch Animal Genomics International Travel Fund (hereinafter referred to as "the Award").

Objectives

The objectives of the Award are to facilitate research in the wider field of animal genomics including gene discovery, gene function (physiology) and gene inheritance (animal breeding) studies. In particular, the Award is intended to support conference travel and/or the acquisition of new technical skills by technicians and research associates.

Name and Form of Awards

Each disbursement shall be in the form of a financial grant and shall be known as an AgResearch Animal Genomics International Travel Award of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production.


Award Finances

(a) An amount of $150,000 shall comprise the capital sum for the Award. This sum shall be invested by the Treasurer according to the rules of the Society and in consultation with the Society’s Management Committee;

(b) Income for disbursement as Awards will comprise interest on the capital sum adjusted for inflation, together with any unspent income from previous years;

(c) The capital sum may be increased at any time by majority resolution of the Society’s Management Committee;

(d) The capital sum may not be decreased below the level of the initial capital adjusted for inflation at any time;

(e) In each and every year, the Society’s Management Committee will determine the maximum amount of money that may be disbursed;

(f) A financial statement of the Award’s Finances is to be shown in the annual accounts of the Society.

Award Selection Panel

The selection panel for the Award will comprise the Society President (Chair), Treasurer and a nominee from AgResearch working in the discipline of animal genomics.

Application for Awards

(a) The Selection Panel shall generally call for applications for awards through the Society’s Newsletter and website twice-yearly with the awards to be announced shortly thereafter. It will not be incumbent on the Selection Panel to call for applications twice each year and applications can be called for at other times;

(b) Preference for the award will be given to technical staff wishing to learn new skills by visiting overseas labs, and for technical staff to attend conferences in Australia in keeping with the objectives of the Award;

(c) The applicant need not be a current member of the Society. However, applicants must be science staff who have worked a minimum of two years in any New Zealand science research organisation (including Universities);

(d) Each application will be made in the specified manner as detailed in instructions available from the Society’s website, or from the Secretary, the Executive Officer or members of the Selection Panel;

(e) Each application must be received by the Secretary of the Society (or a nominee) by the date specified in each call for applications;

(f) The Secretary will notify an applicant that a suitably completed application has been received.


Consideration for Awards

(a) Applications received by the Secretary will be distributed to members of the Award Selection Panel before a Selection Panel meeting;

(b) The Treasurer will provide the Selection Panel Members with the total amount available for disbursements in Awards at each meeting;

(c) Each application which meets the stated criteria will be considered on its merits by the Selection Panel. Each application must be judged by carefully considering its relevance to the stated Objectives (see Clause 1);

(d) The Selection Panel’s decision on each application considered at a meeting must be in the form of a motion and an Award can only be made if the motion for approval is carried unanimously, with all Panel members voting. The amount of an individual Award must be stated in the motion. An unsuccessful application may only be reconsidered once, but this does not preclude an applicant submitting a new application at a future date;

(e) The Selection Panel will indicate to the Executive Secretary any special conditions which may apply if an applicant is to receive an Award;

(f) The Executive Secretary will advise an applicant of the Selection Panel’s decision on their application. If an Award is made, the Executive Secretary will remind the applicant that receiving an Award carries with it the responsibility to submit a report confirming the completion of the travel, project or conference for which the funds were allocated and that the funds have been used in accordance with the application. A guideline for the report will be included in the Secretary's notification;

(g) Members of the Selection Panel must declare any personal interest or association with any application and exclude themselves from any further consideration of that applicant. Personal interest is defined in this instance as research personnel who directly report to, or have a personal relationship with, the Panel member.


Change to Rules

Changes to these rules may be made by instruction to the Management Committee from a General Meeting of the Society.