Guidelines: Vittorio Tonolli Fellowship Award

The Tonolli Fund of SIL was created in 1985 through a request from Vittorio and Livia Tonolli, well known limnologists at the Istituto Italiano di Idrobiologia in Pallanza, Italy. The purpose of the fund is to provide assistance to young limnologists of developing countries. In recent years, the awards committee for the Tonolli Fund has used the fund primarily for support of students who are working toward post-graduate degrees (MSc, PhD) in the field of limnology. The committee will not consider research support for young limnologists who have just received an advanced degree and are in need of funds to support research, or of local limnological projects involving more than one Early Career limnologist. Awards from the Tonolli Fund generally are in the amount of $1000 to $1,500 for a period of one year. Recipients can also apply again for support in the following year. Applications should be submitted by 30 May each year.

The awards committee for the Tonolli Fund will emphasize research and graduate education in limnology. Subjects of highest priority for the Tonolli Fund include the following: cycling (biogeochemistry) of carbon, key nutrients, or other elements known to be important to inland waters; studies of the production of either plant, animal, or microbial biomass and the factors that regulate production; studies of community composition, biodiversity, or factors that regulate these attributes of inland waters; analytical or comparative studies of physical, hydrological, chemical, or biotic processes in all types of inland waters.

Factors to be considered in the competition for fellowship support include the statement of the applicant on research interests and need for financial support, and the written evaluation of two university faculty members or senior research colleagues who know the applicant well. Applicants should explain how the proposed work will be done, what equipment is available, what methods will be used, what problems might arise and how they will be solved, where the project will be conducted, and who will be available for advising purposes. Applicants should explain why a particular problem was chosen for study, and comment on the importance of the problem for theoretical or applied limnology, and for the student’s country. Applicants should cite at least five internationally published journal articles that they have read as inspiration for the work that they are undertaking. The application should be approved and signed by the applicant’s supervisor.

The Tonolli Fund cannot be used for international travel or non-research expenses. Awards are made through institutions, on condition that the institution takes no overhead. Institutes that will take overhead will be excluded from future awards. In order not to pay an overhead, the supervisor may receive the student’s money, and both applicant and supervisor will then be responsible to submit a signed overview declaring how the funds were spent. The award recipient must write and submit a brief scientific report within 9 months after receiving the award, explaining the use of the award, research progress, and an accounting of how the funds were spent. A financial report should be attached, with receipts, detailing how the money was spent. Failure to submit the report means that the award recipient will be ineligible for future awards, and the supervisor of the award recipient will not be able to support future applications. Award recipients will be announced on the Tonolli Award page of the SIL website. Awardees will be invited to write a brief summary of their research for SILnews. Presentation at SIL congress will be encouraged.

Biographical profile of Vittorio Tonolli (1913-1967) >>>