There was a recent post on the UK Hoverflies Facebook Group concerning 'starter kits' for new recruits. The query did not specifically seek funding but a response showed how some potential young Dipterists might be constrained by funds.
My days might be numbered, so I need to think about how best to do something positive, and one way of doing so is to help the next generation. I am therefore thinking about how best I might set up a fund to help young Dipterists. What do they need?
I have always believed that people should help themselves but I know that the costs of getting started are steep. So, if I was to set up a fund through one of the major societies what should I be thinking about? No promises!
What should a starter pack comprise? Who should qualify? How should such a fund be administered? What should its objectives be? There are numerous questions to answer before I do anything formal but in the meantime I need feedback to understand what would work?
Thoughts please? (sensible ones)
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ReplyDeleteMost of the kit required to begin studying diptera is relatively inexpensive. Microscopes stand out as being a fairly high cost item and I wonder if there is scope for some kind of loan scheme?
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure I would regard items other than microscopes as ‘cheap’. Some of the items are relatively low cost but others are far from cheap - just looking at Fauna Ent Scand volumes: the prices are appalling (e.g., well over £200 for the Empidoidea volumes). So, I think any support system needs to consider all aspects. Setting up could still run to several hundreds of pounds before considering a microscope.
DeleteSetting up a loan system might be possible but it requires a lot of infrastructure: people to manage the process, distribute and store microscopes and of course track the ownership. It would probably be cheaper (and more practical) to grant-aid purchase of microscopes – a set grant and let the applicant choose the microscope that they want.