Dear colleagues, dear friends,

We are glad to inform you that the first Call for speleological events support in 2026 is open! Granted can be international expeditions or other events focused on the exploration, study, or protection of caves and karst, with an emphasis on educational, technical, and/or scientific cooperation.

UIS Bureau especially encourages young cavers and scientists to submit proposals for their projects, and the Bureau will take these submissions into preference consideration.

All requests should contain a description of the proposed event as detailed as you think is important for understanding the aims of your project, the purpose for which the funds will be used, and show explicitly that the proposed event is in line with the Statutes, Internal Regulations, and Code of Ethics of the UIS. Requests that do not meet these requirements will not be accepted.

For speleological expeditions, participants must be from at least 3 different countries, one of which is recommended to be the host country where the project will be conducted.

Detailed conditions and more details about speleological events support can be found in Speleological Events Support Guidelines on https://uis-speleo.org/wp-
content/uploads/2020/03/Speleological-Events-Support-Guidelines-Version-2-September-2019.pdf or please, do not hesitate to ask UIS Vice-President of Administration Mario Parise at mario.parise@uniba.it

The deadline for this Call is June 12, 2026.

All requests received till the deadline will be evaluated by the UIS Bureau, and the best projects will be supported. For this Call, the UIS Bureau decided to dedicate a maximum amount of 3000 EUR, meaning that this total amount can be split between all supported projects. All requests received after the deadline will not be accepted, but can be submitted for the next call.

Unlike what is reported in the Speleological Event Support Guidelines, please send all requests to the UIS before the deadline to Adjunct Secretary Marc Mentens at marcbingcacao@gmail.com and Adjunct Secretary Allan Calux at ascalux@gmail.com (in CC).

Before submitting, please ensure that:

1) The proposal and all supporting documents are submitted in a single PDF file.
2) The proposal includes a statement from the applicant(s) that the proposed event meets the Statutes, Internal Regulations, and Code of Ethics of the UIS;
3) The proposal states the amount of funding requested and the purpose for which the funds will be used.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their proposals in mid-July.

Mario Parise
UIS Vice-President of Administration