How to approach topic of co-funding with my advisor?

[languages-etc]

I wasn't sure whether to post this question under Advising or Bank, but I think I'd like to hear from linguists more than grad students in general, so here's my question: 

 

I'm a first year PhD student and I'm interested in researching a particular language and its related languages -- let's call it Basque and Basque-related languages. (Would rather be sort of anonymous here.) I'm pretty sure the reason I got accepted to my school, which is super competitive for someone like me who didn't major in linguistics, is because of my interest/experience in Basque, and my previous experience living in the Basque area. And my advisor has been doing work in Basque, so he probably pulled for me during the admissions process. One more note: my advisor doesn't speak Spanish, but I speak it fluently and would be able to travel around to do research quite easily. 

 

I will be applying for various funding/grants on my own, to do fieldwork. However, given that my academic background was in a slightly different (but related) field, I realize I am not the strongest candidate for some of the larger grants. I think if I applied for something with my advisor as a co-researcher, I'd have a much better chance of winning some of them. I've heard of cases where the faculty member was listed as "primary" and the grad student as "secondary" researcher, and only the grad student traveled to do the actual fieldwork.

 

How do I approach this with my advisor, whom I've known for only 2 months now? Does anyone have experience with this sort of situation? Is it usually the faculty member who initiates this sort of joint project? 

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated. 

 

[fuzzylogician]

Well, I think it's up to you to take the initiative if your advisor doesn't. Ask for a meeting to get his advice on applying for external funding. If you have something written up, maybe you could send it to him in advance, or else just describe the project you have in mind and ask for his opinion on it. Ask where you could apply for funding, and tell him what places you were thinking of. Tell him that you are unsure about how competitive you are, and depending on his response you might then just ask if applying for a joint project would be something he would consider and if he thinks that would be a good idea. I imagine he'll have some opinions about this question and that you can begin to work out any necessary details.