Discover Funding Opportunities

Dudley Stamp Memorial Award

The Dudley Stamp Memorial Award offers grants of £500 for PhD students or postdoctoral researchers to support geographical research. Preference is given to research that leads to the advancement of geography and to international co-operation in the study of the subject. Applications are particularly welcome for projects which will strengthen links between geographers in the United Kingdom and those overseas. The award was established in 1967 to enable geographers in the early stages of their careers to travel in support of their research. It honors Lawrence Dudley Stamp (1898-1966), an internationally renowned British geographer who served as President of both the Royal Geographical Society and the Institute of British Geographers. His Land Utilisation Survey of Great Britain in the 1930s and 1940s sought to classify land use in Britain with the help of teachers and school children. Dudley Stamp worked to popularise geography and played a key role in promoting the teaching of the subject in schools. He travelled widely, assisting in the setting up of numerous land use surveys, while his reputation drew postgraduates from around the world to work on his projects. In 2016 the Dudley Stamp Memorial Fund became a linked charity of the RGS-IBG. The award is administered through the RGS-IBG Postgraduate Research Awards scheme.

Hong Kong Research Grant

The Hong Kong Research Grant is an annual award of £2,500 for PhD students undertaking geographical research in the Greater China region. The grant was established in 2003 and is supported by the Hong Kong branch of the Royal Geographical Society. It is awarded as part of the RGS-IBG Postgraduate Research Awards scheme. Comparative studies are encouraged and preference is given to applicants who have not previously had an opportunity to study in the Greater China region. Applicants must be registered at a UK Higher Education Institution, and preference is given to students who do not receive full funding from a Research Council, university or comparable levels of support from other sources for fieldwork and data collection. The grant supports geographical research and field work in the Greater China region.

Geographical Club Award

The Geographical Club Award offers two grants of £1,000 each year to support PhD students undertaking geographical fieldwork or other forms of data collection in the UK or overseas. The award was established in 2009, and since 2011 has provided two annual grants: one for a physical geography project and another for a human geography project. The Geographical Club is a members dining club with origins in the Raleigh Club established in 1826, which later formed the Geographical Society of London that became the Royal Geographical Society. The Club maintains close links with RGS-IBG and supports the Society through funding conservation work and this award. Recipients are invited to attend a Geographical Club dinner. Preference is given to students who do not receive full funding from a research council, university or comparable levels of support from other sources for fieldwork and data collection.

Frederick Soddy Postgraduate Award

The Frederick Soddy Postgraduate Award provides up to £6,000 to support PhD students carrying out research on 'the study of the social, economic and cultural life of a region' - anywhere in the world. Born in 1877, Frederick Soddy was a Nobel Prize winning atomic scientist, who later in his life developed economic and sociological interests. Frederick Soddy was one of the early pioneers of what today is considered 'interdisciplinary research'. Through the foundations of the Frederick Soddy Trust, he sought to encourage research that would provide a holistic view of an area, environment, or community encompassing elements of both human and physical geography. Applicants are encouraged to make clear how their research relates to this specific objective, and are expected to engage with both physical and human geographical components in their projects. The award is open to individual PhD students or teams of PhD students. One or two awards are given every year.

RGS-IBG Postgraduate Research Awards

The RGS-IBG Postgraduate Research Awards were established in 2008 to support PhD students undertaking research and fieldwork. The Society offers awards of up to £2,500 for PhD students undertaking fieldwork and data collection to advance geographical knowledge. These awards are offered to individuals and aim to help students establish themselves in their particular field. Applicants must be registered at a UK Higher Education Institution. Preference is given to students who do not receive full funding from a research council, university or comparable levels of support from other sources for fieldwork and data collection. The awards include the Albert Reckitt Awards, Walters Kundert Grants, the Geographical Club Award, Hong Kong Research Grants and the Dudley Stamp Memorial Award. Successful applicants may be given a named award based on their research discipline. Fieldwork should not begin before 1 April 2026 except under exceptional circumstances, and the Society cannot support fieldwork that has already taken place.

Henrietta Hutton Research Grant

The Henrietta Hutton Research Grant offers up to three grants of £500 annually to undergraduate or Masters students undertaking overseas field research as an individual or as part of a team. The fund was established in 1964 in memory of Henrietta Hutton, a University of Oxford student who was a keen ornithologist and founding member of the Oxford Women's Exploration Club. Preference is given to support field research with a significant geographical, social and/or environmental science, or natural history element. Applicants should be undertaking an independent field research project that lasts longer than four weeks. The field research does not have to be related to the student's academic studies, but applicants must be registered at a UK Higher Education Institution. Where the applicant is part of a larger expedition, it should be made clear how their research is distinct from the wider project. Applicants should show strong evidence of host country participation in their research projects.

Monica Cole Research Grant

The Monica Cole Research Grant offers £1,000 each year to a physical geography undergraduate or Masters student undertaking original fieldwork overseas. Named after Monica Cole, a leader in the field of geo-botany who held the position of Chair of Geography at Bedford College and received the Society's Murchison Medal for major contributions to the geography of South Africa and to the understanding of savannas. Applicants must be registered at a UK Higher Education Institution. The grant supports student-led research in physical geography disciplines including glaciology, climate science, geomorphology, biogeography, and related earth science fields.

Jasmin Leila Award

The Jasmin Leila Award was established in 2008 in celebration of Jasmin Leila Sidaway. The £250 award is given to one of the projects supported under the Society's Small Research Grants scheme. In tribute to Jasmin, the project to be recognised by the award will have a focus on either medical and health geography, performance (especially any aspects of music, theatre, fashion and/or dance and their geographies), or transnational communities. Applications to the Jasmin Leila Award should be made through the Society's Small Research Grants scheme.

Rob Potter Award

The Rob Potter Award offers £1,500 to post-PhD early-career researchers studying the geographies of development. Given in celebration of Rob Potter, an eminent human geographer and founding editor of Progress in Development Studies, this award is provided through the Society's Small Research Grants scheme, either as a supplement or as an independent award. In tribute to Rob Potter, the project should focus on geographies of development (especially urbanisation, housing and participatory planning, and socio-economic development) or transnational migration and identities. Preference is given to research on the contemporary Caribbean, with studies of Mexico, Latin America and small island nations also welcomed. Rob Potter (1950-2014) was Emeritus Professor of Human Geography at the University of Reading, and a distinguished academic expert on urban geography and the geographies of development, with particular reference to the Caribbean.

RGS-IBG Small Research Grants

The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Small Research Grants provide awards of up to £3,500 to early career researchers for original desk or field-based research in any area of geography. Each year several grants are given to early career researcher individuals who are up to 10 years post PhD. One grant of up to £3,500 is awarded from the 20th International Geographical Congress Fund. The Jasmin Leila Award and the Rob Potter Award may be given as a supplement to projects supported under the scheme, or as independent awards. Applicants are expected to hold a PhD at the time of applying, must be affiliated with a UK Higher Education Institution or equivalent research establishment and must be Fellows or Members of the Society. These awards are only available to individuals. At risk academic geographers hosted at UK institutions through programmes such as Cara are eligible to apply. The grants support original research across all areas of geography, including both human and physical geography topics.

Walters Kundert Fellowship

The Walters Kundert Fellowship offers an annual grant of £10,000 to support post-PhD field research within Arctic or high mountain environments. Established in 2017, the Fellowship is supported through a generous donation by the Walters Kundert Charitable Trust and encourages applicants from across the spectrum of geographical research to enhance the understanding and well-being of the planet's Arctic and high mountain environments through research. The Fellowship specifically supports field research in physical geography within Arctic and/or high mountain environments, with preference for field studies that advance the understanding of environmental change past or present. Applications are open to post-PhD researchers affiliated with a UK Higher Education Institution or equivalent research establishment, or Fellows and members of the Royal Geographical Society who are employed outside the UK. The Fellowship aims to encourage research that addresses critical questions about environmental change in these sensitive regions, including topics such as glacier dynamics, permafrost disturbances, climate change impacts, and ecosystem responses in Arctic and high mountain settings.

Thesiger-Oman Fellowships

The Thesiger-Oman International Fellowships offer two awards annually of £8,000 to post-doctoral researchers to advance geographical knowledge, involving fieldwork, in an arid or semi-arid environment. Preference will be given to research in the Middle East and other areas visited by Sir Wilfred Thesiger. One award is given for human geography and one for physical geography. These awards were founded with the support of the late Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said al-Said as a memorial to Thesiger. Applicants must be Fellows or members of the Royal Geographical Society with at least three years' post-doctoral experience. The Fellowships are open to applicants of any nation. Individuals or groups may apply for this award. The fellowships support geographical research in the physical or human dimensions of arid and semi-arid environments, particularly in the Middle East and regions associated with Sir Wilfred Thesiger's explorations.

Ralph Brown Expedition Award

The Ralph Brown Expedition Award is a single annual award of up to £12,500, offered to an experienced researcher leading a research expedition working in an aquatic environment. This includes the study of coral reefs, rivers, lakes and shallow seas. The project should be of value to the host country and, where possible, to the local community. The award has been established in memory of Ralph Brown, a Californian who lived much of his life in New Zealand. He took part in expeditions and was a keen advocate of the use of jet boats to navigate inaccessible and dangerous rivers. Brown died in 1996, shortly after winning the World Jet Boat Championship in Canada. He bequeathed a portion of his estate to RGS-IBG to fund both the Award and the Grants Officer at the Society. The Ralph Brown Award has supported projects since 1998, ranging from the wetlands of Ukraine to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, from coral reef studies to mountain river hazard surveys, and studies of human interaction with waterways. Applicants must be Fellows or Members of the Royal Geographical Society. The grant is open to applicants from any nation.

Peter Smith Award

The Peter Smith Award offers £1,000 to a team of second year undergraduate geography students undertaking fieldwork overseas. The award was launched in 2020 through the Society's Geographical Fieldwork Grants (now RGS Explore Grants) and is named after Peter Smith, a long-standing supporter and Trustee of the Royal Geographical Society with boundless enthusiasm for geography, the outdoors and for learning. The purpose of the award is to support the development of second year undergraduate geography students through international field-based research, with applications from across the breadth of the discipline welcomed. The first Award was delayed until 2022 because of the travel restrictions of Covid. Recipients have conducted diverse research projects including studies of mangrove ecosystems, coastal pollution assessment, oral histories of environmental crises, and glacier research.

Fieldwork Apprenticeships

The Fieldwork Apprenticeships aim to give first year undergraduate geography students the opportunity during the summer to work as a Fieldwork Apprentice for a number of weeks on a research project either in the UK or overseas, led by an academic member of staff at their university. Grants of £1,500 are offered annually for students to participate in fieldwork projects led by one of their university lecturers. Applicants must be resident in the UK and be in the first year of an undergraduate geography degree at a UK Higher Education Institution. Applicants must have the support of a lecturer at their UK HEI to participate in a fieldwork project. Applicants should demonstrate how opportunities to get involved in fieldwork would not be available to them were it not for the Field Apprenticeship, and where possible should demonstrate the challenging circumstances that prevent them from having access to such opportunities. These awards are supported through the generous donation of John and Anne Alexander and are part of a portfolio of grants, the Alexander Awards, to support and enthuse students from less advantaged backgrounds through fieldwork. One Apprenticeship is supported through the generous donation of the Hepworth Family, through the Dorothy Hepworth Expedition Award. Recipients are expected to share their experiences with others, for example at their own institution or through the Professional Ambassadors programme.

Journey in Audio

Journey in Audio offers professional training and access to high-quality equipment to document travel, fieldwork or a research expedition through audio recorded in the field. This unique opportunity provides participants with a one-day, in-person workshop led by a professional audio producer at the Royal Geographical Society in London, scheduled for spring 2026. The workshop provides an introduction to soundscapes, how sound is used in storytelling, and how to build a narrative, along with practical training on using audio recording equipment and capturing sounds in the field. Participants receive the loan of professional-standard handheld audio recording equipment for use in the field, a non-commercial license for REAPER digital audio production software, and a financial contribution for travel and accommodation to attend the workshop. After returning from the field, participants will receive group and one-to-one feedback sessions online on the first cut of their audio work. The workshop is open to geographical journeys, fieldwork, or research expeditions being undertaken by individuals or small teams between mid-April and the end of October 2026. Applicants are expected to have a clear plan for their travel, fieldwork, or research expedition and the financial and practical means to undertake it. Eligible projects may focus on any geography-related topic, and applicants with all levels of experience can apply. The opportunity to share audio work through the Society's channels is available, subject to review for quality and content.

Neville Shulman Challenge Award

The Neville Shulman Challenge Award aims to further the understanding and exploration of the planet - its cultures, peoples and environments - while promoting personal development through the challenges involved in undertaking a research project or expedition. Established in 2001 by Neville Shulman CBE for the Royal Geographical Society, each year two awards of up to £10,000 are given to challenging research projects or expeditions. Applicants must demonstrate how the project is challenging – both physically and in terms of the issue being studied and the new insights that will be generated. Projects should have elements of both local and global interest, a clear purpose to advance geographical knowledge through well outlined methods of data collection, and with opportunities to share findings widely. Applications are invited from both individuals and groups. Project proposals directly relating to PhD or MSc research will not be accepted. It is expected that the grant will provide the majority of funding needed to undertake the project.

RGS Explore Grants

The RGS Explore Grants offer £500 to £5,000 to support teams undertaking overseas expeditions. As the successor to the Geographical Fieldwork Grants, the Society's longest running grant scheme, these awards are designed to support and enable the next generation of explorers and field researchers, especially those undertaking their first overseas projects. Awards will be made to teams undertaking original, challenging journeys with meaningful local collaborations at their core, aiming to advance geographical knowledge and deepen understanding of the world's environments, people and places. The expedition is expected to take place outside of the UK with a minimum of four weeks in the field, ideally undertaken between April and October.