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Research grants

Each year, we support a range of field and desk-based research projects, from established researchers undertaking cutting edge fieldwork to early career academics working on smaller projects.

A scuba diver wearing flippers and an oxygen tank underwater taking photos of a coral reef. There are multiple species of fish swimming around the diver and coral.

Ralph Brown Expedition Award

An annual award of £12,500 to an expedition working in an aquatic environment. 

An arid landscape with tall, jagged rock formations. There are low shrubs and trees surrounding the foot of the formation.

Thesiger-Oman Fellowships

Awards of £8,000 for research in the physical or human dimensions of arid and semi-arid environments.

Person using a drill and cylindrical tube to extract an ice core, with snow covered mountains behind.

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.

Person setting up a measuring device in front of a glacier and lake. The person is wearing a hat and rucksack.

Gilchrist Fieldwork Award

An annual award of £15,000 to a research team undertaking challenging overseas fieldwork.

Person using a smartphone to take a photo of a plant nestled between rocks.

RGS-IBG Small Research Grants

Awards of up to £3,500 to early career researchers for desk or field-based research in any area of geography.

A cluster of buildings of different heights and shapes closely packed together. There are three domed spires and a telecommunications tower that are taller than the other buildings.

Rob Potter Award

A supplementary grant of £1,500 for development research, given in celebration of Rob Potter.

A large group of people, with children at the front, gathered looking towards a women standing in the middle with a metal bowl placed on a metal barrel.

Jasmin Leila Award

A small grant given in celebration of Jasmin Leila Sidaway.

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Environment and Sustainability Research Grants

Three annual awards of £15,000 for early career researchers.