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Collaborative Doctoral Research

We are part of the Science Museums and Archives Consortium, which each year awards three AHRC-funded collaborative doctoral studentships. We also partner with other Doctoral Training Partnerships.

Old black and white photograph of the Geographical Museum showing multiple display cases, paintings on the walls, and a large globe.

The geographical museum

The Geographical Museum: Making Knowledge through Objects project. Research by Emma Yandle.

Black and white photograph of three people on a boat dressed in waterproof gear. They're smiling and eating chocolate from a box of Fry's Chocolate.

Mobilising chocolate

Mobilising chocolate: plants, pathogens, and prospectors, 1840-1950. Research by Mika Hyman.

Black and white photograph of a river in the foreground and a factory in the background.

Mapping fossil colonialism

Mapping fossil colonialism in Asia, c.1810–1914.

Sepia photo of a crew mapping borders in the desert. One person, who's looking directly at the camera, sits on a camel and holds a large measuring stick.

Ethnographies of border mapping

Ethnographies of border mapping: retracing the field through the geographical archive.

A historic map of the Arabian Peninsula showing the route of W.G. Palgrave Esq. in 1862 to 1863.

Translating place

Orthography and the problem of place names at the Royal Geographical Society, 1830–1919. Research by Beth Williamson

A historic painting of the West India Regiment.

Colonial science and military service

The West India Regiments and circum-Atlantic networks of knowledge, c.1815-c.1900. Research by Catriona Sharples.

Black and white photograph showing a landscape with ice, snow and mountains.

Halley Bay

Instruments of scientific governance? Historical geographies of Halley Bay, 1956-present. Research by Alice Oates

A plaster and wooden model showing a sand dune formation.

Relief models

The art of earth-building: Placing relief models in the culture of modern geography. Research by George Tobin.

A historic sea-route map of the Arabian coast, showing ships and placenames.

The Indigenous map

Native information, ethnographic object, artefact of encounter. Research by Joy Slappnig.

A man using scientific equipment in a polar environment

Circulating Arctic Science

Arctic science in circulation at the Royal Geographical Society c.1880-1914. Research by Peter Martin

Asian women looking at historic photographs in the Foyle Reading Room

Family History, Place and Diaspora

Locating family, community and national geographies. Research by Chandan Mahal

Display of historic materials including printed journal volumes

Geography in print

The cultural production, circulation, and reception of geographical knowledge at the Royal Geographical Society 1830–c.1930. Research by Ben Newman

Display of historic materials including film reel, books, and advertisements

Expeditionary film

Geographical Science and Media Culture. Research by Jan Faull

Display of historic materials, including archival papers and scientific instruments

Instruments of exploration

Technologies of Geographical Enquiry, c. 1860-c. 1939. Research by Jane Wess

Display of historic materials including maps and books

Armchair geography

Speculation, Synthesis and the British Culture of Exploration. Research by Natalie Cox

Display of historic materials, including photographs, lantern slides, and books

Geographical projections

Lantern-slides and the making of geographical knowledge at the Royal Geographical Society c.1885-1924. Research by Emily Hayes

Display of historic materials including worn boots and books

Terra incognita

Women on Royal Geographical Society-supported Expeditions, 1913-1970. Research by Sarah L. Evans

Historic painting of explorers in a polar environment

Weather imaginaries

The exploration of Indlandsis: a cultural and scientific history of ice sheets to 1970. Research by Jean de Pomereu

Historic black and white photograph of Sherpa climbers with mountaineering equipment on Mount Everest.

Hidden histories

'Local knowledge and indigenous agency in the history of exploration: studies from the RGS-IBG Collections.' Research by Lowri Jones.