A new home for the Gino Watkins Fund Awards

We are delighted to announce that the Gino Watkins Memorial Fund has become a linked charity of the Society.

The Gino Watkins Memorial Fund gives grants to support expeditions in the polar regions. The grants are given to researchers, those undertaking expeditions, adventurers, and organised groups of young people for expeditions in Greenland, other high Arctic lands, and the Antarctic. The Fund was set up in 1933 in the memory of Henry George (‘Gino’) Watkins under the joint trusteeship of the University of Cambridge and the Society.

Gino Watkins successfully led several expeditions to the Arctic, including the British Arctic Air Route Expedition in 1930-1931, which assessed the feasibility of a trans-Arctic air route and for which he was awarded the Society’s Founder’s Medal in 1932. It was while continuing the evaluation of the trans-Arctic air route on a small expedition in East Greenland in 1932 that he went seal hunting and did not return. Gino’s kayak was found floating upside down by his companions, and his body was never found.

Of the new partnership, Richard Powell, Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute said: 

“I am very pleased to see the Gino Watkins Memorial Fund being formally linked to the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). This will safeguard the longevity of the Fund, while opening up the valuable opportunities the Fund provides to an even larger audience.”

The Society’s Director, Professor Joe Smith said:

“The Gino Watkins Memorial Fund has a long history of supporting and inspiring scientific research, leadership and exploration in the polar regions through its diversity of awards. The Society is delighted to work with the Gino Watkins Advisory Board to help facilitate the continuation of its mission.”

The Gino Watkins Advisory Board, a committee of experienced polar expeditioners and scientists chaired by Dr Lorraine Craig, evaluate applications for scientific and educational merit as well as logistical soundness and safety, always bearing in mind the arduous conditions that govern life and travel in these vital and challenging regions. 

We are grateful to the Augustine Courtauld Trust and to the members of the Arctic Club for their continuing financial support of the Fund.

The next deadline for applications will be 31 January 2026. 

Find out more about the Gino Watkins Fund Awards.