Join us
Orange welcome sign that reads Royal Geographical Society with IBG.

Become a member and discover where geography can take you.

Join us
A researcher collecting water temperature measurements at the edge of a river in a baron landscape, with mountains in the background.

Grants

Our grants programme develops new knowledge and advances geographical science by supporting geographical research in the UK and overseas.

To date in 2024, with the generous support of our donors, over £166,000 of funding has been allocated to support 70 field research and school fieldwork projects, from 36 institutions. Projects are taking place in 34 countries spanning six continents. Topics range from analysis of community energy projects in the UK, to mapping the impacts of alluvial mining on mammal communities in the Peruvian Amazon. 

See the full list of projects funded in 2024, and find out more about past field research supported through the Society’s grants programme in our grant stories. 

Grants are available for desk-based research, fieldwork and expeditions, research into teaching and learning, and developing teaching resources. For enquiries, please contact grants@rgs.org

A researcher sitting on a rocky slope in a valley writing in a notebook while two others stand testing the rock hardness.

Grant deadlines

View our all our grant deadlines for 2024 to 2025 at a glance.

Expedition grants

Our independent travel grants support challenging and inspiring geographical journeys and expeditions all over the world.

Researcher kneeling in a rocky landscape writing in a notebook. There is a glacier in the background.

Research grants

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 student on fieldwork standing in a barbershop holding a audio recorder while speaking to a barber.

Student grants

Every year we support over 40 student fieldwork projects, from PhD students collecting data for their dissertation to groups of undergraduates looking to get out into the field for the first time.

Teacher grants

Grants to support school fieldwork and expeditions, and innovation in teaching geography at secondary and higher education level.

A group of small tents and a white van in a wide unvegetated landscape in front of snow covered mountains.

Guidance for Society grant applicants

Guidance and resources for applicants and recipients.

Projects supported

Projects we support cover a range of geographical topics, from volcano monitoring, to adaptations to climate change, to farmers' rights issues.

Two people under a planting shelter holding out a large piece of paper on a wooden table. The two people are looking and pointing at the paper.

Grant stories

Hear from the Society's grant recipients as they reflect on their research, their experiences and highlights of their trip.

Person seated at the table using laptop

Becoming a grant reviewer

The grant reviewing process is essential in enabling funding organisations to support those they set out to help, as well as having benefits for applicants and reviewers. 

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.

Grants programme supporters

We have a range of donors who have supported the grants programme this year, and in past years.

Three people looking and pointing at a large map pinned to a wall.

Grants programme reviewers

The expertise of external screeners allows us to review hundreds of grant applications every year.