About the Award
The Slawson Awards, first given in 2001, support geographical fieldwork involving development issues with a high social and economic value. The research should have positive social consequences and promote cultural understanding between the applicant and the geographical area being researched. This must be clearly evident in the application, which should be written clearly and concisely for an informed, non-academic audience.
The Awards are available for projects in geography and related disciplines (such as anthropology, sociology and development economics), with preference given to interdisciplinary studies. Fieldwork must take place in the Global South.
The Awards are intended to assist with travel, accommodation and local costs. The cost of equipment will not be covered. Applicants must be currently registered for a PhD at a UK Higher Education institution. Preference will be given to applicants who are UK citizens. Applicants must be current members of the Society. Applicants with previous experience working in the Global South and in positions of leadership are encouraged and should make this clear on their CV when applying. Projects which involve recipients returning to their home country for fieldwork will generally not be considered. The intent is not to fund preliminary or reconnaissance fieldwork; applications should support the main body of field research.
Deadline: 22 February
Inteviews will be held in May/June.
Apply now
All prospective grant applicants are encouraged to read our Advice and Resources pages, which include more information about the grants programme, its conditions, how to apply for a grant and what is expected if your application is successful. Please read this information carefully and send your application, or any enquiries, by email to grants@rgs.org.
Two referee statements are required. One must be from your PhD supervisor. The other should be from a different institution (i.e. undergraduate dissertation supervisor or undergraduate tutor, or your employer if you are presently working).
2021 recipient
Gina Gilson (University of Oxford). 'Governing Informal Water Markets in East Africa'
Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to see the fastest rates of urban population growth in the coming decades. Despite the clear need, there is an empirical blind spot in the region, particularly for research on small- and medium-sized cities. Informal means of water provision, such as markets, have arisen to fill emerging gaps in piped networks. In spite of their prevalence, little is understood about these informal operations and their outcomes on the community they serve. This project will chart the evolution of informal water markets to reveal what shapes the path towards equitable access or exploitation.
2019 recipients
Deborah Spindleman (University of Cambridge). 'Understanding and addressing the unmet needs of young learners affected by stunting'
The most common form of malnutrition worldwide, stunting is correlated with lifelong cognitive and developmental impairment. This impairment affects the needs of students in developing countries across diverse geographies, as learners affected by stunting are more likely to enter school later, drop out earlier, and earn less as adults compared to peers. From an educational perspective, little is known about the specific needs of learners affected by stunting, or how these needs can be effectively met in resource-limited settings. This PhD research seeks to address this knowledge gap by conducting mixed methods research spanning two disparate regions in Ghana.
Heather Purhouse (University of Stirling). 'The changing landscape of menstrual waste in Malawi'
African women increasingly use disposable pads instead of reusable rags as menstrual absorbents, due to their convenience and growing availability in urban areas. However, widespread lack of solid waste collection services means used pads are stored and later disposed in pit latrines or burned. Managing menstrual waste can cause significant anxiety and disease risks through unhygienic storage and disposal. Meanwhile, abundance of solid waste in pit latrines is a significant roadblock to recovering nutrients from faecal sludge for agriculture. This study will quantify physical and social aspects of the menstrual waste disposal challenge in Blantyre, Malawi, and develop participant-led solutions.
Previous recipients
Slawson Award recipients 2001-2018 (PDF)