Join us

Become a member and discover where geography can take you.

Join us

Conditions of grants

By submitting an application for an award which is part of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) (herein ‘the Society’ or ‘RGS-IBG’) grants programme, you confirm your acceptance of the following terms and conditions. Any questions or concerns regarding these terms and conditions should be submitted to the Grants Officer prior to the submission of an application. The Society reserves the right to alter these conditions, without notice, at any time.

 

1. Legal disclaimer

  • The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) (herein ‘the Society’ or ‘RGS-IBG’) and any other organisations/individuals associated with the grants programme accept no legal responsibility for any aspect of any supported project.

 

2. General conditions

  • All grants are awarded at the discretion of the Society. Applicants may only apply for one grant within an annual cycle (deadlines October to April), with the exception of the Gilchrist Fieldwork Award which can be applied to in addition to any other post-PhD researcher grant, the Postgraduate Research Awards - PhD students may apply for the Frederick Soddy Postgraduate Award while an application to the Postgraduate Research Awards is pending, and the Henrietta Hutton Research Grant and Monica Cole Research Grant which can be applied to at the same time. An individual may only be awarded one grant in any one cycle.

  • Applications for fieldwork which is currently taking place or has already been completed will not be considered.

  • All funds awarded must be used for the purposes set out in the application submitted for the award. These purposes include travel, maintenance, data collection and temporary research assistance (as appropriate to a specific grant). The costs of additional childcare, beyond that required to meet the normal contracted requirements of the job, and that are directly related to the field elements of the project, may be requested as a directly incurred cost. However, childcare costs associated with normal working patterns may not be sought. Salary costs of the PI/costs to buy-out staff time will not be funded. Grants may not be used to fund conference attendance (with the exception of the 30th International Geographical Congress Award). Expenses for equipment, lab costs and sample analysis should not exceed 20% of the amount awarded.  

  • Grants are not transferrable to individuals or organisations.

  • The Society reserves the right to withdraw or recall support at any time.

  • Any terms and conditions or codes of conduct for third party organisations relevant to a grant must be adhered to.

  • If funding is sought for a component of a larger project, the sub-project should be free-standing with its own objectives.

 

3. Ethics and risk assessments

  • The Society requires that the research it funds be conducted in an ethical and responsible manner. All RGS-IBG awards are conditional on appropriate approval of the project’s health and safety risk assessment and ethical considerations.

  • Grant recipients must fulfil any ethical and risk assessment requirements of institutions to which they are affiliated, and adhere to the laws and customs of any locations in which the work will be undertaken.

  • If the fulfilment of the condition above requires the submission of documents to a third party, a copy of these documents should be submitted to the Grants Officer. The Society reserves the right to withhold funding if these documents are not received.

  • Full details of the Society’s code of practice for the grants programme can be found here.

  • For projects where no third-party approval for health and safety or ethics is required, the Society requires grant applicants to show sufficient planning for safety. This includes providing evidence that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and an emergency response plan are in place, and that ethical dimensions of the field research have been considered appropriate to the project. This information must be submitted to the Society for review.

  • The Society reserves the right to withhold funding should the project’s risk analysis, ethical and safety management plans be considered inadequate (and/or not meet appropriate standards). This decision is at the sole discretion of the Society.

  • If there are any significant health and safety related problems in the field, please notify the Society as soon as possible.

 

4. Change of plans and return of funds

  • If it proves necessary to change the objectives of the project, the location of any of the work undertaken, the participants or the budget, please inform the Grants Officer immediately. Grants are awarded on the basis of the plans submitted and reviewed by the Society. While some changes may be accommodated, the Society reserves the right to withdraw support if there are substantial changes.

  • Any funding awarded by the Society which is not spent on relevant expenses must be refunded in full.

 

5. Other funding

  • All grants applicants are requested to submit details of any other funds already obtained or being applied for to support the same project.

 

6. Overseas travel

  • The Society will not fund projects that take place, in full or in part, in locations to which the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) advise against all travel prior to departure.

  • If the FCDO advises against all but essential travel to any location in which fieldwork is planned, the Grants Officer should be contacted for advice prior to departure. Detailed advice is available and regularly updated on the FCDO website.

  • It is the responsibility of the grant applicant/recipient to find out the current advice, both before submitting an application and again before departure. Grants recipients must also follow any additional advice provided by the FCDO for travel to relevant locations.

 

7. Insurance

  • It is the responsibility of the grant recipient to ensure that they, and all other members of their party, have appropriate medical and travel insurance for the full duration of any trips outside the UK.

  • Any other insurance required during the course of a project (including but not limited to vehicle insurance, public liability insurance and insurance of specialist equipment) are the responsibility of the grant recipient.

  • The Society is unable to provide additional funds for medical expenses, trip cancellation or abandonment, or loss of belongings or money during any project.

 

8. Reporting

  • Grant recipients are expected to keep the Grants Officer informed of the project’s progress during and after its completion.

  • All individuals and teams who receive an RGS-IBG grant are required to submit both a preliminary and a full report (unless stated otherwise in your terms and conditions). Please see ‘Reporting and digital assets’ for further details on when these are due, length and format.

 

9. Acknowledgement of support and logo use

  • The support of the grant awarded must be acknowledged in any published outputs from the work undertaken as result of receiving the award. This includes, but is not limited to, websites, books, academic papers, oral presentations/speeches and press coverage.

  • Copies and details of any such outputs should be submitted to the Society.

  • The Grants Officer should be contacted for permission before the Society’s logo is used on any outputs. High resolution logos can be provided for this purpose on request.

  • The logo of any third part associated with a grant may not be used on any output resulting from a Society grant without the prior written permission of all relevant parties.

 

10. Information about supported projects

  • Details of projects undertaken may be published in the Society’s publications and online (including social media), including details about grant recipients. This includes text and images submitted as part of the necessary reporting for an award.

  • Grant recipients may be asked to present a lecture on the work funded by the grant at the Society, or at an event hosted by another relevant organisation, at a mutually convenient date.

  • If you would like any particular information about your project or any individual associated with it (including the grant recipient) to not be published or given to the press, please inform the Grants Officer as soon as possible.

  • Grant recipients must provide information on any relevant press/media releases and coverage, before, during and after the project takes place.

  • If a published media output is a requirement of a grant, the Society (and/or a third party organisation relevant to a grant) retains the copyright for this output, unless the Grants Officer informs the grant recipient otherwise.

  • If a published media output is a requirement of a grant, no guarantee is given that this output will be published or broadcast in any way.