The Frederick Soddy Trust (
www.soddy.org
)
announces an award of £6,000 for
fieldwork/research which lies within
the rubric of
the objects of the Frederick Soddy Trust: ‘
the
study of the social, economic and cultural life of a
region
’ anywhere in the world.
Applications are invited from postgraduate
students. Projects may be submitted from an
individual or a small group working together.
This award is administered by the RGS-IBG on
behalf of the Trust. Each year one award will be
made of up to £6,000, though this sum could in
certain circumstances be split between two
applicants.
The application deadline is 18 January.
Eligibility
The awards support fieldwork/research in the
UK or overseas.
Applicants must be UK/EU nationals.
Applicants must currently be registered for a
PhD. Applicants registered on
MPhil or other
Masters courses are not eligible.
Grants are available to individuals or small
groups working together.
Re-application for the same project is not
permitted.
Awards cannot be made retrospectively
Project expenses covered by the award can
include, but are not limited to, travel,
subsistence, equipment and field assistants.
Application process
Applications should be submitted by email to the
Society’s Grants Officer (
grants@rgs.org
) by 18
January. This deadline will be strictly enforced.
Applications must contain the following
information:
Name, affiliation and full contact details
(please include an email address)
The year of commencement of the PhD and
the intended completion date.
Title and short abstract of project (max 100
words)
Aim of the project and objectives with a
description of how the fieldwork/ data
collection will contribute to the overall PhD
project (max 250 words)
Location of research area including the
latitude and longitude (These are used by the
RGS-IBG to geocode information about our
grants programme)
A full description of the proposed research,
including field site, methodologies and a
timeline (max 500 words)
Duration of fieldwork/research with start and
intended end date
An assessment of the wider context and
relevance of the research, how it advances
geographical knowledge, and how it relates to
the specific objectives of the Frederick Soddy
Trust (max 600 words in total)
An outline of plans for disseminating the
results of the research (max 200 words)
Details of permissions needed/gained from
the host country and of collaborative links with
host country agencies where relevant
If fieldwork, a risk assessment and safety
management plan and details of appropriate
ethical approvals (see conditions of award,
max 300 words)
A fully itemised budget. This should include
travel, accommodation and per diem costs, as
well as details of the sources of funds for
budgeted costs that exceed the value of the
award. All details of other funding gained or
applied for should be included.
One page summary CV with
details of
appropriate experience and expertise. Please
also state your nationality (see eligibility
criteria for the award).
Frederick Soddy
Postgraduate Award
Postgraduate grant of £6000 for fieldwork
on ‘
The
study of the social economic and cultural life of a
region’
Please indicate how you heard about the
Frederick Soddy Postgraduate Award.
Data Protection
The information you provide in your application
will be held by the Royal Geographical Society
(with IBG) on a computer in accordance with the
Data Protection Act 1998, and will be used only in
connection with your application.
Referee statements
Two referee statements are required. One
must be from your Masters or PhD supervisor.
One of these referees should be independent
of the research activities and institution.
Please send each of your referees a copy of
the Referee Guidelines below and ask them to
send the references directly to the Grants
Officer by email by 18 January. Applications
will be jeopardised if referee statements are
not received on time. References form a
critical part of the judging process.
Receipt of all materials will be acknowledged.
Selection process
Applications will be assessed by an external
panel of experts.
Final decisions will be made by the Trustees
of the Frederick Soddy Trust.
A short list of applicants may be called to the
Society for an interview.
Conditions
The RGS-IBG requires that the research it
funds be conducted in an ethical and
responsible manner. All RGS-IBG awards
are conditional on your Institutions
approval of the projects risk assessment
and ethical considerations. Please provide
information on the status of approvals
(ethical, health and safety and any other
permissions) in your application.
Full details of the Society’s
code of practice
for the grants programme can be found at
www.rgs.org/grants-ethics
.
The Society will not fund projects that take
place in countries or within an area where the
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)
advises against all travel before the project
goes into the field.
Personal medical insurance must be in place
for all team members before departure.
Within a month of completion of the
fieldwork/data collection, you will be required
to complete a short report. High resolution
JPEG images which capture the essence of
the project (the research problem, methods
and findings) are also required.
A full final report must be submitted
electronically and in hard copy by
1 September of the year following the award.
The final report must include a 250 word
abstract, a description of the project and its
key findings (1000 words minimum), digital
images that capture the spirit of the project
and its results, a final budget, and details of
presentations, publications and any other
outputs.
Award details, including text and images from
reporting, may be used in publications and on
the Society website.
The
Frederick Soddy Trust’s and Society’s
support should be acknowledged in all
publications and outputs. Copies of any such
publications and outputs should be submitted
to the Society.
Contact/ Applications
Grants Officer
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
1 Kensington Gore
London
SW7 2AR
T: (0) 20 7591 3073
F: (0) 20 7591 3031
E:
grants@rgs.org
W:
www.rgs.org/grants
The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
offers many other grants for different areas of
geographical research at different career
stages. Full details of all grants can be found
at
www.rgs.org/grants
.
Applicants may only have one Society grant
application pending at any one time. For more
information, please read our Frequently Asked
Questions,
www.rgs.org/grantfaqs
.
Frederick Soddy
Postgraduate Award
The Frederick Soddy Postgraduate Award supports a PhD student undertaking geographical fieldwork and
other forms of data collection in the UK or overseas. The fieldwork/research must lie within the rubric of the
objects of the Frederick Soddy Trust: ‘
the study of the social, economic and cultural life of a region
’ anywhere
in the world.
This award is administered by the RGS-IBG on behalf of the Trust. Each year one award will be made of up
to £6,000, though this sum could in certain circumstances be split between two applicants.
Referees
We would be grateful if you could write a reference providing a critical evaluation of:
The proposed project’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of originality, validity and likely
contribution to geographical knowledge
The applicant’s ability to
complete the programme of work safely and responsibly within the time and
budget proposed
Any additional information that you feel might help the Selection Panel
Your reference will be one of the key factors in assessing the applicant’s suitability f
or a grant.
Please submit your signed reference statement on letter headed paper to the Grants Officer by email
(details below) before
18 January.
The Society would like to thank you in advance for your assistance. Your reference will be acknowledged by
email.
Contact
Grants Officer
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
1 Kensington Gore
London
SW7 2AR
T: (0) 20 7591 3073
F: (0) 20 7591 3031
E:
grants@rgs.org
W:
www.rgs.org/grants
Guide to Referees