Postgraduate Fieldwork Funding
Students funded through Research Council studentships often have fieldwork funding included. For those with no or insufficient fieldwork funding support, the following sources may be applicable.
Departmental
Paul Broome Award
This prize was established in memory of Paul Broome, a Geography PhD student who died in 2002. In keeping with Paul's interests and convictions, the award is intended to assist doctoral (and exceptionally Master's) candidates in the Department of Geography, who lack full funding (or can demonstrate a particular additional need) in order to meet the cost of research in the Global South that is intended to aid our understanding of current development problems or phenomena and to be of direct or indirect benefit to poorer people in particular. One award will normally be made annually, up to a maximum of £300, subject to adequate funds being available. Priority will be given to students who do not have fully funded studentships from research councils or comparable sources, and to those who have not previously held the award.
The deadline for the 2019 Award is Friday 8th March 2019.
A brief letter of application (no more than 2 sides of A4) to the Director of the Geopolitics, Development, Security and Justice Research Group, Professor Katherine Brickell for work to be commenced during the following 12 months, accompanied by a supporting letter from the supervisor. The application must explain the specific purpose for which the funds will be used; how the objectives of the Prize will thereby be furthered; and what existing research funding (by source) the applicant already has or has applied for, and what the additional needs are.
Conditions: Payment is arranged through the Departmental Financial Administrator. The funds must be used for the purposes specified in the application. Any unspent funds must be returned, as must any part of the funds recovered from an insurance claim relating to the field research. Within one month of completion of the work supported by the award, a short report (no more than 2 sides of A4) must be submitted to Katherine Brickell. This is reviewed within GDSJ and is also seen by Paul’s family. Furthermore, any publications arising from the research supported in part by the Prize must acknowledge that support.
Recent recipients:
2018:
Sebastian Hachmeyer: “They cut them down and burn them as if they were weeds”: Specialized instrument makers and the scarcity of bamboo in Bolivia. Click here for the report of his fieldwork.
2017:
Holly Bantleman: 'An investigation of the socio, demographic and behavioral barriers to Vocational Training uptake for rural Kenyan Youth’. Holly used the funds awarded through the Paul Broome Award to research and better understand the barriers to vocational training for rural Kenya youth.
2015:
Gemma Pearson: ‘How relationships affect the wellbeing of street-connected children in Tanzania’. Click here for the report of her fieldwork.
2014:
Adrian Gonazalez: 'Oil exploitation and environmental pollution in Ecuador'. Click here for a report of his fieldwork.
Sara Pologno: 'Forest conservation and social development in Guyana'.
2013:
Caitlin Bentley: ‘The role of technology in mediating relationships between donors and civil society organisations in Togo’.
Sammia Poveda: ‘Can digital inclusion promote freedom?’
2012:
Ben Lownik: 'A Vehicle for Survival? The Transport, Mobility, and Livelihoods of Porters on the Cambodian Border'.
Paula-Ann Award
The Paula-Ann Prize was set up in memory of Paula-Ann who graduated from Royal Holloway in Geography in 1992 and tragically died soon after.
The Paula-Ann Prize is awarded annually towards meeting the costs of dissertation fieldwork expenses for a student undertaking any master’s programme in the Department of Geography. Students must come from countries classified as low-income, lower-middle income or upper-middle income according to World Bank classifications in the previous year. This includes most countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, but also some in Eastern Europe (see: http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications/country-and-lending-groups).
Students taking Master's degrees which are jointly organised by the Department of Geography and another RHUL department are entitled to apply, if their dissertation is supervised by a member of Geography staff.
Students who wish to be considered for the prize should submit a short (no more than 2 sides of A4) outline of their fieldwork topic and methodology to the Head of Department. They should also include a brief budget, providing information about other sources of funding. This should be no more than one side of A4. The deadline for the 2019 award is 5pm, Friday 29th March. Please submit your application by email to Moya Watson, Department Manager, Department of Geography. Email: Moya.Watson@rhul.ac.uk
The successful student will be provided with information about Paula-Ann and the rationale for the award as supplied by the donor.
Within three months of completion of the work supported by the award, the prize holder will submit a short report (no more than 2 sides of A4) and an image which can be used on the departmental website. The report should be sent to the Head of Department explaining how the prize supported the fieldwork and the main findings. Additionally, the prize holder should submit at least one entry to an appropriate departmental blog (Geopolitics and Security; Landscape Surgery; CQR’s QuatBlog) or the department’s Facebook page.
Recent recipients:
2018:
Vanessa Urbina Bermúdez: 'Toward an Intercultural Praxis in Colombia: Health Experiences among Internally Displaced Indigenous and Afro-descendant People Living in Bogotá.' For a summary of Urbina's research, see this report.
2016:
Chisenga Muyoya: 'The study of the non-economic impact of technical ICT training on women - A case study of AkiraChix in Kenya.' For a summary of Chisenga's research, see this report.
2014:
Farrah Adam: 'Factors Affecting the Development of the Colombian Organic Agricultural Sector: The Case of Coffee as a key Ecological Product.'
Agbor Bakia: 'The impact of the Bamenda-Mamfe-Enugu Trans-African highway on sustainable livelihoods and poverty reduction for Ekok village.'
Pulo Taal: 'Urbanisation and Marginalisation: A Study of Peri-Urban Areas in Abuja, Nigeria.'
Details of Paula-Ann award 2014 final reports can be found here.
2013:
Emile Smidt (South Africa): Continuing the Conversation: Unravelling Conservation Discourses and Practices in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (MSc Practising Sustainable Development).
2012:
Andrea Jiménez Cisneros (Peru) ‘Technological Innovation within ICT Hubs: The case of Bongohive, Zambia’ (MSc Practising Sustainable Development (ICT4D)).
Aaron Lecciones (Philippines) 'Capital assets in community-based disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation mainstreaming in Ticao Island, Philippines' (MSc Practising Sustainable Development).
James Njoroge (Kenya) 'Agricultural information needs and the role of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) among farmers in the Kenya Rift Valley' (MSc Practising Sustainable Development (ICT4D).
Sarah Howie Award
Sarah Howie was the much loved wife of Charles Howie. Sarah studied at RHUL in the 1960s and Charles completed his PhD on political ecology in Vietnam with us in the department in 2011.
The award is available to postgraduate taught or postgraduate research students to support fieldwork in Cambodia, Vietnam and/or Laos that has societal, environmental or economic relevance. The award is being bestowed to support new emerging scholars in their career development and to gain on-the-ground experiences of fieldwork.
For postgraduate taught students, £650 is available; for PhD students £1250 to is available; both to support fieldwork costs. Priority will be given to students who do not have fully funded studentships from research councils or comparable sources.
The deadline for the 2019 Award is Monday 18th March 2019.
A brief letter of application (no more than 2 sides of A4) should be sent to Professor Katherine Brickell which details the research to be commenced during the following 12 months, accompanied by a supporting letter from the supervisor. The application must explain the specific purpose for which the funds will be used; any collaborative elements of the research; how the objectives of the Prize will thereby be furthered; and what existing research funding (by source) the applicant already has or has applied for, and what the additional needs are.
Conditions: Payment is arranged through the Departmental Financial Administrator. The funds must be used for the purposes specified in the application. Any unspent funds must be returned, as must any part of the funds recovered from an insurance claim relating to the field research. Within one month of completion of the work supported by the award, a short report (no more than 2 sides of A4) must be submitted to the Director of the Geopolitics, Development, Security and Justice Research Group, Professor Katherine Brickell. This is reviewed within GDSJ and is also seen by Charles. Furthermore, any publications arising from the research supported in part by the Prize must acknowledge that support.
College
College Travel Awards and College Prizes
External
Developing Areas Research Group (DARG)
Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS)