Since its inception, RSGS and its members have part-funded and open doors to hundreds of students, academics and explorers in their careers and research, both at home and abroad. And this tradition continues today...

Craft the RSGS Grants Oman Course Young Geographer 

Craft the RSGS

From Apollo 11 to Kon-Tiki, Sir Ernest Shackleton to Sir David Attenborough, and the Fair Maid’s House to the RSGS staff and volunteers, our small charity boasts some of the most engaging and entertaining stories of the past 135 years. And to celebrate the best of these – whilst helping to occupy oodles of time at home – we’ve come up with a creative competition to keep you amused. ‘Craft the RSGS’ is a light-hearted opportunity to unearth your knitting needles, pull out your colouring pencils, or locate your Lego, all with the aim of producing a piece of ‘art’ relating to our work, our people, or our history. Once you’ve finished your masterpiece, please send us a picture of it (electronically if possible) – and the best of these items will be showcased at a special exhibition in our Visitor Centre in Perth once things settle down. Commenting on the idea, Chief Executive of RSGS Mike Robinson said, “The main thing is to get people doing something positive that helps them weather this difficult time. And we don’t just want to exhibit the most beautiful pieces either – we’re really hoping for amusing, quirky, and charming works too!”

This competition is open to everyone. Please submit images to [email protected] by 31st December 2020. Winners will be announced and exhibited, we hope, in 2021.

Knowledge Exchange Grants

The RSGS Knowledge Exchange Grants aim to promote geography through disseminating the results of geographical enquiry and research for the benefit of the wider public. Aimed at early career researchers, the grants are in the range of £200 to £1,000.

The 2020 round of grants was cancelled. There were no applications by the April deadline given the pandemic. It was felt sensible to cancel the 2020 round rather than revise the application for a later date in the year: researchers are still unsure when they can return to HEI/undertake research and knowledge exchange overseas. The funds will be available for 2021 and the issue of grants will be discussed by the Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee of the RSGS at its next meeting.

Outward Bound Oman

Most years, three fully-funded places are available for young people in Scotland to take part in Connecting Cultures in Oman. Young people aged 17-25 are eligible to apply, and we particularly welcome applications from Scotland or from those who are living, working or studying here. 

Please check back on this page in late summer for announcements about the next round of courses.

Young Geographer Magazine

In addition to our quarterly magazine The Geographer, we occasionally work with young people to help them produce their very own publication. As part of this Young Geographer programme, youngsters receive training from RSGS staff in how to produce, write, edit, design and print a high-quality, informative magazine on a contemporary geographic issue. This gives them a platform to voice their own concerns, thoughts and opinions, and provides a useful set of transferable skills for the workplace or further study.

We have now produced two editions - The Future We Want, and Arctic Perspectives - and we are working on a third, for distribution in 2020.

Two members of the first Young Geographer editorial team, with RSGS Shackleton Medallist Manuel Pulgar-Vidal.