Tag Archives: grants

MDPI SUSTAINABILITY FOUNDATION WORLD SUSTAINABILITY AWARD

Application Deadline: 15 December 2025

LOCATION: Switzerland

The World Sustainability Award (WSA) honors individuals who have made groundbreaking contributions to sustainability research. Offered by the MDPI Sustainability Foundation, the award recognizes scholarly excellence and transformative impact across disciplines.

The 2026 WSA will honor three awardees, with one selected from each of the three core categories: BiosphereSociety, and Economy. The awards will be officially presented during the World Sustainability Forum 2026.

ELIGIBILITY:

The World Sustainability Award is conferred upon senior researchers in recognition of exceptional and sustained contributions to sustainability-related scholarship and practice.

The Selection Committee will evaluate nominees according to the following criteria:

Scientific Excellence: Nominees should have a demonstrable record of sustained, high-quality research, either fundamental or applied, conducted within an appropriate disciplinary or interdisciplinary context.

Contribution to Sustainability Pillars: The nominees’ research must address at least two of the three foundational pillars of sustainability, with clearly evidenced impact:

Biosphere: Environmental and ecological systems

Society: Social and cultural dimensions of development

Economy: Economic structures, processes, or innovations

Innovative and Applicable Outcomes: The research must exhibit originality and offer feasible solutions to contemporary sustainability challenges, with potential or demonstrated real-world implementation.

Alignment with Global Agendas: The research should contribute meaningfully to the objectives outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Scholarly Leadership and Influence: There should be evidence of the nominee’s broader influence on the academic or professional community, including leadership roles, mentorship, institutional development, or contribution to policy frameworks.

The nomination process for the 2026 edition will open on Friday, 25 July 2025. Detailed information on eligibility and submission procedures is provided in the dedicated section below. Nominations must be submitted by a qualified third party via the official online platform. Self-nominations will not be accepted.

Following the nomination deadline, the Selection Committee, composed of internationally recognized experts in sustainability, will review all eligible submissions and select the award recipients.

The selected winners will be informed in due course and are expected to attend the award ceremony, which will be held during the World Sustainability Forum 2026.

BENEFIT:

Each winner will receive a monetary prize of 50,000 USD, bringing the total award amount to 150,000.

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ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY WALTERS KUNDERT FELLOWSHIP

Application Deadline: 23 November, 2025

LOCATION: United Kingdom

The Walters Kundert Fellowship offers an annual award to support field research in physical geography within Arctic and/or high mountain environments, with preference for field studies that advance the understanding of environmental change past or present.

ELIGIBILITY:

The Society’s grants programme aims to promote geographical research and a wider understanding of the world. As such, it is not required that you have a geography degree, work in a geography department or define yourself as a geographer. However, it is essential that the project you are undertaking advances geographical knowledge.

By submitting an application for an award that 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.

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 that 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 transferable 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.

BENEFIT:

The Walters Kundert Fellowship offers an annual grant of £10,000

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