Guidance for Research Grants

MSRG makes grants for the support of research by members within its field of interest. Grants can cover fieldwork and associated analysis, documentary research and other appropriate forms of assistance towards publication. Preference will normally be given to field survey rather than excavation. We encourage applications across a wide spectrum, including students, early career researchers, established academic researchers, independent scholars, and community groups and societies. If you are not a member, you can apply for membership at the same time as making your grant application.

A maximum of £5,000 is available annually until 2023, and applications for sums up to this amount are invited. Smaller requests are very welcome, as are applications for match-/part-funding and seed-corn grants. Where resources do not permit full support of a project the committee may decide to offer partial-funding.

Grants are made subject to our terms and conditions. Decisions will be made on the basis of the academic merits of the research, the plausibility of the project, and the value it will make to the Group’s field of interest. The deadline for applications each year is 31st January. Applicants will normally be notified of the outcome within three months. A summary report of the work will be required within a year and, subject to editorial consideration, may be published in the Group’s peer-reviewed journal, Medieval Settlement Research.

Applicants for MSRG grants should download our application form and return it together with a case for support by email to the Honorary Secretary, Dr Susan Kilby, via this e-mail address. Two referees are required, and your references will need to have been submitted by the 31st January deadline. The case for support should be no longer than 750 words (exclusive of references). It must clearly specify the background, context, and importance of your project, the research objectives and methodology to be used, and set out a realistic research programme.

Potential applicants should address any questions about the grant scheme to the Honorary Secretary.

Guidance for Awards

The Group may also make awards for initiatives that do not fall under the umbrella of fieldwork or research but still further the Group’s aims. There is no application form or deadline and enquiries should be addressed to the Honorary Secretary.