Bill Bishop Award

About the award

The Bill Bishop Award is given in memorial of Bill Bishop and aims to provide support for field-based research in the subject of geology and related sciences in the fields of: (i) Cenozoic stratigraphy, palaeoenvironments and chronology in relation to hominid evolution; and (ii) British Quaternary stratigraphy, palaeoenvironments and geomorphology. The award can be used for any purpose deemed suitable by the Awards Panel. Typical claims might be to fund travel expenses to a field site or to hire equipment. 

Award Amount

The maximum award is £950. Up to one award will be made annually.

Eligibility

This award is open to registered full or part-time MPhil/PhD students but not to 1-year MSc students, those taking a taught course or to undergraduates. It is not a requirement for applicants to be current members of the QRA, but any applicant accepting an award must join the Association at least for the duration of the research (one year minimum).

Application details

The online application form will take your details including project title, proposed dates for the funded activities, a breakdown of the main budget costs, and a 100 word project summary. You must also prepare a Case for Support that outlines the science case for the research and explain fully how the funds will be used. This should be no more than one side of A4, 12 point single-spaced, including figures and references. The Case for Support can be uploaded as a single file not exceeding 50Mb. A letter of support is also required from your supervisor – submitted as a separate file.

Reporting requirements

Successful applicants will be expected to submit a brief report (500-800 words) for publication in Quaternary Newsletter during the 12 months following expenditure of the grant. Applicants are encouraged to submit full-length articles to Quaternary Newsletter. These will be subject to the normal refereeing procedure for QN articles. Applicants submitting full-length articles are not required to submit the brief report in addition. Reports should be submitted by email to the Awards Officer at awards@qra.org.uk. You will not be able to apply for other grants until you have received confirmation of the successful receipt of your report. An exception applies for the Postgraduate Conference Fund, which you may apply for while currently holding a Bill Bishop Award.

Application deadlines

Once per year on 15th February.