The Society supports high-quality research and publication relating to Scotland’s past by offering several grants and awards each year.  In addition to supporting the Society’s Vision and Mission Statement, grant awards reflect our lead role in delivering Aim 2 of Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy – enhance understanding. 

What the Grant Funds

Funding is available for excavation (except rescue archaeological fieldwork), for post-excavation and scientific analysis, and to enable experts to visit other museums, collections, or archives at home or abroad to carry out research.  In the case of historical projects, preference may be shown towards those incorporating an aspect directly related to material culture.   

Applications for direct publication costs or outreach activity will also be considered where this is congruent with the Society’s Vision and Mission Statement. This can include Open Access costs, recognising the financial barrier some researchers face when trying to get material published. The research value and impact of publication and outreach activities should be clearly highlighted in the application.  

Individual projects are unlikely to be supported for more than three consecutive years, unless considered to have exceptionally high impact.   

Amount

The average size of grant awarded is £2,000, though larger amounts can be awarded at the discretion of the Grants & Awards Committee.

Deadlines

There are two annual  closing dates  for grant funding applications: 30 April  and  30 November  each year. 

Decisions

For applications received by the 30th of November, applicants will be notified of a decision by the end of the following January. For applications submitted by the 30th of April, decisions will be communicated by the end of June. 

Grants are made on the recommendation of the Grants and Awards Committee and the approval of the Society’s Council.  

Previous Grants

To find out more about successful applicants, please visit our Society-Funded Research page. 

How to Apply

Grant applications should be made using our grant application form and be sent to Dr Helen Spencer FSAScot, Head of Research, by email to grants@socantscot.org.  

You can download an application form here.

Please read our detailed Grant Application Guidelines carefully before filling in the application form.  

The full terms and conditions of our grants are outlined here.  

You can watch our latest Grants Surgery with Head of Research, Dr Helen Spencer FSAScot, below.