Grants & Awards
The Society supports high-quality research and publication relating to Scotland’s past by making several grants and awards each year.
Society Research Grants
Our grants are available to anyone wishing to undertake high-quality research relating to Scotland’s past. 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. Applications for direct publication costs or outreach activity will also be considered where this is congruent with the Society’s Vision and Mission Statement.
In 2025, the majority of our named grants were combined to make the process of applying for Society funded research simpler. The Dr Euan MacKie Legacy and the Audrey Henshall Legacy awards are still available as separate named grants.
There are two annual closing dates for grant funding applications: 30 April and 30 November each year. Grants are made on the recommendation of the Grants and Awards Committee and the approval of the Society’s Council.
Find out more about our grants and how to apply here.
Find out more about past Society funded research projects here.
Support Our Work
The Society is grateful to our Fellows across the globe, whose subscription fees enable us to distribute these grants each year. If you would like to support our work as a charity and enjoy the many benefits of Fellowship, find out how to join or subscribe to our public e-newsletter to learn more about our work.
Under 26 or Student Fellow Grant
If you are an “Under 26 or Student Fellow” of the Society you can also apply for a grant to help with the costs of attending conferences or sharing your research.
Regional Fund Buchan Lecture
The Society offers Buchan Lecture grants to local archaeological, antiquarian, or similar societies to help fund a lecture (either singly or as part of a symposium or conference). A lecture supported by this fund is known as a Buchan Lecture after the founder of the Society, and the aim is to support lectures in those parts of Scotland that are not currently served by the Society’s events.
The Dalrymple Donaldson Fund
Awards are available through the Dalrymple Donaldson Fund for the “judicious restoration and repair of buildings of historical and antiquarian interest in Scotland, England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Greece but especially in Scotland”
Publication Awards
The Society awards three prizes for papers published in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, one annually and the other two alternating biennially. The shortlists for the awards are selected by the Editorial Advisory Board and the winners are selected by the Grants and Awards Committee.
Dorothy Marshall Medal
Every three years, both Fellows and non-Fellows are invited to put forward nominees for the Dorothy Marshall Medal, awarded to an individual who in a voluntary capacity has made an outstanding contribution to Scottish archaeological or related work. The recipient of this medal is then awarded by the Society’s Council.
There are now two annual closing dates for grant funding applications: 30 April and 30 November each year.
