Edinburgh Botanic Garden (Sibbald) Trust Fellowships Grant

The Edinburgh Botanic Garden (Sibbald) Trust Fellowships support taxonomic research and related activities that benefit the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The Trust prioritizes smaller projects in spring and fellowships in autumn. Funding is available for various research and illustration projects, as well as for botanists seeking to utilize the Garden's extensive resources. Applications must include a report from any previous projects completed within the last year to be considered.

The Sibbald Trust is an independent charitable Trust based at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. In general, Sibbald supports work, activities or matters that would not necessarily have had funding from the Garden.
The Sibbald Trust holds two meetings a year at which applications are considered. The meeting in the spring generally considers applications for smaller projects whilst the meeting in the autumn may consider applications for Fellowships.
What We Fund
The most important criterion for any application is the relevance and benefit to the work of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
In recent years the Sibbald Trust has given special emphasis to supporting basic taxonomic research. Fellowships have been awarded for research on the taxonomy, phytogeography and floral development in families of special interest to RBGE – Begoniaceae, Gesneriaceae, Sapotaceae and Zingiberaceae.
Numerous botanists from throughout the world have been given short-term subsistence grants to enable them to make use of the Garden’s massive resources of living plants, herbarium and library and to work with staff and build up long-term mutually beneficial working relationships. It has also contributed to the cost of publication of a number of botanical and historical books.
The Trust has also awarded small grants towards botanical illustration, digitizing transparencies, and the restoration of a memorial plaque and a marble bust.

Ineligibility

Applications will not be considered if the applicant has not submitted a report on a previous project within one year of completion.