Pathfinder Grant

Benefits & funding

• Grants typically range from US$2,500 to US$5,000. The applicant states the amount requested on the form.
• The award covers travel, field equipment, research expenses and other costs essential to the fieldwork.
• The budget form covers lodging and meals, air transport, vehicle rental and fuel, field supplies, equipment, assistants, telecommunications and shipping.
• The Club does not pay for visas, immunisations, tuition, salaries for students or faculty, or the administrative overhead of institutions.
• The form asks whether the applicant would accept an award smaller than the amount requested.
• Any unused portion of the award returns to the Club.
• Recipients are welcome to become members of The Explorers Club and join its community of researchers and mentors.

Eligibility

• Graduate and post-graduate students, and early-career scientists.
• Any discipline, as long as the project is field-based research. The Club defines field science as expeditions that collect data to add to knowledge in a discipline, bound for peer-reviewed publication, and names anthropology, archaeology, wildlife, botany, earth sciences, marine research, ecology, geography and paleontology among the fields it funds.
• No nationality or residency condition is attached to this grant. The country, country-of-citizenship and country-of-residence menus in the application form are open lists covering every country. Other Explorers Club grants set conditions of their own; this program page sets none beyond the eligibility statement above.
• No age limit is stated. The form asks for a date of birth.
• Explorers Club membership is not required to apply.
• Two letters of support are required, in line with the Club’s rule that every grant needs two written recommendations.
• Applicants are expected to secure any permits the fieldwork requires before it begins, and to send a copy to the grants team once a permit is in hand.

Application process

1. 1
   Read the guidelines on the program page, then complete the application form hosted there.
2. 2
   Prepare the project title, the fieldwork location, project start and end dates, the amount requested in US dollars, and an abstract of up to 1,500 characters.
3. 3
   Write the project description, up to 1,000 words, and give the primary country of research, permit status, collaborators, supervisor details and any education outreach planned.
4. 4
   Record a video statement of two to three minutes on the importance and uniqueness of the project, speaking on camera; a phone recording is acceptable. Add the link, and a password if the video has one, to the form.
5. 5
   Build an itemised budget across lodging and meals, transport, field expenses, communications and shipping, and declare other funding already secured or still pending.
6. 6
   Upload two letters of support (PDF, DOC, DOCX, JPG or PNG).
7. 7
   Accept the terms on reporting, return of unused funds and liability, then submit before 31 August 2026, 6:00 PM US Eastern.
8. 8
   Awards are announced in March under the Club’s general grant timeline.

Program timeline

1. Application deadline, 6:00 PM US Eastern

   Aug 31, 2026

2. Awards announced, under the Club’s general grant timeline

   2027-03

3. Field season funded by the round now open

   2027

4. Within six months of the end of fieldwork

   written report and statement of expenses with copies of major receipts, plus 10 to 20 photos and any video