The National Geographic Society has replaced its standing open call for grants with targeted requests for proposals, each one aimed at a single place or question. This call funds scientific research on ecological dynamics — the structure and function of ecosystems — in the Okavango River Basin, across Angola, Namibia and Botswana.
The grant goes to the individual who leads the project, not to an institution, and the person who will carry out the work writes the application. Applications are made through the Society funding portal; email and postal submissions are not accepted.
The call closes on 23 September 2026, and the Society held an informational webinar for it on 1 September 2026. A funded project may not start until at least six months after the deadline. The award size and project length for this call are published only inside the portal, which needs a free account.
Benefits & funding
- A project grant paid to the individual leading the work.
- Award size and allowable project length are set by this call and appear in the full funding opportunity description inside the funding portal; the Society publishes neither figure on its public grants page.
- Budgets are built against the Society’s published Budget Guidelines document.
- Funded work must align with at least one of the Society’s six focus areas: Ocean, Land, Wildlife, Human Histories and Cultures, Planetary Health, and Space.
- The Society funds individuals working in science, conservation, storytelling, education and technology, and has awarded more than 16,000 grants since 1888.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be 18 or older.
- The person who will carry out the project writes the application and is named as project leader.
- An applicant may hold only one project-leader proposal at a time.
- Anyone who has led a previous Society grant must submit that project’s final report before applying to lead a new one.
- The proposed project start date must fall at least six months after the submission deadline.
- The research must address ecological dynamics in the Okavango River Basin within Angola, Namibia or Botswana.
- No nationality, residency or degree requirement is published. A strong understanding of, and connection to, the local context is a stated preference in review, not a bar.
- Any further rules specific to this call sit in the full funding opportunity description inside the portal.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Age requirement
≥ 18 yrs
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Application process
- 1Read the call on the Society grants page and confirm the project fits ecological research in the Okavango River Basin.
- 2Create an account on the National Geographic Society funding portal.
- 3Open this call inside the portal and read the full funding opportunity description, where the award parameters and any additional rules are set out.
- 4Complete the application in the portal and submit it before 23 September 2026; submissions by email or post are not accepted.
Program timeline
Informational webinar for this call
Sep 1, 2026
Application deadline
Sep 23, 2026
earliest permitted project start, under the six-month rule
From 2027-03
Review timeline and decision dates are not published.