The Steve Farrell Memorial Fund
UPCOMING DEADLINE: TBC
Previous Deadline: 28th February 2025
The Steve Farrell Memorial Fund offers financial support to postgraduate students of any age attending field based sedimentology conferences outside the UK. Applications for assistance with sedimentological fieldwork may also be considered.
Awards are generall within £250 - £500 range.
Successful recipients of the fund are requested to prepare a short illustrated report on their experiences for inclusion in the BSRG web site and newsletter.
How to Apply
Applications are assessed by the BSRG Committee primarily on the originality of the research and need. Submit the following documents to the BSRG Awards officer (brian.burnham@abdn.ac.uk). Please format all documents: rtf or pdf format, all in 12pt Times, single spaced, minimum 1.5 cm margin and with diagrams if appropriate.
1. A brief CV emphasizing your academic qualifications back to first degree level. Include: your name, current UK university, supervisors name(s), current source of funding, other sources of funding applied for (all frequently omitted!). Stick to relevant information we don't need to know if you can juggle chain saws while unicycling but we do need to hear about the training you have received (any related courses/industry experience acquired during your PhD period), relevant skills, any other awards you have received during your PhD research and the financial background to your project (for example are you NERC-, Industry-, University-, Department- or self-funded or a combination of these?). No more than 1 side of A4.
2. An outline of your present and proposed research. Outline the key generic problem that your PhD research is aiming to solve. Try to stress the aims, and possible uses of the research. Why should we fund you and not someone else? You must include: an explanation of how the award will be used (conference or fieldwork) and how your personal development and academic experience will benefit. No more than 2 sides of A4.
3. A breakdown of the budget giving details of the total cost of fieldwork or conference attendance. If you are applying for partial funding from BSRG you need to include a statement of how the balance will be raised. We need to know the exact amount that you are requesting from the fund. 1 side A4 max.
4. An e-mail from your supervisor, sent directly to the BSRG Awards Officer by the deadline, that includes a statement confirming that you are a PhD student at the institution named in your CV and demonstrating that you fulfil the conditions of the award. The email should include an explanation of why the award is needed for the project. This should not be a reference as such but should justify the request for funding and include comments as to why additional funds are required.
Past Winners
2025 Awards:
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Victor Hême De Lacotte (Keele University) - "Stratigraphic model for aeolian-marine margins: implication for subsurface CO₂ migration and trapping."
2024 Awards:
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Delia Kuye (Imperial College London) - "Understanding the mixed system influences of the Portland Sand Member of the Weald Basin."
2022 Awards:
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Eivind Vagle (University of Manchester) "Determination of processes governing hypogene dissolution and collapse of carbonate rocks" - Award of £200 to support fieldwork in North Wales and Ireland.
2019 Awards:
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Jesse Zondervan (University of Plymouth) "Eccentricity-forcing of Saharan climate and its influence on the evolution of fluvial systems" - Award of £250 to support attendance at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly, Vienna.
2017 Awards:
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Zoe Roseby (University of Southampton) - “Reconstructing the processes and deglacial history of the Anvers Palaeo-Ice Stream Trough, western Antarctic Peninsula.” – Award of £603 to support a research visit to the University of Florida to learn and apply a novel dating technique.
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Benjamin Taylor (University of St Andrews) – “Enhanced carbon sequestration through saltmarsh restoration.” – Award of £420 to support attendance at the EGU General Assembly, Vienna.
2016 Awards:
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Oscar Baez (University of Leeds) – "Stratigraphic heterogeneity induced by allogenic factors in a Paleogene low net-to-gross fluvial succession, Tremp-Graus, Spain." – Award of £300 towards fieldwork in the Tremp-Graus Basin, Spain.
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Andrew Cunliffe (University of Exeter) – "Carbon dynamics in degrading semi-arid rangeland ecosystems." – Award of £300 to support attendance at the EGU General Assembly in Vienna. Read Andrew's report.
2015 Awards:
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Orla Bath-Enright (University of Portsmouth) – “The Burgess Shale: Short distance bustling commuters or long distance serene surfers?” – Award of £500 towards fieldwork in the Burgess Shale, Canada
2014 Awards:
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Joseph Kenworthy (St Andrews) - Attendance at Ocean Sciences Meeting, Hawaii (£200)
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Martin Geach (Plymouth) - Attendance at Fluvial Archive Group meeting, Spain (£400)
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Chris Unsworth (Hull) - Fieldwork to assess preservation of dune cross-sets at the event scale (£710)
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Craig Smeaton (St Andrews) - Fieldwork to assess link between carbon in terrestrial and marine sinks (£500)
2013 Awards:
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Thilo Wrona: £200
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Claire Keevil: £1640
2012 Awards:
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Mauricio Santos £500
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Roman Soltan £250
2011 Awards:
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Iris Verhagen, Bangor University (full award) £900 – conference presentation, INTERCOH 2011
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Nick Holgate, Imperial College London (partial award) £500 – fieldwork, USA
2010 Awards:
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Steve Banham, University of Leeds (full award) £490 – fieldwork, NW Scotland
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John Cummings, University of Liverpool (partial award) £200 – conference presentation, EGU
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Matt Booth, University of Edinburgh (partial award) £200 – fieldwork, Turkey
2009 Awards:
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Samantha Ilott, University of Plymouth (full award) £350 – fieldwork, Sorbas, Spain
2008 Awards:
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Robert Raine, University of Birmingham (full award) £322
2007 Awards:
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Oliver Wakefield, University of Keele (winner) £450
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Rhodri Jerrett, University of Liverpool (partial award) £200
2006 Awards:
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Aaron Micallef, University of Southampton (winner) £350
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Stephen Cain, University of Keele (partial award) £600
2005 Awards:
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Pablo Harris Davila, University of Leicester (winner) £600
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Simon Cook, University of Keele (partial award) £300
2004 Awards:
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Rob Duller, University of Keele (winner) £360
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Oliver Jordan, University of Keele (partial award) £300
2003 Awards:
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James Howard, University of Leicester (winner) £300
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Chris Edwards, University of Liverpool (partial award) £200
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Roy Davies, University of Liverpool (partial award) £200