Rising Explorer Grant 2027 - $2,000 Field Research
The Rising Explorer Grant 2027 is The Explorers Club programme that turns a student science idea into actual field research, with awards averaging $2,000, and the 2027 cycle closes on 31 August 2026 at 6:00 PM ET. The Club is direct about who it wants: high school students and college undergraduates worldwide, from every background and every corner of the globe, plus independent researchers working at an equivalent level. No enrolment at a US institution is required and no citizenship rule applies, which makes this one of the few genuinely open field research grants aimed at people this early in their careers. Funded projects sit across the field sciences: biology and ecology, wildlife conservation, environmental science, archaeology and anthropology, marine and freshwater studies, and more besides. The line that decides most applications is the one about what this is not. Your project has to be true science, designed to generate new knowledge, rather than an adventure, a travel experience or a school field trip. Recent grantees give a sense of the register, with 2026 awards going to work on leaf thermotolerance in threatened Atlantic Forest species in Brazil and on bird communities around Phewa Lake in Nepal. Grantees also become Rising Explorers, and are automatically considered for Explorers Club membership.
What is the Rising Explorer Grant 2027?
The Rising Explorer Grant 2027 is The Explorers Club programme that pays for field research by people who are still at school or still doing a first degree, with awards averaging around $2,000. The 2027 cycle is open now and closes on 31 August 2026 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time, which is a real clock-time deadline rather than a polite end-of-day one. If you have a scientific question and a field site in mind, this is one of the very few grants that will take you seriously this early.
The eligibility line is refreshingly short. High school students and college undergraduates worldwide, plus independent researchers working at an equivalent level. The Club says it welcomes applicants from every background and every corner of the globe, and there is no US enrolment requirement, no residency condition and no citizenship rule anywhere in the criteria. For readers outside the United States that makes this unusual among US-based funders, most of which quietly restrict to domestic applicants.
What the Club will not fund is stated more clearly than what it will. Your project has to be true science, designed to generate new knowledge, and not an adventure, a travel experience or a school field trip. That sentence is the whole review process in miniature. Proposals built around a place rather than a question tend to read as tourism with a scientific accent, and they lose. The disciplines are wide open, covering biology and ecology, wildlife conservation, environmental science, archaeology and anthropology, marine and freshwater studies and more, so the constraint is on the shape of the work rather than the subject. Two 2026 grantees give the flavour: one studying leaf thermotolerance in threatened species across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, another looking at bird communities and conservation around Phewa Lake in Nepal.
Three things to get right in the next fortnight if you are applying. Ask your two referees now, because letters of support are required and the end of August is exactly when teachers and academics are hardest to reach. Build the budget line by line, since a $2,000 average award rewards precision rather than ambition, and a reviewer can tell instantly whether you have priced a real trip. And answer the permits and ethics question honestly, even if the answer is that you have identified the authority and started the process, because knowing what permission you need is itself evidence you understand the work. One more thing worth weighing: grantees become Rising Explorers and are automatically considered for Explorers Club membership, which for someone at this stage may end up mattering longer than the money. For other awards open to students, the Coca-Cola Scholars Program 2027 guide covers a $20,000 award for US high school seniors, and the Tech Journalism Fund 2026 guide covers project grants of a similar shape for reporting. Full details and the application form sit on the Explorers Club Rising Explorer Grant page.
Eligibility
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✓A high school student or college undergraduateThe programme is aimed squarely at people early in their scientific lives. Master's and doctoral researchers are outside its scope, and The Explorers Club runs separate grant programmes for work at those levels. Independent researchers working at an equivalent level to a high school or undergraduate student are also welcomed.
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✓Applying from anywhere in the worldThe Club states the programme is open to high school students and college undergraduates worldwide and that it welcomes applicants from every background and every corner of the globe. No US enrolment, residency or citizenship is required, which is unusual for a US-based funder and worth knowing if you are applying from outside the country.
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✓A field sciences projectFunded disciplines include biology and ecology, wildlife conservation, environmental science, archaeology and anthropology, and marine and freshwater studies, and the Club says that list is not exhaustive. The common thread is fieldwork: research conducted somewhere real rather than entirely from a desk or a library.
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✓True science, not an adventureThe single clearest exclusion on the page. Your project must be designed to generate new knowledge, and the Club names what it will not fund: an adventure, a travel experience, or a school field trip. A trip with a scientific flavour attached will read as exactly that, so lead with the question you are answering.
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✓A clear plan you can actually executeThe Club asks for a strong idea, a clear plan, and the drive to see it through. In practice that means the application has to show where the work happens, when, and what it costs, in enough detail that a reviewer can picture the trip happening rather than hoping it will.
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✓Two people willing to write for youTwo letters of support are required. For a high school applicant that usually means a science teacher and a mentor or supervisor at the site or institution involved. Ask both well before the deadline, since a missing letter is the most avoidable reason an otherwise strong application fails.
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✓Honest about permits and ethicsThe application asks for any available information about necessary permits or ethical concerns. Fieldwork involving protected areas, wildlife, human subjects or cultural heritage usually needs permission from somebody, and flagging that you know which permissions you need reads as competence rather than as a problem.
Benefits
- Award size Averaging around $2,000 per project
- What it pays for Field research costs set out in your budget
- Explorers Club membership Grantees are automatically considered for membership
- The Rising Explorer title Recipients carry the RE designation and year
- Network Connections with students and professionals in your field
- Career effect The Club frames the grant as a way to launch careers in science
- Full expedition costs Not covered, this is a contribution rather than full funding
- Tuition or a stipend for living costs Not offered, the grant funds the project
- Adventure travel or a field trip Not funded, the project must be true science
- Biology and ecology Named as a supported discipline
- Wildlife conservation Named as a supported discipline
- Environmental science Named as a supported discipline
- Archaeology and anthropology Named as a supported discipline
- Marine and freshwater studies Named as a supported discipline
- Other field sciences Welcome, the published list is not exhaustive
- Desk-based or lab-only research Outside the brief, the programme funds field science
- Graduate and doctoral projects Not eligible here, the Club runs other grant programmes
Document checklist
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✓Project title and descriptionA clear title and an account of what you are investigating. Put the scientific question first and the location second, since the Club is screening for research design rather than for destination. Say plainly what new knowledge the work would produce.
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✓Expedition timelineWhen the fieldwork happens, how long it runs, and what the phases are from preparation through data collection to analysis. A timeline that fits around your term dates and the season your subject is actually observable makes the plan credible.
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✓Detailed budgetItemised rather than a single figure. Travel, permits, equipment, local guides or assistants, sample analysis, accommodation and food all belong in it. With awards averaging around $2,000, a budget that shows exactly what the money buys carries more weight than one that rounds up.
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✓How and where the project will be conductedThe methods and the site. Name the location precisely, explain the technique you will use to collect data, and say who you are working with locally if anyone. Vagueness here is what separates a research proposal from a trip plan.
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✓Your plan for sharing the findingsThe Club asks how the results will be handled and shared, giving public lecture, journal article and school paper as examples. Pick something realistic for your level. A school paper plus a talk to a local group is a perfectly good answer for a high school applicant.
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✓Two letters of supportExactly two, from people who can speak to your ability to carry out the project. Give each of them your project description and the deadline, and ask in early August rather than in the final week, since 31 August falls in a period when many academics are away.
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✓Permit and ethics informationWhatever you have. If you already hold a research permit, say so. If you know which body you need permission from and have started the process, say that instead. Silence on a project that clearly needs a permit raises more questions than an honest work-in-progress answer.
How to apply
Deadline and timeline
FAQ
What is the Rising Explorer Grant?
A grant programme from The Explorers Club that funds field research by high school students and college undergraduates, with awards averaging around $2,000. The Club describes it as a way to turn scientific ideas into real-world field research and to launch careers in science, giving young researchers the resources to pursue their own questions. Recipients become Rising Explorers, carry the RE designation with their year, and are automatically considered for Explorers Club membership.
Who can apply for the Rising Explorer Grant?
High school students and college undergraduates worldwide, plus independent researchers doing work at an equivalent level. The Club says explicitly that it welcomes applicants from every background and every corner of the globe, so there is no US enrolment requirement, no residency test and no citizenship rule. What it asks for instead is a strong idea, a clear plan and the drive to see it through.
When is the Rising Explorer Grant 2027 deadline?
Applications for the 2027 cycle close on 31 August 2026 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time. That is a hard clock time rather than an end-of-day deadline, so treat 30 August as your working cut-off and leave room for upload problems. Questions about the process can go to [email protected] before you submit.
How much is the Rising Explorer Grant worth?
Awards average around $2,000. That is a contribution towards the costs of a field research project rather than full funding for an expedition, and it does not cover tuition or living costs. Because the sums are modest, an itemised budget showing exactly what the money pays for, whether that is travel, permits, equipment, local assistance or sample analysis, does more for an application than a large round request.
What kind of projects does the Rising Explorer Grant fund?
Field sciences across all disciplines, with biology and ecology, wildlife conservation, environmental science, archaeology and anthropology, and marine and freshwater studies named explicitly and the list described as not exhaustive. Two 2026 grantees worked on leaf thermotolerance in threatened species of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and on bird communities and conservation around Phewa Lake in Nepal, which gives a fair sense of the scale expected.
Can you use the grant for an expedition or a trip?
Not on its own. The Club states that the project must be true science designed to generate new knowledge, and names three things it will not fund: an adventure, a travel experience, and a school field trip. Travel is obviously part of fieldwork and belongs in the budget, but the proposal has to be built around a research question with a method attached rather than around a destination.
What do you need to submit for the Rising Explorer Grant?
A clear project title and description, an expedition timeline, a detailed budget, information on how and where the project will be conducted, a plan for how your findings will be handled and shared, two letters of support, and any available information about necessary permits or ethical concerns. Everything goes through the online form linked from the grant page.
Does the Rising Explorer Grant include Explorers Club membership?
Not automatically granted, but automatically considered. The Club states that those who become Rising Explorers are automatically considered for Explorers Club membership, which it frames as access to networking with other students and professionals in your field. For someone at high school or undergraduate level, that connection is arguably worth as much over time as the grant money itself.
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