Bentham-Moxon Trust
The mission of Bentham-Moxon Trust is to provide financial support for plant and fungal collection, research and education that further the work of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
About the Trust
The Bentham-Moxon Trust was founded in 1984 by bringing together several charitable trusts, all of which have the objective of supporting the work of Kew. The first of these trusts was set up in 1884 with a bequest of George Bentham. Further gifts were made over the years, including from the wills of Margaret Louisa Moxon and Alfred Edward Moxon.
Since 1989, and the establishment of the Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (now Kew Development), The Bentham-Moxon Trust no longer actively seeks new funds. The Trust retains its investments and makes grants out of its annual income.
Over half of The Bentham-Moxon Trust funds are restricted by the wish of the donor, the largest being the Krukoff Fund which supports African Botany in two ways. Firstly, by funding the Curator of African Botany at Kew. Secondly, by providing a bursary for a postgraduate student to study the MSc in Plant and Fungal Taxonomy, Diversity and Conservation at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), developed and taught in collaboration with Kew.
Additionally, approx. £100,000 of annual income generated from the other restricted funds and unrestricted funds is used to support 30-50 individual small grants.
For more information about the activities we have supported over the last 10 years see our 2025 Impact Report:
For more detail on recent awards see below for the summary of grants awarded.
Grants
Grants to Kew staff, honorary researchers and Kew registered students are made in four main areas:
Plant and fungal collection and field research expeditions
The Trust is keen to support plant and fungal collecting and field research expeditions. Individuals can apply for funds to join an expedition or to undertake individual research projects. The Trust is keen to support expeditions with a conservation impact. The application must include a letter of support by your Kew line manager (for Kew staff), Kew sponsor (for Kew’s honorary researchers) or Kew supervisor (for Kew registered students). Please allow sufficient time for this process.
Travel to botanical and mycological institutions
This type of award enables research to proceed when botanical or mycological specimens are not available for study at Kew. Other types of research visits not directly involving collections are also eligible. The application must include a letter of support by your Kew line manager (for Kew staff), Kew sponsor (for Kew’s honorary researchers) or Kew supervisor (for Kew registered students). Please allow sufficient time for this process.
Travel to Institutions Application Form.
Travel to and presenting at conferences
The Trust provides assistance when departmental budgets are unable to cover the full costs. There should be a good case for Kew to be represented and that the person’s attendance would be valuable to the work of Kew. Applications for conference attendance are only accepted from individuals who are actively participating in the conference by presenting a talk or poster, or by co-organising the conference or a symposium or workshop. Group applications are no longer accepted. The application must include a letter of support by your Kew line manager (for Kew staff), Kew sponsor (for Kew’s honorary researchers) or Kew supervisor (for Kew registered students). Please allow sufficient time for this process.
Travel to Conferences Application Form.
Preserving and maintaining Wildflowers at Kew Gardens and Kew Wakehurst
The Trust provides awards to preserve and maintain Wildflowers at Kew Gardens and Kew Wakehurst. The Trust has made awards for mapping and collecting seed of rare native wildflowers and establishing beehives to support pollination. These awards are made possible through the Marjorie Hurley Fund.
The Marjorie Hurley Fund is specifically for the “Preserving and maintaining wildflowers at Kew Gardens and Kew Wakehurst”. Over the last few years, the applications made and granted have not used all of the annual dividend income generated. The fund now has accumulated income which could be used to support relevant applications. For more detailed information about the fund, its uses and the awards that have been made in the last few years, please view this document:
The application must include a letter of support by your Kew line manager (for Kew staff), Kew sponsor (for Kew’s honorary researchers) or Kew supervisor (for Kew registered students). Please allow sufficient time for this process.
Wildflowers at Kew Gardens and Kew Wakehurst Application Form.
Overseas botanists and mycologists visiting or training at Kew
Additionally, one type of grant is available to support overseas botanists and mycologists visiting or training at Kew. This includes Kew staff and students based at Kew’s Madagascar site.
Visiting botanists and mycologists have been able to significantly increase the value of their time at Kew by undergoing training or visiting neighbouring botanical or mycological institutions. The Trust has made grants to cover the cost of the extra training or travel as part of a capacity building programme.
Kew staff intending to host an overseas botanist and mycologist visiting or training at Kew will be required to submit the application for hosting the visitor and to be responsible for logistical arrangements as well as planning the research visit following Kew processes for accessing collections and labs. The application must include a letter of support by your Kew line manager. Please allow sufficient time for this process. The Trust expects that the overseas botanist or mycologist will have their salaries covered by their home institution.
Please note that each Kew staff member is only able to sponsor one overseas visitor application per application round.
Checklist for applicants
When reviewing applications the Trustees will assess against the following criteria, through the use of a marking rubric (Grant application marking rubric):
Communication
a. The proposed activity should be described using clear and concise language throughout and include a summary of the proposal (maximum of 200 words). This summary should be clearly understandable to a non-specialist audience and, if awarded a grant, will be published on this website.
b. Proposed project outputs should be clearly explained e.g. publications planned, talks proposed, blogs or newsletter articles written.
Content
a. This should provide full details of the purpose of the project/activity using clear and concise language throughout.
b. The proposal should demonstrate a clear contribution to the delivery of Kew's Scientific Priorities 2021 - 2030, the Living Collections Strategy and/or Corporate Plan (Manifesto for Change 2021-2030).
c. It should provide any technical detail needed to explain the proposal.
d. Applicants should minimise the use of acronyms and where used must be explained in full on first use.
Impact and benefits
Does the application proposal demonstrate the impact and benefits of the proposal? The following list is not exhaustive but provides examples of the types of information required to demonstrate the impact and benefits of your project:
- Enhances our knowledge of plants and fungi
- Planned publications and dissemination of outcomes
- Has training outputs e.g. a training course or training for individuals (not core training that is required for Kew staff)
- Builds up good long-term relationships between Kew and other botanical/mycological organisations and conservation groups
- Is this a scoping activity that might lead to a bigger project?
- Projects that demonstrate innovation
- Projects that demonstrate benefits to society
Applicants are asked to check their project proposal against these criteria. Applicants are also asked to obtain up-to-date costs for travel and car hire if these are involved. Where other sources for funding have been or will be approached these should be listed.
How to apply
Timetable
The project year for applications is 1 January 2027 to 31 March 2028. Grants are made annually in November for the following year’s activity. The Trustees’ decisions are final. Applications must be with the Finance and Administration Manager of the Trust by 30 September 2025. All applications will be acknowledged by email. If an acknowledgement has not been received within five working days, contact the Finance and Administration Manager (see below).
Deadline for applications is 30 September 2026.
Useful documents
This is an image of the Bentham-Moxon Trust's logo. All grant recipients should use this on all Bentham-Moxon Trust funded publications and presentations.
Successful applicants
Grant Report Form: All successful grant applicants are required to provide an expenditure statement and a short report following the completion of their grant activities using the Trust’s Templates. Guidelines for completion of the Report and the Templates to be used are shown below.
The completed Grant Report will be lodged in Kew’s Research Repository. Successful grantees are also encouraged to offer a talk at the Trust's annual Symposium. In addition to the written report, please provide 1-2 photographs with suitable captions, ensuring you have the credit for use and the right permissions when it shows people. These may be used for BMT reporting.
Bentham-Moxon Trust grant reports
Symposium
Successful applicants may be approached to offer an illustrated talk (20 minutes maximum including questions from the audience) at the Trust's Symposium held regularly. This is an opportunity to explain your research project and your results to the Trustees and the wider Kew community.
Board of Trustees
Report and Financial Statement 2024
We know that you care about your personal data and how it is used, and we want you to know that the Bentham-Moxon Trust uses your personal data carefully. The Bentham-Moxon Trust Grants Privacy Notice will help you understand what personal data we collect, why we collect it and what we do with it.
Get in touch
Kim Gilbert, Finance and Administration Manager
Bentham-Moxon Trust, The Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Kew, Richmond, TW9 3AE
Email: bmtrust@kew.org