https://www.nauticalarchaeologysociety.org/inaf
The International Nautical Archaeology Foundation (INAF) was created in 2024 to advance the education of the public in the subject of nautical archaeology and to promote research for the public benefit in all aspects of the subject and to publish the useful results.
INAF has been created to facilitate the development of a grant giving programme with funds generated from an amazing $1million donation from the Edward & Saryl Von der Porten Trust, in the USA.
INAF has been registered as a charity with the Charity Commission (No.1210349) and is being administered by the NAS, acting as a Corporate Trustee, with representatives of the donor family in the USA acting as Members of INAF.
The inaugural INAF grant programme opens on the 1st January 2026 and closes on 28th February 2026.
INAF Grant Board
The grant decision-making for the International Nautical Archaeology Foundation is to be done by a Grant Board consisting of five representatives from key nautical archaeology organisations around the world (“Board Members”). Currently these five organisations are:
- East Carolina University, Department of History, Program in Maritime Studies, Greenville, North Carolina, USA
- Institute of Nautical Archaeology, College Station, Texas, USA
- Nautical Archaeology Society, Portsmouth, UK
- Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology, Adelaide, SA, Australia
- Vasa Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
A member of the Von der Porten family also sits on the Grant Board. Board Members will individually recuse themselves from evaluating projects with which their individual organisations have a material connection. The Trustee will not be eligible to apply to the Fund.
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Grant Purposes and Guidelines
INAF will support nautical archaeological endeavours, broadly defined to include underwater, intertidal, and terrestrial archaeological work on nautical subjects, including, but not limited to, shipwrecks, cargos, fishing, harbours, & shipbuilding sites.
Projects should have reasonable prospects for making significant contributions to knowledge of nautical archaeological matters, broadly defined. The applicability of the knowledge that is likely to be gained to wide audiences should be a major consideration in the selection process. Narrow projects with only small specialised audiences do not fit within the purview of the Fund.
In addition to archaeology fieldwork, laboratory work, creating illustrations, work on publications, printing costs, etc., which are follow-ups to fieldwork investigations, are included in this definition. The Fund encourages means of bringing knowledge of the results of nautical archaeology to a wide public in the form of publications in various media.
Carefully planned small projects with potential for development will be considered for funding. Proven success will not be a requirement for funding.
Projects that are primarily educational, such as fieldschools, lecture series, and public events, do not fit within the purview of the International Nautical Archaeology Fund. Funds shall not be granted for creating, managing or attending conferences, travel outside specific needs of a project, and similar non-research purposes.
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Our Approach to PublicationUndertaking research by itself is not a charitable purpose and confers little or no benefit to the public. To achieve such benefits the results of the research must be disseminated in a publicly accessible format, thus adding to the collective knowledge and understanding of humanity’s past in a nautical context.
Dissemination of the results of research in a publicly accessible format is therefore an integral component of any nautical archaeology project, as recognised by Rules 30 -36 of the Annex to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural heritage 2001. As such, the INAF regards such dissemination to be an essential component of any proposal for award of a grant from the INAF.
The INAF will require as a condition of any grant awarded, the publication of the results of any research undertaken from funding provided. Such publication may be proportional to the funded research undertaken and may make take the form of, but not necessarily be limited to:
- Publication on the INAF’s website or other Internet media outlet
- Publication in popular literature, such as magazines and news periodicals
- Publication in peer reviewed academic journals
- Publication in monographs or books
- Publication as documentary film or television program
It may be the case that two or more forms of publication may be intended to be undertaken in respect of research funded by the INAF. If so, applicants should expressly identify this in the application. Wherever possible, applicants may wish to identify the intention to provide a readily comprehensible form of publication for the general public as well as a more technical format for a specialised audience.
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Application Eligibility
Applications will only be considered from:
• Not for Profits, Registered Charities (including CIOs), Non-Government Organisations, Archaeological Groups or Societies
• Individual researchers affiliated with a University
• Individual researchers and members of a Non-Government Organisation or Archaeological Group or Society
• University students studying nautical archaeology or related subjects at undergraduate level or above.
Applications will not be considered from:
• Not for Profits and Charities that do not have one year of registered accounts
• Political parties
• Persons or organisations engaged, or proposing to engage in the commercial exploitation of cultural heritage contrary to the provisions Article 2 of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001, and Rule 2 of the Annex thereto.
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Application Timetable and Financials
The minimum grant size is £500. Awards of more than £20,000 will be rare.
2026 applications to the International Nautical Archaeology Foundation open on the 1st January 2026 and close on the 28th February 2026.
Applicants will be informed of the award decision by the 6th April 2026. Grant recipients will be required to report on their supported work by the 31st March 2027, and the 31st March 2028 (if a two year funded project).
Any unused funds shall be returned within two years of the award. If a grant is being used for a project lasting longer than two years, applicants will be advised on returning any unused funds.
The financial and administrative overhead rates for grants shall not exceed 10% of the grant applied for. For example, a £1,000 grant may not have more than £100 allocated to overhead. Any overhead amounts must be disclosed in the grant application and in any financial reports.
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Download the 2026 INAF Application Form here
Please direct any enquiries and send applications to inaf@nauticalarchaeologysociety.org
2026 applications close at 23.59 (GMT) on the 28th February 2026.
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Donate to International Nautical Archaeology Foundation
The International Nautical Archaeology Foundation is an open fund, happy to accept further donations to help support nautical archaeology research and fieldwork. If you would like to talk to someone about donating a legacy to the field of nautical archaeology please feel free to contact the NAS CEO, Mark Beattie-Edwards by email on mark@nauticalarchaeologysociety.org
Underwater Archaeology and Maritime History jobs 