Successful funding rounds can often be repeated on an annual basis. To help plan for public engagement funding this page collects the details of previous grants and awards, ordering them on a month-by-month basis.
All closing dates given are indicative based on previous funding rounds.
Innovation Voucher Scheme
Funding available: Up to £5,000
The Innovation Voucher Scheme helps start-up, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to work with 'knowledge suppliers', such as universities, to gain the knowledge to innovate and grow. The company will apply for the funds and, if selected from a lottery of all eligible applications, can spend the grant on a university of their choice.
STFC - Public Engagement Large Awards Scheme
Amount: £10,000 to £100,000
The Large Awards Scheme provides funds for projects relevant to publicising engagement or teaching about the STFC science and technology areas which are expected to have a significant regional or national impact. Almost anyone can apply but project teams must have strong links with STFC's scientific research community. They also encourage partnerships that may positively impact on the success of the project e.g. universities with science centres.
Royal Society of Chemistry Outreach Fund – Small Awards
Funding available: Up to £2,000
The Outreach Fund aims to encourage and support the development of projects that raise awareness of the place of chemistry in people's everyday lives, especially those not already interested in chemistry, and/or develop the science communication skills of people who are already highly trained in chemistry.
British Society for Immunology (BSI) - Communicating Immunology Grants
Funding available: Up to £1,000
The grant round is open to BSI members to stimulate interest, discussion and understanding of immunology amongst a wider audience, support formal and informal learning about immunology and target a wide range of audiences.
MRC / MRF Alexander Fleming Dissemination Scheme
Funding available: Up to £30,000
Applications are sought for Alexander Fleming Dissemination Awards that provide support for the dissemination of Medical Research Council and Medical Research Foundation-funded research results beyond the scientific peer reviewed press, to patients, participants, practitioners and policy makers.
The scheme is open to MRC and MRF grant and fellowship holders and researchers in MRC research institutes, units and centres, whose MRC or MRF funding is within one year of termination (prior to or after termination of support).
Royal Society of Chemistry Outreach Fund
Funding available: Up to £3,000
Provides financial support to individuals and organisations in order to enable them to run chemistry-based events and activities for public audiences. The fund supports Royal Society of Chemistry members, and other advocates, to engage with different audiences, and provide people with an entry point into the chemical sciences.
British Pharmacological Society Grants
Funding available: Up to £1,500
Grants of up to £1500 are available to support innovative pharmacology outreach and public engagement activities. These grants are available to both BPS members and non-members, including schools and teachers, and the project should usually take place within six months of the application deadline.
Arts Council England: Research Grants Programme 2015 - 2018
Amount: £50,000 - £100,000 per year
Available for arts and/or cultural organisation led applications to fund projects alongside a research partner, lasting up to three years. The programme focus is to build our collective knowledge and deepen our understanding of the impact of arts and culture, and to promote greater collaboration and co-operation between the arts and cultural sector and research partners. Funding will not cover the costs of arts and cultural work, the programme will only fund research activity.
A second funding round will be announced in late 2015. More info.
British Pharmacological Society - Teaching grants
Funding available: Up to £4,000
Grants are available for members of the British Pharmacological Society to support the creation and/or development of novel educational resources or approaches to undergraduate pharmacology or clinical pharmacology teaching.
The Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology - Community Engagement Award
Funding available: Up to £500
The Award is designed to support individuals, groups and societies in developing new public-facing initiatives on the archaeology of the late medieval to modern world, whether one-off events, programmes of activities, digital archaeology or other creative outputs.
The round welcomes proposals which seek to develop innovative forms of engagement and proposals which demonstrate the potential to engage non-traditional audiences.
Biochemical Society Outreach Grant
Amount: Up to £1,000
Support for scientific outreach events that communicate the excitement of molecular bioscience to young people and the community. Applications are invited for sums up to £1,000 to assist with the direct costs associated with an event and expenses incurred (e.g. transport and/or teacher cover).
RSC Outreach Fund
Amount: Up to £50,000 over three categories
The RSC Outreach Fund provides financial support to individuals and organisations to enable them to run chemistry-based events and activities for public audiences. The fund supports RSC members and other advocates to engage with different audiences, and provide people with an entry point into the chemical sciences.
Festival of Social ScienceEconomic and Social Research Council
Funding available: Up to £2000
The ESRC provide funding for activities that take place as part of their Festival of Social Science, usually held around the first week of November. These activities must be free and aimed at the public, they must feature social science (ideally with a social scientist involved in the event) and fit with the festival aims and objectives. Further details can be found in their application guidance notes.
Science and Society Community Challenge grant schemeDepartment for Business, Innovation & Skills
Funding available: 3 levels of project funding: up to £10,000, up to £20,000 and up to £40,000, depending on the size and difficulty of the project
This scheme offers financial support to individuals and organisations, to create and run pilot projects which take science to diverse audiences, and engage them with science in their own communities. It aims to reach audiences of all ages and from all walks of life that are currently under-served by existing activities and inform, inspire and involve them in science, investigating and testing new methods of engagement and participation.
Public Engagement Innovation in Pathology Grant SchemeRoyal College of Pathologists
Funding is available for individuals or organisations who wish to develop pathology-related public engagement activities or events that involve pathologists and/or laboratory scientists as a key part of the activity and are pathology-based, exploring underlying concepts and issues, rather than just providing information. The grant scheme aims to:
We aren't aware of any funding rounds that have closed this month. If you know of any please contact us and let us know.
Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Grants
Amount: Up to £10,000
Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Grants of up to £5,000 and up to £10,000 are available across the UK for new, original and innovative projects that actively promote Heart Health and help to prevent, or reduce, the risk of heart disease in specific groups or communities.
Leverhulme Trust Artist in Residence Grants
Amount: Up to £15,000
The Leverhulme Trust are offering funds for UK universities to foster a creative collaboration with an artist working in a discipline outside the usual curriculum. The awards support the residency of an individual artist in a UK university in order to foster a creative collaboration between the artist and the staff and/or students of that institution. The term ‘artist’ encompasses visual artists, creative writers, musicians, poets and other producers of original creative work.
There must be a distinct contrast between the artist and host department’s expertise (for example, a poet being hosted by a physics department, a composer by a geography department). It is not the objective of the residency to provide additional teaching capacity for the host department.
British Ecological Society - Outreach Grants
Funding available: up to £2,000
Funding is available for projects that promote ecological science to a wide audience. They must aim to increase public understanding of, and engagement with ecology; stimulate discussion about ecology and its implications for society; inspire and enthuse people of all ages about the science of ecology, especially those not previously interested; develop skills in communicating the science of ecology.
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) research engagement award
The Research Engagement Award is for Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) in recognition of the great work they do in promoting research at their GP surgery, dental practice, clinical commissioning group and other primary care settings.
The award is sponsored by the NIHR Clinical Research Network in partnership with the National Association for Patient Participation. As part of their work, many PPGs help to raise awareness about the importance of research, provide vital feedback to researchers about peoples’ experiences of taking part in research and organise events to inform people about research and feedback findings of studies. Applications are open to local primary care PPGs.
British Pharmacological Society - Outreach Grants
Funding available: up to £1,500
Have you got a great idea for a pharmacology outreach or public engagement activity? Grants are available to support innovative pharmacology outreach and public engagement activities. These grants are available to both BPS members and non-members, including schools and teachers. The project should usually take place within six months of the relevant application deadline, unless reasons are given why this is not possible.
Royal Academy of Engineering - Ingenious Grants
Funding available: £400
Ingenious is a grant scheme for projects that engage the public with engineers and engineering. If you have an imaginative idea that helps engineers to communicate their expertise and passion to a wider audience – they want to hear from you. You could be an engineer interested in running your own project, or a science and engineering communicator keen to explore ways to provide public engagement training and opportunities.
The Biochemical Society
Funding available: up to £1,000
Grants are available to support activities and events that help communicate the excitement of molecular bioscience to young people and the community. Applications are invited for sums up to £1,000 to assist with the direct costs associated with an event and expenses incurred (e.g. transport and/or teacher cover).
Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art - Digital Project Grants
Amount: up to £20,000 per annum for up to 2 years
Digital Project Grants are awarded to institutions and individuals to help support a curator or research scholar undertaking a digital research project or research which will lead to a digital or online project. The Grants are offered for up to two years at a maximum of £20,000 per annum.
Applicants must demonstrate that any project will include scholarly research within the field of British art and architectural history from the medieval period to the present and that funding is not available simply to cover such costs as data entry or document scanning.
Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art - Curatorial Research Grants
Curatorial Research Grants are awarded to institutions, galleries or museums to help towards the costs of appointing a Research Curator to undertake research for a specific project. The Grants are offered for up to two years at a maximum of £20,000 per annum.
Applicants must demonstrate that any project will include scholarly research within the field of British art and architectural history from the medieval period to the present.
Society for Microbiology Science - Education and Outreach Grants
The Society for Microbiology provides grants to promote microbiology or to support developments likely to lead to an improvement in the teaching of any aspect of microbiology. Members of the Society can apply for grants up to £1,000 for educational outreach activities including: talks; workshops; broadcasts; activities at science festivals; audio-visual or computer-based packages; or activities that take place as part of a National Science and Engineering Week event at the applicant’s place of work.
Royal Society Partnership Grants Scheme
Grants are available to support teachers, scientists and engineers help develop science projects, with the aim of making the teaching science more interesting within primary and secondary schools. Any UK primary or secondary school teacher and practising scientist/engineer can apply as long as the students involved in the project are between 5 and 18.
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) - Public engagement large awards
Funding available: £10,000 to £100,000
The Large Awards Scheme provides funds for projects which are expected to have a significant regional or national impact. Almost anyone can apply but project teams must have strong links with STFC’s scientific research community. They encourage partnerships that may positively impact on the success of the project e.g. universities with science centres. Projects must be relevant to publicising engagement or teaching about the STFC science and technology areas.
The Physiological Society Public Engagement Grants
Grants are available to both Member and non-Members of The Society to promote the discussion of physiology with public audiences, inspiring creative public engagement with physiology and stimulating physiologists to share their stories, passion and expertise in innovative ways.
The fund encourages collaborative applications, including those between expert science communicators, facilitators of public engagement, artists, musicians, thespians and their Members.