Flash talks are short presentations given on a topic of research, written for a non-expert audience.

3 Minute Thesis (3MT)

PhD researchers: could you can reduce your 80,000-word thesis to 180 seconds and win £500? Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a research communication competition developed by The University of Queensland. The exercise challenges you to present a compelling oration on your thesis topic and its significance in just three minutes with just one static PowerPoint slide. Heats are hosted by institutions, and one winner per institution will be put forward to the national semi-finals hosted by Vitae. Look out for annual calls for applications of interest.

Famelab

Famelab is an international competition to find and support the world’s most talented new science communicators. Participants have three minutes to win over the judges and audience with a scientific talk that excels for its content, clarity and charisma. Regional heats are followed by a national heat hosted by Cheltenham Science Festival. Find out about Famelab.

Soapbox Science

Are you a woman, non-binary or genderqueer person who works in science and who is passionate about your research? Are you eager to talk to the general public about your work in a fun, informal setting? If so, then Soapbox Science needs you! Soapbox Science is a public outreach platform for promoting women scientists and the science they do. Our events around the world transform public areas into an arena for public learning and scientific debate. Find out more about Soapbox Science.

Getting involved with young people in a variety of ways.

STEM Ambassadors

STEM Ambassadors are volunteers from a wide range of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related jobs and disciplines across the UK. They offer their time and enthusiasm to help bring STEM subjects to life and demonstrate the value of them in life and careers. They can support young people in the classroom, or work with other youth and community groups, as well as helping to deliver activities online via video call.

• Find out more and apply on the STEM Ambassadors website.
• Contact your local STEM Ambassador hub.

I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here

Connect school students with science outside the classroom and help them discover STEM careers in I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here. Chat with students in text-only live chats. Answer their questions about working in science. Compete for votes to win £500 for your engagement projects. The activity is flexible and works around your schedule – you choose to take part at times that suit you over a four-week activity. Find out more and apply on the I’m a Scientist website.

I’m an Engineer, Get Me Out of Here

Connect school students with science outside the classroom, and help them discover STEM careers in I’m an Engineer, Get Me Out of Here. Chat with students in text-only live chats. Answer their questions about working in science. Compete for votes to win £500 for your engagement projects. The activity is flexible and works around your schedule – you choose to take part at times that suit you over a four-week activity. Find out more and apply on the I’m an Engineer website.

Nuffield Research Placements

Every year, The University of Manchester hosts sixth formers participating in the Nuffield Research Placement scheme. Offering a placement is a fantastic way of working with talented young people from local schools and sixth form colleges, who are interested in academic research in the future. The scheme looks for researchers who are willing to host a placement student, usually over the summer.

• Find out more about Nuffield Research Placements.
• Contact your regional coordinator.

Inspiring the Future

Young people aspire to be what they see around them in their everyday life, but it’s difficult to aspire to a future that you never see and don’t know exists. We show young people exciting futures. We give them the opportunity to meet a wide range of role models doing interesting, exciting jobs to inspire and motivate them. Find out more and apply on the Inspiring the Future website.

Great Science Share for Schools

The Great Science Share for Schools invites 5 to 14-year-olds to share their own scientific questions and investigations, to raise the profile of science in schools and communities, and to be inspired into science and engineering. The campaign takes places annually and offers opportunities for scientists to take part by providing short inspiring videos and activity sheets linked to your work. Find out more about the Great Science Share for Schools.

Royal Society Partnership Grants

Do you have a great idea for bringing research alive in schools? The Partnership Grants scheme funds schools up to £3,000 to run investigative STEM projects in partnership with STEM professionals from academia or industry. The school partner must be the lead applicant. Find out more about the Royal Society Partnership Grants.

Letters to a Pre-Scientist

Letters to a Pre-Scientist connects students to STEM professionals through snail mail to broaden students’ awareness of what STEM professionals look like and do at work and inspire all students to explore a future in STEM. Find out more about Letters to a Pre-Scientist.

Widening participation addresses patterns of under-representation in higher education. 

Brilliant Club Scholars Programme

This programme is run by The Brilliant Club, an award-winning university access charity. They recruit and train doctoral and post-doctoral researchers to deliver programmes of university-style teaching to pupils in schools that serve under-represented communities. The University works in partnership with The Brilliant Club. Applications of interest can be made at any time. Find out more about the Brilliant Club Scholars Programme.

Brilliant Tutoring Programme

This programme was originally set up to support the national catch-up effort caused by school closures. We are delighted to be an approved National Tutoring partner through the National Tutoring Programme. It provides tutoring to pupils in small groups (1:3), in core subjects with our subject expert PhD tutors. Tutoring groups will receive 15 hours of tutoring over 15 weeks. The University works in partnership with The Brilliant Club. Applications of interest can be made at any time. This is a paid role. Find out more about the Brilliant Tutoring Programme.

Tutor Trust

This programme has been sent up to deliver quality tutoring to disadvantaged pupils to address the impact of school closures due to the pandemic. If you are successful at interview, you will be invited to attend our programme of training. This may either be face-to-face on the university campus over two and half days, or training may be delivered online, lasting approximately 10 hours. The University works in partnership with The Tutor Trust. Applications of interest can be made at any time. This is a paid role. Find out more about the Tutor Trust.

There are lots of local and national events to get involved in and even some global opportunities.

Pint of Science

The Pint of Science festival aims to deliver interesting and relevant talks on the latest science research in an accessible format to the public – mainly across bars and pubs. We want to provide a platform, which allows people to discuss research with the people who carry it out and no prior knowledge of the subject is required. It is run by a group of postgrad volunteers in local regions and you can get involved with the festival as either an organiser or presenter. Look out for annual calls for applications of interest. Find out more about Pint of Science.

Science Grrl

Science Grrl shows the real female face of science in Britain, helping to inform STEM policy at a national level and with practical local initiatives. Most of our members are women who are working scientists, but we also have plenty of non-scientists and men on board – you don’t have to be a science girl to be a ScienceGrrl! Find out more about Science Grrl.

STEM for Britain

Calling all early-career research scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians – take your research to Westminster! Organised by the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee, the annual STEM for Britain competition awards prizes for posters presented in each discipline which best communicates high-level science, engineering or mathematics to a lay audience. Find out more about STEM for Britain.

The Conversation

The Conversation is an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public. Our team of professional editors work with university and research institute experts to unlock their knowledge for use by the wider public. Find out more about The Conversation.

SciBars

SciBar is simply science in a bar – every month, a different scientist leads a discussion about their research. This isn’t a lecture; it’s a short (30 minutes) talk between the scientist and the audience, then a discussion usually follows until the questions are exhausted or people feel like they want their dinner and go home. SciBars are hosted in Knutsford, Macclesfield, Didsbury and Bollington.

Events where the public are actively involved in research projects and in research organisations or where information and knowledge about research is provided and disseminated.

Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health PPIE

From involving patients in ground-breaking research to engaging the public in educational events, there are many ways in which the Faculty carries out public and patient involvement and engagement at all points in its teaching and research. The PPIE Toolkit provides useful contacts, information, templates and resources to support you with your PPIE activities. Find out more about PPI in the Faculty.