Wellcome Trust Broadcast Development Awards (closes 19 July 2013)
The Broadcast Development Awards support the development of broadcast proposals in any genre that engage the audience with issues around biomedical science in an innovative, entertaining and accessible way. The Trust are interested in funding individuals and organisations with brilliant early-stage ideas for TV, radio, new media or gaming projects. The funding, of up to £10,000 will enable these ideas to be developed into high impact, well-researched proposals that can be used to secure a broadcast platform and/or further funding. For more information see the Wellcome Trust website.

Wellcome Trust People Awards (closes 26 July 2013)
People Awards are for innovative and creative projects that encourage public debate and understanding of biomedical science. They can fund small-to-medium-sized one-off projects or projects that pilot new ideas with an aim to scale up or become sustainable following the grant, or they can part-fund larger projects (up to and including £30 000). For more information see the Wellcome Trust website.

John Maddox Prize (closes 20 August 2013)
The John Maddox Prize rewards an individual who has promoted sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest. Its emphasis is on those who have faced difficulty or hostility in doing so. Nominations of active researchers who have yet to receive recognition for their public-interest work are particularly welcomed. The prize is open to nominations for any kind of public activity, including all forms of writing, speaking and public engagement, in any of the following areas:

  • Addressing misleading information about scientific or medical issues in any forum.
  • Bringing sound evidence to bear in a public or policy debate.
  • Helping people to make sense of a complex scientific issue.

The prize: £2000. The award is presented in November and an announcement of the winner will be published in Nature.  For more information see the Sense About Science website.

British Ecological Society Outreach Grants (closes 17 September)
The British Ecological Society is offering grants of up to £2,000 to promote ecological science to a wide audience. The funding is available for projects that:

  • 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.

For more details see the British Ecological Society website.

The Biochemical Society Scientific Outreach Grants (closes 30 September 2013)
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 £1000 to assist with the direct costs associated with an event and expenses incurred (e.g. transport and/or teacher cover). For more information see the Biochemistry website.

Royal Society Partnership Grants Scheme (closes 1 November 2013)
The next round of the Royal Society’s Partnership Grants will open for applications in September. Through the scheme, grants of up to £3,000 will be 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. For more information see the Royal Society website.

Royal Society of Chemistry Public Activities Small Grants Scheme
The Small Grants Scheme has funding available to support activities promoting the public awareness of chemistry and the chemical sciences. Small grants, up to £250 will be awarded to support activities requiring small amounts of money and that are not funded elsewhere in the RSC. Applications accepted all year round. For more information see the Royal Society of Chemistry website.

AHRC Follow-on Funding for Impact and Engagement Scheme
Provides funds to support innovative and creative engagements with new audiences and user communities which stimulate pathways to impact. Funds will be awarded for knowledge exchange, public engagement, active dissemination and commercialisation activities that arise unforeseeably during the lifespan of or following an AHRC-funded project. The AHRC Follow-on Funding for Impact and Engagement scheme operates without formal deadlines and will offer awards of up to £100,000 (fEC) for a maximum of 12 months. Smaller awards of up to £30,000 (fEC) are encouraged for shorter or higher risk activities. For more information see the AHRC website.

ESRC Knowledge Exchange Opportunities Scheme
Provides the opportunity to apply for funding for knowledge exchange and public engagement activities at any stage of the research lifecycle, and is aimed at maximising the impact of social science research outside academia. The flexibility built into the scheme is intended to encourage applicants to think creatively about knowledge exchange, and applications are welcomed for either a single activity or a combination of activities. This could involve activities such as setting up a network to help inform the development of a research proposal; arranging an academic placement with a voluntary or business organisation; developing tools such as podcasts and videos aimed at communicating the results of research to the general public; or developing existing research to make it more applicable to policy or practice. The Scheme runs as an ‘open call’ with no end date. For more information see the ESRC website.