Health and life sciences funding
Funding opportunities in the health and life sciences.
Alzheimer's Research UK – Inspire Fund
The Inspire Fund provides up to £25,000 in funding for innovative projects that engage the public with dementia and the life-changing research going on into the condition.
Find out more on the Alzheimer’s Research UK website.
Anatomical Society – Public Engagement grants
Members of the Anatomical Society can apply to support outreach and public engagement activities that ignite curiosity in young and old audiences about the anatomy of humans and animals.
Awards are for sums up to £500. There are six application deadlines throughout the year.
Find out more on the Anatomical Society website.
The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour – Public Engagement grants
The ASAB Education committee is offering Public Engagement grants for organising and delivering innovative and exciting outreach activities.
These activities should be aimed at young people and/or the general public to communicate the science of animal behaviour.
Grants of up to £2,000 are available. This grant is open to individuals and organisations, researchers, schools, museums, libraries and community groups.
Find out more on the ASAB website.
Biochemical Society – Scientific Outreach Grants
The Society wishes to support scientific outreach activities that communicates the excitement of molecular bioscience to young people and the community.
Applications are invited for up to £1,000 to assist with the direct costs associated with an event and expenses incurred, such as transport and teacher cover.
Find out more on the Biochemical Society website.
British Pharmacological Society – Engagement Grants and Seed Grants
The Society offers grants of up to £1,500 to both members and non-members to support innovative pharmacology outreach and public engagement activities.
The grants have supported a variety of activities, from exhibition stands at science festivals to ‘science slams’ that help researchers communicate their work.
Engagement grants of up to £1,500 and seeding grants of up to £250 are available. Applications are open all year round.
Find out more on the BPS website.
British Society for Plant Pathology – BSPP Plant Pathology Promotion Fund
BSPP wishes to promote an understanding and awareness of the importance of plant pathology to a wider audience than its membership.
To that end, it has established a fund for the promotion of plant pathology, with the aim of stimulating interest in, and knowledge and awareness of, plant pathology to people who do not normally come into contact with the subject.
Awards of up to £2,000 are available.
Find out more on the BSPP website.
British Society of Immunology – Communicating Immunology Grants
The aims of these grants are to stimulate interest, discussion and understanding of immunology among a wider audience.
They support formal and informal learning about immunology, and target a wide range of audiences, with a particular interest in reaching new or traditionally hard to reach audiences.
Each grant is worth up to a maximum of £1,000 and grants are awarded quarterly.
Find out more on the British Society of Immunology website.
European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) – Outreach Initiative Fund
This fund supports educational initiatives that improve the public understanding of evolution globally. This includes public outreach seminars and public exhibitions.
Awards of between €1,000 and €1,500 are available. There are two applications rounds each year.
Find out more on the ESEB website.
Genetics Society – Public Engagement Grant
Grants are available to members of the Genetics Society to cover costs associated with travel and materials for public engagement activities relevant to genetics.
There are two application rounds each year.
Find out more on the Genetics Society website.
MRC Public Engagement in Science Activities – Seed Fund
The fund aims to encourage and support engagement with the public and other stakeholders.
Funds are available to enable MRC-funded scientists to pilot new activities and develop innovative engagement opportunities.
The fund prioritises activities that build scientists’ capacity and skills, build trust and break down barriers between researchers and society, improve research, influence policy, and respond to a societal need.
Find out more on the MRC website.
Medical Research Foundation – Changing Policy and Practice Award
This award supports the dissemination of a research finding to a specific audience to inform and influence healthcare policy or practice, or to change patient and public behaviour and opinion.
Awards will be made to meet the costs of the dissemination activities and will be no greater than £30,000. There are two rounds of application per year.
Find out more on the Medical Research Foundation website.
Microbiology Society – Education and Outreach Grants
Grants of up to £1,000 are available to support relevant science teaching or promotion initiatives, or to support developments likely to lead to an improvement in the teaching of any aspect of microbiology.
There are two application rounds each year.
Find out more on the Microbiology Society website.
National Centre for the Replacement Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research – Public Engagement Award
NC3Rs are offering awards of up to £1,500 to support NC3Rs-funded researchers past and present to engage the public with the approaches being taken to replace, reduce and refine animal use in science.
The funding is available as an open rolling call, where the applications are reviewed quarterly by the NC3Rs office.
Find out more on the NC3Rs website.
Parkinson's UK – Patient and Public Involvement Research Involvement Award
Research Involvement Awards provide expert support for Parkinson’s researchers to carry out patient and public involvement (PPI) activities.
The award is open to researchers from doctoral level onwards who are working across all fields of Parkinson’s research.
Find out more on the Parkinson’s UK website.
Physiological Society – Outreach Grants
Our outreach grants should be used to increase understanding and awareness of physiology by running an outreach or public engagement activity.
Members only can apply for a small grant of up to £500, which is awarded on a monthly basis. Members and non-members can apply for a large grant between £500 and £20,000, which is awarded annually.
This funding can be used for travel to outreach projects, production of materials/videos/diagrams or a full public engagement event.
Find out more on the Physiological Society website.
Royal College of Pathologists – Public Engagement Innovation Grant Scheme
This scheme gives financial support for the delivery of a range of pathology-related events throughout the UK.
Grants of up to £1,000 are available for individuals or organisations who wish to develop pathology-related public engagement activities or events.
Find out more on the Royal College of Pathologists website.
Society for Applied Microbiology
Funding is available for events that promote microbiology to the public and other relevant stakeholders.
This grant is open to both society members and non-members. Society members should have no funding from any additional source.
The maximum award is £4,000. The award is open year-round, but events must start at least six weeks after the application submission.
Find out more on the Society for Applied Microbiology website.
Society for Endocrinology – Public Engagement Grant
Up to £1,000 is available to support the organisation and delivery of outreach activities, aimed at school children and/or the general public.
Grants are available to society members or public engagement professionals who can be paired with a society member prior to application.
There are two application rounds each year.
Find out more on the Society for Endocrinology website.
The British Society for the History of Science – Special Project Grants
Special Project Grants enable members of the Society to promote the understanding of the history and social impact of science, technology and medicine in the wider community through public engagement projects.
There are three application rounds each year.
Find out more on the British Society for the History of Science website.
The Royal Society of Biology, Outreach and Engagement Grant
The aim of the grant scheme is to support outreach and engagement events and activities that are creative, impactful and suited for audiences, or based in locations that may have otherwise limited opportunities to engage with bioscience topics or concepts.
Small grants of up to £200 and full grants of between £201 and £500 are available.
Find out more on the RSB website.
Wellcome – Engagement Fellowships
Engagement Fellowships aim to support and develop emerging leaders from a range of backgrounds so they can engage the public with health research.
The funding covers salary and research expenses over a two-year period.
Find out more on the Wellcome website.
Wellcome – The Ideas Fund
We’re offering early stage grants of up to £25,000 and larger grants of around £90,000 in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, Hull, North West Northern Ireland, and Oldham.
The scheme has been designed to test a new way of place-based, mental wellbeing-focused funding that connects communities with researchers to access knowledge, research skills and resources.
Find out more on the Ideas Fund website.