Public Engagement Funding Round-up – February 2021
ALL DISCIPLINES
The Granada Foundation Grants
The Granada Foundation aims to encourage the study and appreciation of the fine arts and sciences and to promote education, with a particular interest in activity in the North West of England. The Council looks for imaginative proposals from organisations which will in some way make the North West a richer and more attractive place in which to live and work.
See: https://granadafoundation.org/how-to-apply/
The Ideas Fund – run by British Science Association and funded by Wellcome
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 funding that connects communities with researchers to access knowledge, research skills and resources. Place-based. Focused on mental wellbeing.
HEALTH & LIFE SCIENCES FUNDING
Alzheimer’s Research UK Inspire Fund, Public Engagement Grant (Currently suspended)
The Inspire Fund grant scheme provides up to £30,000 for innovative projects that aim to tackle misconceptions around dementia and promote the importance of dementia research through public engagement.
See: https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/grants/inspire-fund-public-engagement-grant/
Medical Research Foundation (MRF) – Changing Policy and Practice Award (Deadline: 22 January 2021; run twice a year)
The aim of this award is to support the dissemination of medical research beyond the scientific peer reviewed press, with the aim of influencing healthcare and behaviour. Awards will be made to meet the costs of the dissemination activities and will be no greater than £30,000.
See: https://www.medicalresearchfoundation.org.uk/grants/changing-policy-and-practice-award
The British Pharmacological Society – Engagement Grants and Seed Grants (All year round)
The Society offers grants of up to £1,500 to both members and non-members to support innovative pharmacology outreach and public engagement activities. We’ve supported a variety of activities, from exhibition stands at science festivals to ‘science slams’ that help researchers communicate their work. Engagement grants up to £1,500. Seeding grants up to £250: Open for application all year round.
See: https://www.bps.ac.uk/membership-awards/support-for-outreach-and-teaching/outreach-grants
British Society for Immunology – Communicating Immunology Grants (15 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October 2021)
The aims of the BSI’s Communicating Immunology Grants are 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, 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.
See: https://www.immunology.org/grants-and-prizes/communicating-immunology.
Microbiology Society – Education and Outreach Grants (Closes: 1 April 2021 and 3 October 2021)
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 will be two rounds of application per year.
See: https://www.microbiologysociety.org/grants/grants-prizes/education-and-outreach-grants.html
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).
See: https://www.parkinsons.org.uk/research/research-involvement-awards
Royal College of Pathologists Public Engagement Innovation Grant Scheme (1 June 2021)
The Scheme was introduced to give financial support for the delivery of a range of pathology-related events throughout the UK. Grants of up to £1000 are available for individuals or organisations who wish to develop pathology-related public engagement activities or events.
See: https://www.rcpath.org/discover-pathology/events-landing-page/funding-for-public-events.html
Society for Endocrinology Public Engagement Grant (Deadlines: 24 March and 22 September 2021)
Grants of up to up to £1,000 to support organisation and delivery of outreach activities, in the areas of aimed hormones and the impact of endocrinology. Aimed at school children and/or the general public.
See: https://www.endocrinology.org/grants-and-awards/grants/public-engagement-grant/
The Physiological Society – Outreach Grants (Deadlines: 31 January 2021)
Who can apply: Members and non-Members – we encourage collaborative applications, including those between expert science communicators, facilitators of public engagement, artists, musicians, thespians and our Members. Outreach Grants should be used to increase understanding and awareness of physiology amongst the non-expert public; to increase awareness of the opportunities available to those who pursue physiology in their education; to increase engagement with physiology research or to support an outreach activity on Physiology Friday. Grants of up to £500 are considered on an ad hoc basis throughout the year, grants of up to £20,000 the deadline is 31 January 2020.
See: http://www.physoc.org/outreach-grants
MRC Public Engagement in Science Activities – Seed Fund (Applications open all year round)
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, respond to a societal need.
See: https://www.mrc.ac.uk/research/public-engagement/public-engagement-funding/
National Centre for the Replacement Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research Public Engagement Award. (Open rolling call, assessment panels January, April, July, October)
NC3R 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.
See: https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/public-engagement-awards
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING & MATHEMATICS (STEM) FUNDING
Royal Astronomical Society Education & Outreach Small Grants Scheme (Deadlines: 15 February and 15 August 2021)
Grants of up to £5,000 are avauilable for a range of public outreach activities, including development of public events, training workshops, broadcasting or podcasting, and development of educational material.
https://ras.ac.uk/awards-and-grants/outreach/education-outreach-small-grants-scheme
British Ecological Society Outreach Grants (Deadlines: 19 March 2021)
Grants of up to £2,000 to increase public understanding of and engagement with ecology, stimulate discussion about ecology and its implications for society and develop skills in communicating the science of ecology.
See: http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/funding/outreach-grants/
IET Engineering Education Grant Scheme. (Deadline: 16 April and 1 October 2021)
The Engineering Education Grant Scheme supports UK-based educational projects that increase engineering knowledge among young people aged 4-19. It also supports projects that improve wider understanding of engineering. Awards of up to £5,000 (inclusive of any applicable VAT) are available for standard applications, and a small number of awards of up to £15,000 are available each year for projects that aim to make a bigger impact.
See: https://education.theiet.org/funding/funding-schemes-and-bursaries
The Ironmongers Company STEM Grants (Currently suspended)
Aims to support initiatives that encourage talented young people to study science subjects at school and go on to pursue engineering-related further education or vocational training.
See: https://www.ironmongers.org/charity_stem_projects.htm
Ingenious: public engagement awards (Next open Summer 20201)
Ingenious is an awards scheme for projects that engage the public with engineers and engineering. Ingenious has funded over 189 projects to date, providing opportunities for over 5,000 engineers to take part in public engagement activities, to gain skills in communication and to bring engineering to the very centre of society. Funding is available from £3,000 to £30,000.
See: http://www.raeng.org.uk/grants-and-prizes/ingenious-grant
Institute of Mathematics Education Grant Scheme (Deadline: 30 November 2021)
The Institute of Mathematics are looking for grant applications of up to £600 to help with the costs of running or attending an educational activity relating to mathematics. The aim of these grants is to support activities which will help increase the popularity of mathematics with learners and encourage the take up of mathematics post-16.
See: https://ima.org.uk/support/grants/education-grant-scheme/
London Mathematical Society, Education grants (31 August, 30 November, 31 January, 30 April)
Grants of up to £800 for partial funding of events that stimulate interest and enable involvement in mathematics from Key Stage 1 (age 5+) to undergraduate level and beyond.
See: https://www.lms.ac.uk/grants/education-grants
Institute of Physics’ Public Engagement Grant Scheme (Currently suspended)
The grants are worth up to £2000 and aim to support physics-based outreach activities in the UK and Ireland. Activities should provide engaging experiences of physics to public audiences. There are two round of applications per year in October and April.
See: http://www.iop.org/about/grants/outreach/page_38843.html
STFC Public Engagement Funding (Applications all year round)
We offer a range of grant schemes that are designed to allow our community to meet the aims of our public engagement strategy. Schemes include: Leadership Fellows in Public Engagement; Public Engagement Spark Awards (Delivering new engagement activities and testing fresh approaches with audiences); Public Engagement Nucleus Awards (Building engagement networks and delivering national programmes of engagement); Public Engagement Legacy Awards (Supporting our most successful programmes to grow and evolve over time); Public Engagement Reaction Awards (Quickly responding to unexpected and engaging scientific developments); and School Grants Scheme (Promoting physics & engineering in schools & colleges, in partnership with the IOP/IET).
See: http://www.stfc.ac.uk/public-engagement/public-engagement-grants/pe-funding-opportunities/
Royal Society Chemistry Outreach Fund (Multiple deadlines)
Our Outreach Fund provides financial support to members, individuals and organisations in order to enable them to run chemistry-based public and schools engagement activities, this may include increasing chemistry and chemists’ influence in public discourse and decision-making in line with the findings of the Public Attitude to Chemistry research. The Outreach Fund is split into two categories: Small grants – up to £5,000 Applications are now open and will remain open throughout the year. Large grants – between £5,000 – £10,000.
See: http://www.rsc.org/awards-funding/funding/outreach-fund/
Royal Society Chemistry Inclusion & Diversity Fund (Deadlines: 19 April 2021 and 13 September 2021)
Our Inclusion and Diversity Fund provides financial support for innovative products, activities and research projects that promote inclusion and diversity in the chemical science community. We will consider individual applications up to the value of £5,000. Funding greater than £5,000 may be considered for one project each year.
See: https://www.rsc.org/awards-funding/funding/inclusion-diversity-fund/
Royal Society Partnership Grants Scheme (Due to COVID-19 the deadline for Stage 1 has been extended until the end of May and Stage 2 will remain open until the end of June)
Through the scheme, grants of between £250 and £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 or practising scientist/engineer can apply as long as the students involved in the project are between 5 and 18.
See: https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/partnership-grants/
Royal Society Public Engagement Funding (Typically opens October)
This scheme provides between £500 and £10,000 for Royal Society Research Fellows to create and lead public engagement projects.
See: https://royalsociety.org/grants-schemes-awards/grants/public-engagement-fund/
The Biochemical Society Outreach Grants (Currently suspended)
To support activities and events that help communicate the excitement of the molecular sciences to school children and/or the general public. 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). There are two round of applications per year in September and April. See: https://www.biochemistry.org/Grants/ScientificOutreachGrants.aspx
ARTS, HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES FUNDING
British Society for the History of Philosophy – Public Engagement Funding (Closes 31 March)
We offer one public engagement grant of up to £1000 per year towards the costs of the following activities: The organization of exhibitions or public events, including public lectures, with a significant component relating to the history of philosophy. The conception and diffusion of content related to the history of philosophy on electronic media, including television, radio, websites, podcasts, etc.
See: https://bshp.org.uk/funding/public-engagement-funding/
Arts Council England funding schemes [England only] (Open at various points throughout the year)
Grants for the arts are for individuals, arts organisations and other people who use the arts in their work and help achieve the Council’s mission of great art and culture for everyone. Grants go up to £500,000.
See: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding
Being Human – A Festival of the Humanities
The festival brings together universities, museums, galleries, archives, independent research organisations, community and commercial partners to make research in the humanities accessible to non-specialist audiences and demonstrate its relevance to our everyday lives.
See: https://beinghumanfestival.org/
Heritage Lottery Fund Grant programmes
Grants for projects related to the national, regional, or local heritage in the UK, including Sharing Heritage, Our Heritage and Heritage Grants. Heritage can mean anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. Grants range from £3,000 up to millions of pounds.
See: https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding
The Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, Community Engagement Award (Deadline: 15 September 2021)
This award is designed to support individuals, groups and societies in developing new public-facing initiatives, whether one-off events, programmes of activities, digital archaeology or other creative outputs. Proposals which seek to develop innovative forms of engagement and proposals which demonstrate the potential to engage non-traditional audiences are welcome. Funding available up to £500.
See: http://www.spma.org.uk/prizes-and-grants/community-award
ESRC Celebrating Impact Prize
Annual opportunity recognising ESRC-funded researchers and ESRC associates. It celebrates researchers at all career stages whose actions have supported changes in practice, thinking or capacity that create a positive impact in our society, economy and in our lives, both here in the UK and internationally.
See: https://esrc.ukri.org/research/celebrating-impact-prize/
ESRC Festival of Social Sciences
Applications available for sponsorship of up to £1,000 to assist with events. This celebration of the social sciences takes place across the UK – 475 events being held covering a wide range of topics – AI, mental health, sexuality, parenting, weather, gender, ageing, love, death, economics and education, to name but a few. Delivered via public debates, conferences, workshops, interactive seminars, film screenings, virtual exhibitions etc.
See: https://esrc.ukri.org/public-engagement/festival-of-social-science/
Institute of Classical Studies Conference Grants. (Deadlines: 1 May 2021)
Small grants – usually between £250 and £500 – are available to support conferences and workshops throughout the UK. Preference will be given to proposals for meetings on innovative and interdisciplinary themes, or on emerging or endangered subjects. Recurrent events that have received support in the past will not normally be eligible for repeat funding in subsequent years.
See: https://ics.sas.ac.uk/awards/grants
THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER FUNDING
University of Manchester Wellcome ISSF Public Engagement Funding Scheme (Opens: 2021)
To support and encourage staff and postgraduate students to share, inspire and involve the public with our work in line with our Public Engagement Strategy. If you are new to public engagement – up to £500; If you already have experience of public engagement – up to £3000 (match funding required); If you want to develop your skills in public engagement – up to £2000. For queries contact: publicprogrammes@mft.nhs.uk
See: https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/bmh/research/funding-and-applications/funding-opportunities/wellcome-trust/public-engagement/
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health Social Responsibility Funding
Engaging with our Communities and Social Responsibility in the Curriculum
Apply for up to £2000 to enable socially responsible graduates through innovative curriculum enhancement and/or apply for up to £2000 to support Faculty community engagement initiatives, creating new partnerships or enhancing existing ones. For queries contact: SRBMH@manchester.ac.uk
See: https://blogs.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/blog/2019/09/13/applications-now-open-for-201920-social-responsibility-and-public-engagement-funding/
And see:
https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/bmh/social-responsibility/public-and-patient-engagement/funding-opportunities/
Faculty of Science and Engineering Better World Funding Competition
Applicants can apply for funding up to £3,000 to support a range of activities in Environmental sustainability and / or a Living Labs projects; Innovation in Social Responsibility in the curriculum; Local community engagement projects; Widening Participation. For queries contact: fsesocialreponsibility@manchester.ac.uk
See: http://www.se.manchester.ac.uk/social-responsibility/betterworldfunding/
Humanities Social Responsibility Funding – Engaging with our Communities and Social Responsibility in the Curriculum
Apply for up to £2000 to enable socially responsible graduates through innovative curriculum enhancement and/or apply for up to £1500 to support Faculty community engagement initiatives. For queries contact: claire.lloyd@manchester.ac.uk
See: https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/humanities/social-responsibility/sr-curriculum/
See: https://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/humanities/social-responsibility/funding/