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Public engagement grants

The Society is launching a new scheme that will support both Members and non-members in engaging with the public on all aspects of physiology. We are a running a pilot of this scheme up until April, where a total of £5000 will be available to sponsor a public engagement project or projects. Please note the deadline for the pilot scheme has now passed.

We hope the applications we fund through this scheme will help meet The Society’s aims with regard to engaging with the public. We will work closely with successful applications to develop a relationship between The Society and sponsored projects.

We have previously supported public engagement projects through ad-hoc grants, most recently Bright Club: Bodies; I’m A Scientist March 2012 Sports Zone and Glasgow Science Centre: Bodyworks.

By introducing a formal scheme, we hope to encourage applications that will enable us to support best practice public engagement across the world. We also aim to support collaborations between expert science communicators, facilitators of public engagement, and our Members with this grant scheme.

We are open to any ideas from you as to how physiologists can engage with the public. Our Outreach Manager is able to discuss your application before it is submitted and can give feedback if you are in contact well in advance of the deadline.

The small print

As part of your application, you will be asked to outline the aims and objectives of your activity, the intended audience and fully justify all requested costs. We encourage you to find additional sponsorship to run your event, where necessary.

The Society asks that it is acknowledged on any promotional material, websites and at the event itself. We also ask that you provide your own evaluation report of your project and submit it to us within one month of its completion, and fill in our project evaluation and learning form.

If your application for funding is successful, we will send you material to help with marketing. We will also work with you to develop your idea throughout the project to ensure it is successful and helps address our aims with regard to engaging with public audiences.

If the pilot scheme is successful, further funding will be made available for a second round of applications to be assessed in October 2012.

Apply for a grant

The scheme is open to Members and non-members of The Physiological Society. We will be looking for evidence of experience in engaging with public audiences in applications.

The deadline for the pilot scheme was 29 February 2012. All applications received by this date will now be shortlisted by the Outreach Manager and shortlised projects will be assessed by The Society’s Education and Outreach Committee on April 3rd. Successful applicants will be notified within one month of the decision.

To help your application, we have compiled a list of useful links for running and evaluating public engagement and outreach activities. We have also uploaded an example of an application based on a public engagement project we funded last year. This example might give you some ideas about how to write a good application. Finally, The Chair of the Education and Outreach Committee has written some guidance that we would like applicants to read before applying.

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