British Science Week Grants now open, deadline 9 November

British Science Week is a 10-day programme of thousands of events running throughout the whole of the UK with the aim of celebrating science, engineering, technology and maths. With no restrictions on who can organise events, the topics on which they are focused, the audience or the venue, the resulting programme is a hugely varied and eclectic mix suitable for people of all ages and abilities.

There are two grant schemes available to support British Science Week (5-14 March 2021) activities: one for schools and one for community groups. These are being offered by the British Science Association, supported by UKRI.

The deadline for applications is 5pm, Monday 9 November 2020.

Be sure to carefully read the guidelines and look at the wealth of resources available on the website, e.g., activity packs.

Kick Start Grants

This scheme offers grants for schools in challenging circumstances to organise their own events as part of British Science Week. There are four options available:

• Kick Start Youth grant: A grant of £150 for your school to run an activity organised by students aged 10-19
• Kick Start grant: A grant of £300 for your school to run an activity for students at your school
• Kick Start More grant: A grant of £700 for your school to run an activity which involves your students and the local community
• Kick Start grant + Youth grant: A grant of £450 for your school to run an activity for British Science Week as well as an additional activity organised and delivered by students aged 10-19

If you're working with schools you can partner up with them but note that the application must come from a state-funded, non-selective school (there are additional criteria for the school to be eligible).

Find out more and apply here.

Community Grants

This scheme offers £500 to £2,000 grants for community groups that work directly with audiences who are traditionally under-represented and currently not engaged in science activity. Our definition of groups that are underrepresented in science includes:

• people from ethnic minorities
• people with low socio-economic status, including people disadvantaged in terms of education and income
• people with a physical or mental condition or impairment
• people living in a remote and rural location, defined as settlements of less than 10,000 people
• girls and women

Again, you can partner up with a community organisation to support a project, but the application must be submitted by an eligible organisation.

Take a look at their case studies of community engagement projects.

Find out more and apply here.