The British Science Festival Community Grants Programme 2025 is now open for applications.
The British Science Association (BSA) want to support, grow and diversify the community of people who are interested and involved in science. Science is closely linked to creativity and involves some similar disciplines and approaches. Creativity is essential in science as it drives innovation and problem-solving, allowing scientists to develop new theories and technologies.
About The British Science Festival Community Grants Programme 2025
They are providing grants of up to £1000 to community groups/organisations based in the Liverpool City region that work directly with audiences who are traditionally underrepresented and currently not engaged in science activity. They want to empower and support community groups to run their own science activities as part of the British Science Festival, enabling new local audiences to engage with science.
Background to the grants programme
Each year, the BSA provides grants to community groups/organisations in the festival host city that work directly with audiences who are traditionally underrepresented and currently not engaged in science activity.
They want to empower and support community groups to run their own science activities as part of the British Science Festival, enabling new local audiences to engage with science. These events can take place anytime from August through to November.
If you have any questions about this year’s grants scheme, please get in touch with the British Science Festival team, at festival@britishscienceassociation.org
If you are part of a community group or organisation, you might also be interested in joining the BSA Community Engagement Network. Find out more here.
2025 Grant Guidelines
The British Science Festival, coordinated by the British Science Association (BSA), is Europe’s longest-standing national event which connects people with scientists, engineers, technologists and social scientists. Thousands of people come together to celebrate the latest developments in science and to engage in open discussion about issues that affect our culture and society.
This year the Festival will take place in Liverpool from 10 – 14 September 2025, hosted by the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University.
What are the criteria?
To be eligible for a grant, you must represent or have existing connections to a community-based group or organisation that works directly with audiences who are traditionally underrepresented and currently not engaged in science activity. For this scheme, groups that are underrepresented in science include:
- People living in communities which face deprivation
- People from minoritised ethnic backgrounds
- People in faith/religious communities
- Disabled people, including neurodivergent people
- LGBTQI+ people, including diversity in sexual orientation and gender identity
- Women (if the project is linked to physics or IT in particular)
- People uninterested in science
- People who are interested in science but do not engage in science
They will prioritise events targeting adults (ages 16+), in line with the target audience of the British Science Festival.
* For community groups that work with girls and women, we prioritise those who work with at least one other underrepresented group.
They are keen to support events that demonstrate how science is a wider part of culture. They will also prioritise events that are embedded in the local community and ones that will have a legacy, providing a way for those involved to continue their engagement with science.
What type of event/activity could you run?
This grant scheme aims to recognise the expertise of community leaders in working with their local audiences. We are therefore keen to hear what activities you think would work best for engaging your audiences with science.
If you are stuck for inspiration, you can read case studies from the British Science Festival 2023 Community Grant recipients. In addition, here are a few examples of previously funded events to demonstrate the range of activities that we support:
- workshops exploring the fascinating world of mosses and discovering the vital roles that they play in responding to the climate and ecological emergencies
- workshops about local research and broader topics in astrophysics and astronomy, whilst carrying out creative activities with space-themed refreshments
- activity sessions exploring the science of remote sensing archaeology through the history of their local area.
- workshops hacking toys to create unique musical instruments and sound generators, whilst learning about electrical circuits and how sound is generated electronically.
- the first ever Exeter Tomato Festival, promoting tomato diversity and demonstrating the seed saving and the fermentation process that is part of saving tomato seeds, whilst highlighting the science of taste, and encouraging people to grow-their-own.
What can the grant money be spent on?
Grant money can be used for the following:
Materials and equipment required for the event
Refreshments and room hire
Publicity
AV hire
Reasonable volunteer expenses
Speakers, trainers and freelancers
Project specific staff costs – salaries or fees for people who are essential to the project and whose salaries are not already covered by another grant
Transport or other costs associated with planning, promoting and delivering your activities.
However, the majority of the grant cannot be spent on refreshments or project specific staff costs.
Grant money cannot be spent on:
Large competition prizes
On-going staff costs
Costs that are already covered by other funding
General running costs and overheads that are paid for by other income.
What will we ask for in your application?
You will be asked to provide the following information in your application:
your organisation’s address and postcode;
a brief description of your organisation, including the audiences/users you work with (200 words maximum);
your event date and location;
a general description of the event (300 words maximum);
a description of your event objectives, including how your event will meet your audience’s needs and how you will ensure their engagement (300 words maximum);
a rough budget outline (ideally in bullet points) of costs associated with the event and how the grant money will be used (200 words maximum);
your organisation’s bank details, including account name, number and sort code.
If there are any potential conflicts of interest, for example if you are already contributing to the British Science Festival or are connected with the British Science Association, Liverpool John Moores University or University of Liverpool.
Deadlines and payments
The closing date for applications is Monday 28th July, at 5pm.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by email by the end of July. If successful, applicants may be asked to confirm their bank details as part of our ongoing due diligence checks. If you receive an email or phone call requesting confirmation, you must respond and confirm your bank details within 3 working days. Grant payments will then be paid directly into the nominated bank account at the start of August.
Financial information is stored on a secure cloud-based service and will only be used to pay successful grant applicants. Unused details will be deleted. Providing your account details at this stage allows us to pay successful grant applicants immediately, making it easier to organise events.
How to apply
All applications must be made online via a short application form.
When completing the application form, please ensure that your email address and telephone number are correct. As we will communicate with you primarily by email, please ensure you give an email address that is checked regularly by the person who applies for the grant.
They encourage applicants to contact the British Science Festival team if you have any questions regarding the application process or are looking for support in developing your event idea. Please email festival@britishscienceassociation.org.