STFC Public Engagement Nucleus Awards (Stage 1) – UK

STFC Nucleus grant holders undertake high quality programmes of public engagement that inspire and involve target audiences with stories of STFC science, technology and facilities. Grant holders may also use Nucleus awards to create and sustain public engagement networks that develop communities of practice.

Nucleus awards may also be used for activities that are dedicated to developing community networks or capacity building in public engagement. This may be the sole purpose of a Nucleus award, or an application may combine engagement activities and networking into a coherent package.

Funding Information

• STFC will fund a maximum of £100,000 for each proposal. For those ROs that are subject to TRAC, this will be 80% of the overall costs (i.e a maximum of £125,000 at FEC). For non-TRAC ROs, please add all your costs under the Exceptions fund heading.

Duration

• The duration of this award is expected to be between 24 and 36 months.

What they’re looking for?

• Engagement programmes
  • Proposed engagement programmes must either:
    • clearly focus on the remit of the STFC science programme
    • clearly and demonstrably align to the science and technology work of STFC’s national and international laboratories and facilities
• STFC’s remits are:
  • astronomy
  • solar and planetary science
  • particle physics
  • particle astrophysics
  • cosmology
  • nuclear physics
  • accelerator science

Who can apply?

• Host institution
  • Organisations that apply must be based in the UK.
  • STFC can only fund organisations that have audited accounts. If this does not describe your organisation, you must work in partnership with an organisation that can receive the funding on your behalf.
• Applicant eligibility
  • Almost anyone can apply for a Nucleus award, including:
    • grant funded researchers
    • STFC scientists, technicians and engineers
    • facility users
    • schools
    • museums
    • science communicators
    • universities
    • colleges
    • community interest companies
    • libraries
• The principal applicant must be eligible to apply on behalf of the organisation that would hold the award.

Ineligible

• They will not fund:
  • projects where the target audiences are not primarily within the UK
  • fees or honoraria to people already in paid employment to visit or give talks at schools, societies and so on where such activities would reasonably be undertaken as part of their normal duties
  • costs for hardware or equipment over the individual value of £10,000
  • infrastructure funding or costs for building construction and maintenance
  • projects where it is clear that the project would go ahead irrespective of STFC support
  • retrospective funding, including those projects with a start date after the closing date but before the funding decisions are announced.

For more information, visit STFC.