The British Science Festival 2026 Community Grants Programme is now open for applications.
The British Science Festival, coordinated by the British Science Association (BSA), connects communities with science. Each year, 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 Southampton from 16 – 20 September 2026, hosted by the University of Southampton.
The BSA wants to support, grow and diversify the community of people who are interested and involved in science. We are providing grants of up to £1000 for community groups and organisations operating in the city of Southampton that work directly with audiences who are traditionally underrepresented and currently not engaged in science. Our grant scheme aims 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 activities can take place anytime from August through to November 2026.
To apply, please complete the application form by Tuesday 5th May at 5pm.
Curious to find out more? Join our online webinar on the 14th April at 1pm to hear about the scheme from the British Science Festival team and ask your questions. To sign up, please complete this short online form. We will follow up with a Zoom link closer to the date.
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.
2026 Grant Guidelines
What are the eligibility criteria?
To be eligible for the BSF 2026 Community Grants, your organisation must be predominantly active within the city of Southampton.
This grant scheme aims to empower and support community organisations and groups to run activities that demonstrate the relevance of science to the lives’ of their audiences. We prioritise events that are embedded in the local community.
Activity providers, libraries, museums and other institutions who are looking for funding to run an event with a group that meets one of our target audiences are encouraged to partner with a community group. The community groups should take ownership of the activity and apply for the grant directly themselves. These applications have a much better chance of being successful.
You must represent or have existing connections to a community-based group or organisation that works directly with people who are traditionally underrepresented and currently not engaged in science activity. For this scheme, our definition of 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
*We will prioritise events targeting adults (ages 16+), in line with the target audience of the British Science Festival.
BSF 2026 community grants cannot be used for events or activities taking place in primary or secondary schools.
The lead applicant must have UK based bank or building society account which has the same name as that of your organisation.
Your event must take place between August and November 2026.
What type of activity could you run?
Provided your approach meets the above criteria, the format and topic is entirely up to you. We recognise the expertise of community leaders in working with their local audiences. We want to hear what activities you think would work best for engaging your audiences with science.
We encourage you to consider the issues that are impacting your community on a daily basis and how science might relate to these topics. You could think about how a practical or hands on activities could engage your group in a new skills or topic. For example, you could explore health through cooking classes, talk about sustainability through repair workshops or discuss tips and tricks to insulate homes in response to the cost of living crisis.
We suggest you consider simple messages that your audiences can takeaway to make small but impactful changes to the way they think, feel, do things day to day.
If you are stuck for inspiration, you can read about last year’s awardees or dig deeper into 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:
- Dementia awareness workshop linking heart health to brain health. Through talks, kitchen-table cooking, and creative activities, women from ethnic minority backgrounds explored how everyday choices support dementia prevention and family wellbeing.
- Sensory play programmes for new parents and carers with babies from birth to first steps, blending science with rhythm, music, and movement to explore early brain development, bonding, and learning through play
- The first ever Exeter Tomato Festival, promoting tomato diversity and demonstrating the seed saving whilst highlighting the science of taste and encouraging people to grow-their-own.
Successful grant applicants will be offered flexible support, including online calls to discuss ideas and challenges with colleagues from the British Science Festival and University of Southampton.
What can the grant money be spent on?
Grant money can be used for the following:
- Materials and equipment
- Refreshments* and room hire
- Publicity
- AV hire
- Reasonable volunteer expenses
- Speakers 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.
*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 name and contact details
- Your organisation’s address and postcode;
- Your organisation’s bank details, including account name, number and sort code.
- An overview of your organisation’s mission, including the audiences/users you work with (150 words maximum);
- An overview of your event (200 words maximum)
Provide a short description of the audiences you will engage (demographics and numbers of participants), the activities you would like to run and the aims of your event (e.g. what will people learn, what do you want to change).
- An overview of how the activity supports the long-term objectives or goals of your community group/ organisation (200 words)
- An approximate budget outline, ideally in bullet points, of costs associated with the event and how the grant money will be used (100 words maximum);
- 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 or the University of Southampton.
Please note, existing connections to these organisations will not exclude you from this grant.
How will we review applications?
Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of representatives from the British Science Festival and the University of Southampton’s Public Engagement with Research Unit.
Applications will be scored against the following criteria:
- Does the activities align to our target audience, timeline, location, permitted costs?
- The relevance, inclusivity and creativity of the proposal. Is the suggested activity embedded in the local community? Are community members involved in some aspect of the planning or delivery of the event? Does the activity explore creative, hands-on ways to engage audiences with science? Does the activity showcase the role science plays in everyday life?
- Does the applicant have the relevant experience to deliver the suggested activity? Is the activity and budget for the activity realistic, sensible, well-considered and in line with the spending guidelines?
- Does the applicant consider the longer-term impact of their event/activity? Have they considered how the group/organisation will continue their engagement with science beyond the festival grant?
Successful projects typically demonstrate a clear identification of the target audience and how they align to our priority audiences, how organisers will ensure audience engagement and how audiences will actively take part in the activities. It will also strengthen your application to outline the ways in which the grant and activities will have impact/ legacy beyond the initial event.
Deadlines and payments
The deadline for applications is Tuesday 5th May at 5pm.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by email in mid-May. 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 our 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.
Our position on the use of AI in developing your grant application
We understand that AI tools can be helpful in enabling a wide range of people to apply to grant schemes.
We will not reject any applications on the basis of them using AI, you may use AI tools to aid your application writing.
However, from our experience, we suggest that you do not rely solely on AI tools to develop the ideas and activities for your grant applicants. While AI tools can provide a useful starting point and structure, it often uses and produces generic or even incorrect information. The strongest grant applications will be clear, specific and detailed in what you propose to deliver and why it best suits the needs of your community.
We will not use AI in our reviewing of applications or any decision making for these grants.
Please remember, there is a large environmental cost to using AI tools and they should only be used when there is a significant benefit in doing so.
We 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 email festival@britishscienceassociation.org.
For more information about the work the British Science Association does to support and engage with community groups, please visit our Community Engagement page.
Terms and conditions of the grant
1. By submitting an application to the British Science Association, the organisation named in the application (referred to as ‘you’ in these Terms and Conditions) agrees, if awarded a grant, to:
1.1 hold the grant on trust for the British Science Association (referred to as ‘we’ or ‘us’) and use it only for your event/activity as described in your application or otherwise agreed with us, and only for expenditure incurred after the date of the grant award;
1.2 hold your event/activity before the end of November 2026. If for whatever reason you are not able to run your events/activities during this time, the grant money will have to be returned to the British Science Association. For these reasons, you will have contingency plans in case of illness or unforeseen circumstances;
1.3 complete an organiser feedback survey (provided by the British Science Association) after the British Science Festival 2026;
1.4 distribute a short feedback form (provided by the British Science Association) to your event/activity participants and return the completed forms to the British Science Association head office after the event/activity;
1.5 act lawfully in carrying out your event/activity, in accordance with best practice and guidance from your regulators, and follow any guidelines issued by us about the event/activity or use of the grant;
1.6 correctly acknowledge the British Science Association, the British Science Festival and the University of Southampton in any press releases or marketing material. Please contact the British Science Association for additional information.
1.7 use the British Science Festival logo on any marketing materials produced, either in print or online. Downloadable logos will be provided to successful applicants.
1.8 hold the grant in a UK based bank or building society account which has the same name as that of your organisation;
1.9 immediately return any part of the grant that is not used for your event/activity or constitutes unlawful state aid;
1.10 where your event/activity involves working with children, young people or vulnerable adults, adopt and implement an appropriate written safeguarding policy, obtain written consent from legal carers or guardians and carry out background checks for all employees, volunteers, trustees or contractors as required by law;
1.11 comply with data protection laws and obtain the consent of your beneficiaries for us and you to receive and process their personal information and contact them;
1.12 keep accurate and comprehensive records about your event/activity both during the event/activity and for seven years afterwards and provide us on request with copies of those records and evidence of expenditure of the grant, such as original receipts and bank statements;
1.13 allow us reasonable access to your premises and systems to inspect event/activity and grant records;
1.14 the British Science Association publicising and sharing information about you and your event/activity including your name and images of event/activities. You hereby grant us a royalty free licence to reproduce and publish any event/activity information you give us. You will let us know when you provide the information if you don’t have permission for us to use it in this way.
1.15 you, or someone from your organisation, will inform us immediately of any safeguarding incident or allegation involving a member of your organisation, project staff, volunteers or agents which occurs within the grant funded project. You, or someone from your organisation, will inform us immediately in the event of an investigation against your organisation or a staff member or volunteer by the police or a regulatory body which relates to the grant funded project.
2. You acknowledge that we are entitled to suspend or terminate the grant and/or require you to repay all or any of the grant in any of the following situations. You must let us know if any of these situations have occurred or are likely to occur:
2.1 you use the grant in any way other than as approved by us or fail to comply with any of these Terms and Conditions.
2.2 you fail to complete the feedback forms or your activity/event differs greatly to that outlined in your application.
2.3 you have match funding for the project withdrawn or receive duplicate funding for the same project costs as funded by the grant.
2.4 you provide us with false or misleading information either on application or after award of the grant. In relation to the grant funded project, you or your organisation act dishonestly or are under investigation by us, a regulatory body or the police, fail to inform us about a relevant safeguarding incident or external investigation, or if we consider for any other reason that public funds are at risk or you do anything to bring the British Science Association, the British Science Festival or the host universities into disrepute.
2.5 you enter into, or in our view are likely to enter into, administration, liquidation, receivership or dissolution.
3. You acknowledge that:
3.1 the grant is for your use only and we may require you to pay us a share of any proceeds from disposal of assets purchased or enhanced with the grant;
3.2 we will not increase the grant if you spend more than the agreed budget;
3.3 if the provided bank account details including account name, account number and sort code, are incorrect, your grant payment may be significantly delayed or your grant offer may be withdrawn;
3.4 the grant is not consideration for any taxable supply for VAT purposes;
3.5 we have no liability for any costs or consequences incurred by you or third parties that arise directly or indirectly from the project, nor from nonpayment or withdrawal of the grant, save to the extent required by law;
3.6 the British Science Association will not be held responsible or liable for any consequences, whether direct or indirect to any loss or damage, personal or otherwise, injury or death however arising in grant-funded events and activities. Grant recipients are responsible for taking out any public liability or other insurance necessary to cover the activities.
3.7 these Terms and Conditions will continue to apply for one year after the grant is paid or until the project has been completed, whichever is later. Clauses 1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 1.12, 1.13, 1.14, 3.5 and 3.6 shall survive expiry of these Terms and Conditions; and
3.8 if the application and grant award are made electronically, the agreement between us shall be deemed to be in writing and your online acceptance of these Terms and Conditions shall be deemed to be a signature of that agreement.
The British Science Festival is produced by the British Science Association
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www.britishscienceassociation.org
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