Current Grant Opportunities

Current Grant Opportunities

A range of external sources of funding is available to support researchers with public engagement activities. UK Research Councils, charities, professional bodies and other organisations offer regular grants to deliver public engagement on certain topics and for different audiences. This page outlines any live opportunities for funding.

PERU can offer support and advice in developing your grant application, identifying potential partners and creating a budget. If you wish to discuss applying for a grant to do public engagement please contact the team.

SHAPE Involve and Engage

Closing Date - 28 June 2023 - 17:00 BST

The British Academy has launched a new pilot programme to invest in innovative public engagement in the social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE) disciplines. 

The funding will support you to develop innovative and creative public engagement projects and activities, connect with communities and audiences and involve them in participatory research. Projects supported by the programme must be delivered in partnership with an organisation from the galleries, libraries, archives and museum sector. This year the funding size is ten awards of £8,000 each.

The programme seeks new, creative and innovative approaches, methodologies, outputs, impact, audiences, and approaches to co-production, with a focus on showcasing innovative research and interactive ideas.

Interested in taking part? The call for applications is now open!

Being Human Festival

The UK's national festival of the humanities returns 9–18 November, to celebrate and champion the importance of the humanities! Help demonstrate why humanities research is vital to society and why it is directly relevant to everyday lives and communities.

Each year, researchers at universities and other research organisations to collaborate with local community and cultural partners to create exciting and engaging events and projects for all to enjoy. 

Interested in taking part? The call for applications is now open! There are several ways to take part and there are funding grants on offer to help enable activities. This year, grant sizes range from £8,000 for Hub Awards, and £3,000 for our Small Awards.

Visit the Being Human website to find out more.

Horizon Europe - Back to Earth

Closing Date - 20 September 2023

The European Commission want to increase citizens’ awareness and engagement on soil science to increase soil literacy across society.

Application should propose:

  • Innovative communication campaigns through different tools (e.g. social media, magazines, podcasts, posters, arts, movies, documentaries) to raise awareness on the importance of soil. Furthermore, selected projects should engage with citizens by proposing hand-on activities on proven sustainable practices for soil protection and management.
  • Organisation and promotion of artistic, soil-related activities that target and/or involve the public, such as cultural/arts events, exhibitions, and creative workshops that have at their centre the importance of soils.
  • How to engage citizens in the protection and preservation of soil as well as in tackling soil challenges, through innovative, participatory and creative methodologies.