Our Engage Grants: Initiator Fund is open for researchers and experimental and technical staff at any level, including doctoral students from the Faculties of Science and Engineering & Design.

The fund supports those who wish to carry out small-scale or pilot public engagement to: support their learning about engagement, gain experience of engagement, and develop their engagement ideas. This fund is particularly aimed at those researchers and experimental and technical staff with little or no experience of engagement with their research, and for reaching public groups that you may not have worked with in the past.

This call is only open to staff and doctoral students from the faculties of Science and Engineering & Design.

Examples of Initiator Fund activities include (but are not limited to):

• Running a public engagement activity at a science, music or cultural festival e.g., Greenman or Glastonbury
• Working with artists or creative specialists to create an artistic piece inspired by your research or share skills between researchers and creatives
• Engaging public groups online through social media, podcasts, videos, livestreams or other methods

An application can cover one or more of the above activities or other relevant ideas not listed, but must not exceed £1000. The grant cannot be used to cover time for the researcher(s) or staff member(s) involved.

In the context of this funding call, the ‘public’ is defined as any person or group outside of academia.

A total of £3000 is available for this call. The Public Engagement Unit reserve the right not to allocate all the funds available.

We have found that projects of this scale usually take six months to develop and deliver. If you are planning a longer project please make the case within your application.

We recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant effect on all public engagement activities, and we are open to any format or method that meets the needs of the public groups you will be working with. You can find inspiration for digital activities on the NCCPE webpage and remote engagement activities in this Taking Part open-source database.

Who can apply

This call is open to any member of staff in the Research & Education and Technical & Experimental job families (any discipline or career stage) and doctoral students who are looking to engage the public with their research. This call is only open to the Faculties of Science and Engineering & Design.

Doctoral students will need to secure permission from their supervisor(s) in order to apply for this award.

Assessment

Assessment criteria

• a clearly articulated link between current high-quality research and the proposed engagement activity
• clearly articulated aims outlining the purpose of engaging public groups with your research
• a clearly defined public group and a clear explanation of how the project will meet their needs
• an explanation of how the engagement project will benefit the applicant and their research
• a plan to evaluate the success of the project, including the evaluation tools to be used
• a realistic project plan highlighting the feasibility of the project within the budget limits and the timescales outlined

Assessment process

Application forms must be emailed to public-engagement@bath.ac.uk no later than 5pm on Monday 13 March 2023, with ‘Initiator Fund’ in the subject line.

Applications will be reviewed by a panel made up of:

• the Public Engagement Unit
  
• an academic representative from the University of Bath

A member of the Public Engagement Unit will be in touch as to the outcome of your application the week commencing the 3 April 2023.

Reporting

All projects will be required to report their learning, outcomes and experiences to the Public Engagement Unit. Award holders will be expected to share their learning and experiences through events and formats that the Public Engagement Unit coordinate and manage.

There is an expectation that all successful applications will share their learning and outcomes from the project with their colleagues within departments and across the University. This could involve sharing learning from the projects at departmental meetings or University-wide events such as the annual Engage Showcase.

Timetable

Call opens

Tuesday 31 January 2023

Call closes

Monday 13 March 2023, 5pm

Awards start

Early April 2023

Reports due

Before Monday 30 October 2023

If you are considering an application, we would strongly encourage you to speak with a member of the Public Engagement Unit about your project prior to application submission. Please email the Public Engagement Unit via public-engagement@bath.ac.uk