Places of science

About the scheme

The scheme provides grants of up to £3,500 to small museums, funding projects that tell the stories of science and scientists relevant to communities across the UK.

We want to fund projects that

• highlight the topics, stories and people that are relevant to your local community
• present science in new and interesting ways
• encourage participation and involvement of the local community
• provoke curiosity, interest and enthusiasm among those that take part

We are particularly interested in projects that

• explore the experiences of historically underrepresented people
• are led by organisations that don’t normally feature scientific content
• involve partners that can enhance the project’s outcomes, impact or quality
• reach audiences who do not normally engage with science
• enable possibilities for digital engagement, either as a main feature or as part of a contingency plan

We also strongly encourage projects which align with the themes of the Natural History Museum’s Our Broken Planet: How we got here and ways to fix it programme. The Natural History Museum is supporting museums across the UK to engage with topics that debate why and how our relationship with the natural world needs to change.

Projects covering these themes may be linked with the NHM and its UK-wide Community of Practice to support skills and knowledge sharing. Themes include: Climate Emergency (e.g. surviving warming waters and storing carbon), Health (e.g. the spread of disease or eco-anxiety), Eating the Earth (e.g. the future of food and sustainable farming) and Nature for Sale (e.g. fast fashion and illegal wildlife trade).The programme also aims to support the engagement of these topics with young people.

For more details, please read our scheme guidance (PDF).