/ Grants at the Royal Society

Professorship for Public Engagement in Science

This scheme is for a well-established scientist with exceptional scientific communication skills and media experience to support the Society’s public engagement work.

Status: Closed

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About the scheme 

The aim of this award is to provide support to an exceptional scientific communicator to: 

  • Play a leadership role in supporting public engagement with science including helping to shape and support the Royal Society’s public engagement activities 
  • Communicate the importance of science to society to a range of audiences, especially the importance of experiment, evidence and understanding uncertainty 
  • Engage with the public on scientific issues which inform policy debates on key topics 
  • Inspire and enthuse public audiences about science, encouraging participation and aspiration 

The expectation is that the successful candidate will seek to raise the public profile of science on behalf of the whole scientific community and the Royal Society specifically. 

The activities the successful candidate undertakes will be agreed between the candidate and the Society depending on the time committed to the Professorship, but may include activity related to programmes such as the Summer Science Exhibition, the Society’s popular science books prizes, the schools engagement programme and helping engage the public with our policy work. 

The Royal Society recognises that diversity is essential for delivering excellence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The Society wants to encourage applications from the widest range of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences to maximise innovation and creativity in science for the benefit of humanity. We regularly review and revise policies and processes to embed equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) principles in all aspects of the grant making process and ensure all talented applicants have an equitable chance to succeed as per the assessment criteria. 

See below for details of reasonable adjustments we can provide for disabled applicants.  

What does the scheme offer? 

The appointment will be for five years in the first instance with the opportunity to renew the professorship for a further five years. 

Funds can cover: 

  • Basic salary as set by the host institution and associated on-costs. The salary for the post will be in line with the contribution made to Royal Society Research Professorships, which is £90,000 plus oncosts (full-time equivalent). The Society expects the successful candidate to commit between 20% and 50% of their time to the Professorship
  • Public engagement expenses of up to £16,000 per annum

Full funding details can be found in the scheme notes. 

This scheme is for you if:

  • You are a well-established scientist with exceptional scientific communication skills and media experience
  • You hold a permanent post at a UK university or not-for-profit institution
  • Your background is within the Royal Society’s remit of natural sciences, which includes but is not limited to biological research and biomedical sciences, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics. For a full list, please see the breakdown of subject groups and areas supported by the Royal Society

Read the scheme notes for further information on eligibility. Please ensure that you meet all eligibility requirements before applying.

You will apply through our application and grant management system, Flexi-Grant®. 

See the ‘Application and assessment process’ page for a general overview of the application and selection steps and below for details specific to this scheme. 

Assessment of your application will be overseen by a sub-committee of the Royal Society’s Council. 

Further detail on the application and assessment process is available in the scheme notes.

The Royal Society welcomes applications from disabled applicants and provides support and adjustments to ensure that they can participate fully in the selection process. If you require support or an adjustment when accessing the application form, attending interviews, or for any other part of the application process, please contact the Grants team on seniorfellowships@royalsociety.org or +44 20 7451 2666. All requests for adjustments are made in confidentiality. Any request for an adjustment will not normally be shared with panel members unless it becomes relevant to the assessment process itself. If we need to share your request with anyone (for example if panel members are required to implement any adjustments during interviews), we will ask for your permission first.

Adjustments can include, but are not limited to:

  • Extension of the deadline
  • Additional support to complete the application form
  • Receiving the application form in a different format, such as on a Word document
  • Support during interviews as required, including technical support for candidates requiring accessibility software or services
  • Additional costs that candidates may incur on account of their particular disability to attend an interview

If you have further questions regarding the scheme, please contact the Grants team on seniorfellowships@royalsociety.org or visit our contact us page.

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