/ Grants at the Royal Society / Places of Science

Places of science: Eligibility and judging criteria

Places of science 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.

For full guidance, please refer to the scheme notes (PDF).

Who is eligible?

  • Institutions must have accredited or provisionally accredited museum status ('working towards' status will be accepted provided you supply us with evidence of this alongside your application)
  • Institutions must have fewer than 65,000 visitors, or turnover of less than £200,000, per year
  • Institutions must be in the United Kingdom
  • Activities must be for a public, non-specialist audience
  • The project must commence before the end of August 2026

How will applications be judged? 

Applications are judged by the Places of science allocation panel, which is made up of museum and heritage professionals, historians and scientists.

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

We love to hear about projects taking place at your museum and beyond; including but not limited to schools, community spaces, in nature, etc. We also encourage involving your local communities in any capacity – as participants, volunteers, or lived experience contributors and advisors.

We also strongly welcome applications from projects that align with the themes of the Natural History Museum’s Fixing Our Broken Planet programme. In April 2025, the Natural History Museum opened a new gallery which explores the biggest challenges facing the planet and science-backed, hopeful solutions which help us to create a more sustainable world. The gallery and associated programme delve into the themes of the food we eat, the energy we consume, the stuff we use, and the impact of all of this on our health. Through a Community of Practice, UK-wide organisations are supported to build best practice around communicating these themes through a skills and knowledge sharing programme.

Applications will be judged on their relevance and suitability, impact and significance, and planning and evaluation.

Relevance and suitability (40%)
The extent to which the project meets the scheme’s criteria.

Impact and significance (40%)
The effect of the project on the community, the museum and any partners and volunteers.

Planning and evaluation (20%)
The coherence and feasibility of the proposed timeline, budget and evaluation plan.

The panel will aim, where possible, to select a demographically, geographically and scientifically diverse range of projects.

Further information and enquiries

Please contact the Public Engagement team on public.engagement@royalsociety.org.