FAQs for Industry

Why get involved with the Exhibition?

Other than these top reasons to exhibit, the Exhibition is a fantastic opportunity for:

• Getting your name out there - We allow your company name, branding and logo all over the exhibit. Not only that, but we will feature your company name and branding throughout our promotion.
• Networking – our VIP evening events put you in conversation with influential people including industry leaders, policy makers and research funders.
• Outreach – with thousands of school students visiting, over 10,000 other visitors and a huge online audience, this is a high-impact opportunity for the public to connect with your science and technology. We also provide you with the detailed public evaluation stats to back this up. You can even provide information on career opportunities at your company.

Can I use my company branding?

If you wish to promote your company through the Summer Science Exhibition we allow your company name, branding and logo all over the exhibit. Not only that, but we will can also feature your company name and branding throughout our promotion.

What are the costs involved for my company?

We will provide you with the venue, internet, IT and AV support. Our marketing and press team also ensure a full audience, so you should not need to promote the event yourself.

The cost of exhibiting varies a great deal, and effective exhibits can be delivered at a range of budgets. Typically, in addition, exhibitors in the past have spent roughly as shown below;

Total spend
25% spent £25k 
25% spent £20k - £25k 
32% spent £15k - £20k 
19% spend £10k - £15k
0% spend under 10k 

Rough budget breakdown (%)
40% Exhibit Design and Build 
25% Displays and interactives 
25% Accommodation, travel and subsistence 
10% Freebies, T-shirts, insurance

Look at this project as an investment; we encourage exhibits to be designed for flexible reuse, and we’ve found past exhibitors frequently have the opportunity to do so after the Exhibition.

You can apply for funding from Research Councils, universities, industrial partners and numerous other organisations that support public engagement with science and engineering.

What is the time investment?

As above, the required time investment is variable, but is considerable. It can be effective to use a non-scientist project manager to lead and organise your group.

We understand industry scientists might find it difficult to flexibly devote time to the exhibition process. If time commitment is a concern, we recommend off-loading as much as is appropriate to external services, such as exhibition designers. Over the years we have built up a list of trusted companies that can help you deliver the exhibit you want and save you time.

Another effective strategy for saving time is to share the work with academic partners. See below for more detail, but the commonly more flexible schedules of academic researchers can provide the help you need.

Can we exhibit in partnership with another organisation?

Most of our exhibitor are collaborations between research groups. That’s not to say you can’t exhibit alone, but partnerships between industry and academic researchers can provide an effective balance of funding and flexible staff availability. We would rather this be a true collaboration however, not just sponsorship.

It is difficult for us to commit so much time, can we send a sales rep?

At the Summer Science Exhibition, the focus is all on the amazing science and technology you have to show off. With that in mind, this is not a trade show or sales opportunity; we would like the people on your stand to be scientists, engineers and researchers who can explain the research, not sales representatives.

We understand some of these details are a fine line, and are always happy to help clear things up for you if you contact us.

Find out more about

• What exhibitors do
• The selection process
• Making a proposal

Contact us

If you have any questions, email us on exhibition@royalsociety.org or call on (+44) (0) 2074512242.