Guide for industry applicants

We welcome applications to the Summer Science Exhibition from industry organisations, in addition to academic institutions. The most successful and impactful exhibits tend to be those that are collaborations between academia and industry. We encourage groups to highlight these collaborations in their applications. 

The Summer Science Exhibition is a showcase of the latest innovative science and technology research taking place around the UK. The science behind your work should therefore form the base of your application.

Exhibitors from industry may have different priorities from those applying from academic institutions. 

The Summer Science Exhibition is a fantastic opportunity for:

• Promotion - your company name, branding and logo will feature on the exhibit. Not only that, but we can feature your company name and branding on our marketing materials (within reason)
• Networking - our VIP evening events put you in conversation with 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.

What are the costs involved for my company? 

The cost of exhibiting varies a great deal, and effective exhibits can be delivered at a range of budgets. View a rough breakdown of costs. 

This project is an investment for your company: we encourage exhibits to be designed for flexible reuse, and past exhibitors frequently have the opportunity to do so after the Exhibition. 

What is the time investment?

The required time investment is variable, but is considerable. We understand industry scientists might find it difficult to flexibly devote time to the exhibition process. It can be effective to use a non-scientist project manager to lead and organise your group.

If time commitment is a concern, we recommend using external services as much as possible, including 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 exhibits 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 require the people on your stand to be scientists, engineers and researchers who can explain the research, not sales representatives. 

How do we apply?

The call for proposals for the 2022 Summer Science Exhibition will open in May 2021 and close in September 2021.

Find out how to apply or learn more about exhibiting at the Summer Science Exhibition. 

Contact us

If you have any questions, email us on exhibition@royalsociety.org or call on +44 20 7451 2582.

Sign up to the mailing list for the latest updates.