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Each exhibit will be highlighted on the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition website. There will be opportunity to submit further information about your exhibit, including a description of your research written for a non-specialist and relevant images as part of Form A and Form B. This information will be used for the marketing and promotional campaign for the exhibition.
Images
We require high-quality, powerful images, which are crucial to make sure people click onto your web page and read about your exhibit. The image must be relevant to your science but also lively and eye-catching to hook a public audience. Please submit your images through Form B, due by Friday 13 March.
If necessary, you may purchase these from stock photo libraries. Please ensure you have the copyright/permission to use the images supplied in all media for perpetuity, which should include all social media channels where images are likely to be shared by third parties. You should include any necessary credits on Form B. Please note that the Royal Society has final editorial control over which image is used to achieve overall design consistency.
Images should be:
- High-resolution (minimum 300dpi, 1024px x 540px)
- Ideally an image suited to a wide ratio, panoramic crop.
- Format: jpg, png (preference for jpg where possible)
- It is the responsibility of exhibitors to ensure that images can be reproduced by the Society free of charge
- Copyright/credits that must be stated where appropriate
Photography at the exhibition
The Royal Society will have photographers present throughout the exhibition. We will be collecting consent from all visitors that are under 18 and easily identifiable in photographs, using our online photography consent form. Visitors that do not wish to be photographed will be given a 'no photography sticker' and should not be included in any photographs. Permission will be given in advance by visiting schools to the exhibition, however the same applies if they do not wish to be photographed.
When taking photos of your exhibit or the exhibition, we recommend that you also take consent from visitors. If you do not intend to collect consent, please ensure that you are following the photography guidelines of your institution, particularly concerning photographs of children. If you are unsure of your institutional guidelines on photography, please contact your press, marketing or public engagement team.
Videos
For the exhibition, we do not require exhibitors to submit a video as part of the planning process. However if you wish to make a video around your research, this can be a great way to help to raise awareness about your work and engage people with your work.
Download our guidance on how to make a good video.
Social media
Social media are a great way to extend the reach of your exhibit, attracting new audiences to visit the exhibition, and sharing your content with those who cannot.
There are many social media platforms, each with their own purpose and style of content.
Download our guidance to social media at the exhibition.
If you set up any social media accounts, please let us know in Form B, so we can connect with and promote them.
Social media tips
- Use hashtag #summerscience, and tag @royalsociety so we can easily follow, and measure the effectiveness of, your communications. We will also display #summerscience tweets on a live TV screen during the Exhibition.
- Do share exciting images and science facts, and/or interesting videos and links to get people engaged in your work. Make sure that you own the content that you are posting or have permission to share the content in a digital environment.
- Do be polite and respectful to your fellow exhibitors, peers and the public when posting. Maintain professionalism; don't post anything about a person that you wouldn't say face-to-face.
- Do follow other accounts with a similar style and purpose, to get inspiration on content and style. If you would like more advice on using social media, get in touch.
- We recommend issuing care around consent and avoiding photos of any school pupils who have name badges asking not to be photographed.
Branding on social media
Please be aware that you cannot use the Royal Society logo or branding on your personal social media channels, although you can state in your social media bios that you are an exhibitor at the exhibition. You may use the Charter mark on social media accounts and other digital communications which refer only to your exhibit, as opposed to your institution as a whole.
Twitter has great potential for reaching a wide audience with your research. Posts containing video content tend to be more successful than images and media, and both of these are more engaging than simple text tweets.
Facebook is a great way of sharing the content of your exhibition with audiences who cannot visit the Exhibition. Facebook is ideal for regular posts, but in more detail than Twitter, with the ability to combine with photo albums and video (including Facebook Live video).
Instagram and Snapchat
These networks are most popular with a younger audience, so can have great reach if used correctly. Both are photo/video oriented services but, in general, Instagram favours more aesthetically attractive content whereas Snapchat has a more 'behind the scenes' style, with a focus on feeling part of the action.
YouTube, Vimeo and other video hosts
Although all of the above allow video posting directly within their service, you may find it useful to have a central space for your video content, such as YouTube or Vimeo.
Less of a social network, Reddit is a platform of interest-based communities sharing content. Some scientists have great success running 'Ask Me Anything' (AMA) sessions, in which they post a quick summary of their research and then answer questions from the community as they arrive.
Blogs
Blogs are ideal for an in depth look at your science and content, often featuring a mix of long-form text, images and other multimedia. The difficulty with blogs can be attracting an audience, so we recommend sharing your blog posts through other social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to drive visitors.
Other social media
Consider, with other social networks like Tumblr, Pinterest or Google+, their lower audience numbers and often more niche interests. Unless your use-case particularly suits the strengths of these platforms or audiences, consider if they are worth it.