Essential information about exhibiting at the Summer Science Exhibition
The Summer Science Exhibition (1 – 6 July 2025) is a free, week-long festival celebrating the cutting edge of UK science. Over the course of the exhibition, we welcome around 10,000 visitors.
As the Royal Society's longest standing and largest public event, exhibiting is an excellent opportunity to engage a variety of audiences with your research.
We welcome applications from academic institutions, industry and other science-related sectors who have innovative and exciting research to showcase which can form the basis of a fun, interactive and hands-on exhibition stand.
Who can apply?
Applications can be made individually or in collaboration from academic, industry or other science-related sectors researchers. The lead applicant must be a senior researcher based in the UK.
Exhibitors may wish to jointly submit proposals with their collaborators and other research groups and may also recruit undergraduates and students to build their exhibit team. Find out how to apply and the selection criteria.
Audience breakdown
Over the course of the exhibition, we welcome around 10,000 visitors through our doors.
As a rough breakdown, this includes around 7,000 members of the public (who attend primarily over the weekend); 2,000 secondary school students and teachers from all over the UK; and 1,000 invited guests as part of our Soiree evenings, including Fellows and representatives from the media, government and policy influencers.
Preparing your exhibit
Your exhibit should be engaging for a visitor who doesn't have a scientific background and include interactive activities. All exhibit spaces are a standard size of 4m x 2m. If your activities require a different size or format, please get in touch before the closing date so we can discuss feasibility.
If successful in your application to exhibit in 2025, representatives of your exhibit group will be invited to the Planning Day at the Royal Society in January 2025. At this event, the Society provides guidance on designing exhibits and you will get a chance to tour the exhibition space. Some exhibitors from the previous year also attend to share their experiences.
During the lead-up to the exhibition in July 2025, our Public Engagement team will be on hand to support you through the stages of your exhibit development. We can also arrange for public engagement and media and communications skills training for exhibit teams if required. Find out more about what we require and what we can provide.
Funding your exhibit
The cost of exhibiting varies a great deal, and effective exhibits can be delivered at a range of budgets. Exhibitors in the past have spent roughly as below:
Total spend
- 30% spent £25k
- 20% spent £20k - £25k
- 25% spent £15k - £20k
- 15% spend £10k - £15k
- 10% 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
The Summer Science Exhibition requires exhibitors to design and built their exhibit with higher production values than many other science festivals and events. We appreciate that this makes participating in the event expensive, and are happy to have conversations with potential and confirmed exhibitors about possible sources of funding.
You may wish to approach your host institution, industry partners, or other public engagement funding schemes to cover costs. Find a list of current public engagement funding opportunities maintained by the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE).
The Royal Society will provide up to £2,000 to support costs associated with logistics. We also provide food (lunch) and drink for exhibitors during the week, Wi-Fi, power, on-site IT support and portering services.
If selected, your exhibit will also benefit from marketing, communications, media, press, digital communications, and public engagement support.
During the event
At least four members of the exhibition team should be on the stand during the public opening times for the exhibition and at the additional evening events. We recommend having at least eight members of staff on each stand per day to allow breaks. Visitors enjoy interacting with you and asking questions about your work.
After the exhibition, we encourage exhibitors to scope other opportunities to present the exhibit elsewhere, such as local science centres or science museums, local visitor attractions or public venues, local secondary school fairs or open days at research institutions.
In 2024 the Royal Society launched "Summer Science Exhibits On Tour", a collaboration with regional science festivals and events across the UK where past Summer Science exhibits had the option to re-exhibit their work with financial support from the Royal Society.
How to apply
The call for proposals for the 2025 Summer Science Exhibition is now open and will close on 31 October 2024. More details on how to apply.
Contact us
If you have any questions, please email us or call on +44 20 7451 2615.
