Opportunity status:
Open
Funders:
Funding type:
Grant
Total fund:
£100,000
Award range:
£5,000 - £20,000
Publication date:
8 September 2025
Opening date:
8 September 2025 9:00am UK time
Closing date:
6 November 2025 4:00pm UK time
Apply for funding to engage the public with Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) supported science.
You must work for an organisation that:
* is based in the UK
* produces annual accounts that are certified by an accountant
It is essential that proposals have clear links to the and include a subject matter expert in an STFC funded remit area.
The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be up to £20,000. STFC will fund 100% of the FEC.
Projects must be between 12 and 36 months in duration.
To lead a project, you must be based at an eligible organisation. .
Who is eligible to apply
Almost anyone can apply for a Spark award, but your host institution must be based in the UK.
Organisations that apply must produce an annual financial report and accounts that are available on request. These must have been either prepared or submitted by a qualified accountant who is a member of a recognised professional accountancy body, including:
* The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
* Association of International Accountants (AIA)
* Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
* The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)
* The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
* Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)
* Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI)
If this does not describe your organisation, you must work in partnership with an organisation that can receive the funding on your behalf.
The following are examples of who could be eligible to apply if meeting the above criteria:
* STFC grant funded researchers
* scientists, technicians and engineers employed by STFC
* STFC facility users working in :
* museums
* science communicators
* universities and colleges
* community interest companies
* libraries
* community groups
* amateur astronomy groups
The project lead must be eligible to apply on behalf of the organisation that would hold the award.
It is mandatory for every application to include a subject matter expert (SME) in an. While these SMEs may play an active role in delivering the engagement activities, this is not compulsory. The SME will ensure that the scientific content is accurate and has strong connection to the STFC’s science remit. The SME can be any one of these core team roles holders:
* project lead (PL)
* project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
* specialist
If you have any questions about applicant eligibility, please contact the public engagement team: and we will advise on how you may proceed.
Who is not eligible to apply
Organisations based outside of the UK are not eligible to apply for this funding opportunity.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers.
We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes:
* career breaks
* support for people with caring responsibilities
* flexible working
* alternative working patterns
for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.
Aim
We are looking to support projects that do four or more of the following:
* deliver high-quality public engagement activities with strong links to science and technology
* introduce STFC remit science and technology to new audiences
* work specifically with the STFC’s target Wonder audience
* co-produce resources and activities with intended audiences
* highlight the achievements of STFC funded science and technology
* demonstrate the value of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in the UK, focusing on
* work with the STFC public engagement and communication teams
* help to deliver the aims of the
* highlight the STFC funded science activities undertaken at STFC national facilities through partnerships with STFC National Facilities staff
Spark awards encourage ‘novel approaches’ to engagement and audience. However, applications that use established engagement methods are welcomed.
Scope
For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the Additional information section.
STFC Spark grant holders undertake high quality programmes of public engagement that inspire and involve target audiences with stories of science, technology and facilities funded by STFC.
For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the ‘Additional information’ section.
Duration
The duration of this award is a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 36 months.
Funding available
The FEC of your project can be up to £20,000.
STFC will fund 100% of the FEC.
This funding opportunity is outside of the FEC framework however, the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service does not currently capture non-FEC cost headings therefore for this funding opportunity please put all requested costs under the individual ‘Exceptions’ fund headings.
What we will fund
We will fund:
* projects that have strong and evidenced links to the
* projects that align to the
What we will not fund
The following costs are ineligible for support through Spark awards:
* projects that do not have strong, evidenced links to the
* projects where the target audiences are not:
o primarily within the UK
o clearly defined by type, in numbers and as a percentage of the total reached
o clearly evidenced
* fees or honoraria to people already in paid employment to visit or give talks at schools, societies and so on where such activities would reasonably be undertaken as part of their normal duties
* costs for equipment
* infrastructure funding or costs for building construction and maintenance
* any costs or fees associated with attending international conferences
* projects where it is clear that the project would go ahead irrespective of STFC support
* retrospective funding, including those projects with a start date after the closing date but before the funding decisions are announced
* contingency funds
* applications for the sole purpose of authorship and publication of books and novels
For applicants from or for schools, note the following ineligible costs:
* programmes of formal education
* programmes that do not provide benefits beyond the applicant school
* school trips to CERN and trips to other laboratories, observatories and science venues unless they are intrinsic to a wider public engagement project
We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.
The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.
Only the lead organisation can submit an application to UKRI.
To apply
Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page.
1. Confirm you are the project lead.
2. Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. If your organisation is not listed, email
Please allow at least 10 working days for your organisation to be added to the Funding Service. We strongly suggest that if you are asking UKRI to add your organisation to the Funding Service to enable you to apply to this opportunity, you also create an organisation Administration Account. This will be needed to allow the acceptance and management of any grant that might be offered to you.
3. Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page.
4. Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office.
5. Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing.
6. Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI.
Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.
When including images, you must:
* provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit)
* insert each new image on a new line
* use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format
Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application may be rejected if you include:
* sentences or paragraphs of text
* tables
* excessive quantities of images
A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.
For more guidance on the Funding Service, see:
* * *
References
References should be included within the word count of the appropriate question section. You should use your discretion when including references and prioritise those most pertinent to the application.
Hyperlinks can be used in reference information. When including references, you should consider how your references will be viewed and used by the assessors, ensuring that:
* references are easily identifiable by the assessors
* references are formatted as appropriate to your research
* persistent identifiers are used where possible
General use of hyperlinks
Applications should be self-contained. You should only use hyperlinks to link directly to reference information. You must not include links to web resources to extend your application. Assessors are not required to access links to conduct assessment or recommend a funding decision.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI)
Use of generative AI tools to prepare funding applications is permitted, however, caution should be applied.
For more information see our policy on the .
Deadline
STFC must receive your application by 6 November 2025 at 4:00pm UK time.
You will not be able to apply after this time.
Make sure you are aware of and follow any internal institutional deadlines.
Following the submission of your application to the funding opportunity, your application cannot be changed, and applications will not be returned for amendment. If your application does not follow the guidance, it may be rejected.
Personal data
Processing personal data
STFC, as part of UKRI, will need to collect some personal information to manage your Funding Service account and the registration of your funding applications.
We will handle personal data in line with UK data protection legislation and manage it securely. For more information, including how to exercise your rights, read our .
Sensitive information
If you or a core team member need to tell us something you wish to remain confidential, email k
Include in the subject line: [the funding opportunity title; sensitive information; your Funding Service application number].
Typical examples of confidential information include:
* individual is unavailable until a certain date (for example due to parental leave)
* declaration of interest
* additional information about eligibility to apply that would not be appropriately shared in the ‘Applicant and team capability’ section
* conflict of interest for UKRI to consider in reviewer or panel participant selection
* the application is an invited resubmission
For information about how UKRI handles personal data, read .
Publication of outcomes
STFC, as part of UKRI, will publish the outcomes of this funding opportunity at .
If your application is successful, we will publish some personal information on the.
Summary
Word limit: 550
In plain English, provide a summary we can use to identify the most suitable experts to assess your application.
We usually make this summary publicly available on external-facing websites, therefore do not include any confidential or sensitive information. Make it suitable for a variety of readers, for example:
* opinion-formers
* policymakers
* the public
* the wider research community
Guidance for writing a summary
Clearly describe your proposed work in terms of:
* context
* the challenge the project addresses
* aims and objectives
* potential applications and benefits
Core team
List the key members of your team and assign them roles from the following:
* project lead (PL)
* project co-lead (UK) (PcL)
* specialist
* grant manager
* professional enabling staff
Only list one individual as project lead.
It is mandatory for every application to include a subject matter expert (SME) in an area. The SME can be any one of the PL, PcL or specialist role holders.
UKRI has introduced a new addition to the ‘Specialist’ role type. Public contributors such as people with lived experience can now be added to an application.