Public engagement awards

The funding is available as an open rolling call, where the applications are reviewed quarterly by the NC3Rs Office. 

Sharing 3Rs advances and their impacts for animal welfare and scientific progress is part of the NC3Rs mission to pioneer better science. Through the public engagement award scheme we aim to promote a series of thought-provoking events and activities across the UK for a range of different audiences. The awards can be used to fund the development and delivery of almost any type of event or activity to engage public audiences with the 3Rs.

Ideas can include:

• Hands-on workshops.

• Laboratory or animal facility tours and open days.

• School visits.

• Activity as part of a local science event (e.g. university open day, science festival).

• Partnership event with a local community group or scientific society.

• Online engagement activities, including videos and webinars.

The scheme is open to scientific professionals whose work advances the 3Rs:

• Scientists at all career stages, including PhD students, regardless of their funder.

• Animal technicians and other animal facility staff.

• Applicants must be based in a non-profit, academic institution, including Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), Independent Research Organisations (IROs) and Research Council (RC) Institutes.

• Applicants who have received NC3Rs public engagement award(s) in the past remain eligible.

We advise interested applicants to discuss their ideas with the NC3Rs Office before submitting an application. The application form can be downloaded as a Word document below. All applicants must have approval from their institution. Applications are treated in confidence. 

All applications will be assessed for fit to scheme and relevance to the NC3Rs remit. Scoring criteria will not be applied to applications that fail to meet the scheme requirements. Applications that meet the scheme requirements will be assessed by a Panel of NC3Rs Office staff. Final decisions will be made by the NC3Rs Chief Executive.

Scheme requirements

Funding will only be awarded to projects for which:

• The proposed activity focuses on communicating the replacement, reduction and/or refinement of animal use in science and/or testing.

• The primary target audience is a public group, including (but not limited to) school children, undergraduate students and patient groups.

Funding will not be awarded to projects that:

• Take place outside of the UK.

• Cover the cost of project staff who receive a full-time salary from their organisation or employer, or planned grant activities.

• Cover the cost of projects that are already part of an organisation’s usual programme of activities.

• Include fees for honoraria to people to give talks – however, reasonable travel expenses will be covered.

• Cover the cost of general purpose hardware, apparatus or equipment (digital cameras, laboratory equipment, computers etc) unless it is shown to be integral to the project or will be used beyond the project lifetime to communicate the 3Rs, and does not take up the majority of the project costs.

• Include fees for website construction, unless it forms an online element of a live event.

Scoring criteria

Applications will be assessed on four key criteria: 

• Quality of engagement.
• Potential to attract the target audience.
• Strength of 3Rs impact.
• Value for money.

Applications should demonstrate:

• Clear objectives in which the 3Rs are central to the activity.

• Clear understanding and communication of 3Rs impacts.

• That the activity encourages audiences to meaningfully engage with the 3Rs, rather than simply providing information.

• That the activity is sufficiently targeted and accessible to the chosen audience.

• The potential to make an impact that justifies the cost.

• That sensitivities to animal research have been considered.

Priority will be given to applications that:

• Encourage public groups to enter into two-way dialogue with scientific professionals involved in the 3Rs and animal research.

• Provide opportunities for early career researchers and animal technicians to develop their science communication skills.

• Link the 3Rs to external events in the wider community, for example local festivals or partnerships with community groups.

• Develop reusable resources that will be used beyond the project lifetime to communicate the 3Rs.

Awards will be paid to the institution that employs the applicants. The awards will be cash limited and will not be supplemented during the course of the award. Institutions must ensure the funds awarded are used to support the project as approved by the NC3Rs. Funds cannot be used to run activities after 2024 and any additional expenditure will not be met by the NC3Rs. Awards will be paid by UK SBS on behalf of the NC3Rs.

All recipients of funding will be required to complete and return a brief final report on the activities and impacts arising from their award. A form will be sent to the applicant when the award is confirmed. Sections of this report may be published on the NC3Rs website.

Applicants will also be requested to submit any promotional materials generated from the project such as press cuttings or photos. Permission must be sought from applicants for their use by the NC3Rs; a photo permission form will be supplied by the NC3Rs.