Public and Community Engagement with Research (PER)
PCER funding opportunities - next deadline: 20th January 2025 (PCER Fund)
The University of Oxford supports Public and Community Engagement with Research (PCER) through funding and training schemes. The aims of PER are to engage the public in the design, conduct and dissemination of research:
- to inform and inspire the public
- to consult and listen to public views
- to collaborate with the public
PCER funding opportunities can be found here and include:
- The PCER Fund - grants of up to £6,000 to pilot a new project or enhance an existing activity. This replaces the PCER Seed Fund, and differs in that rather than having one annual round it will instead have termly rounds (subject to available funds). The dates for 2024/2025 will be: 28 October 2024 (Michaelmas), 20 January 2025 (Hilary), and 19 May 2025 (Trinity). All awarded funds must be spent by 30 June 2025 (Next deadline: 20 January 2025).
- The PCER Culture Change Fund - an internal grant scheme to support building capacity for Public Engagement with Research (PER) at the departmental level. A project can request up to £15,000 per year for up to two years (underspend cannot be carried over; because of the timings of the call, ‘year 1’ will only be 7 months (February to July 2023), while ‘year 2’ will be 11 months (August to July 2024)). All awarded funds must be spent by 31 July 2024. Deadline: 25 November 2022 (CLOSED).
PER also supports and provides training and events for researchers wishing to undertake PER activities, as well as an annual conference.
There have in the past also been a number of public engagement-related funder awards and schemes, including:
- ERC Public Engagement with Research Award - open to holders of ERC grants, 3 awards of €10,000 each on offer (CLOSED).
- Wellcome Trust Research Enrichment: Public Engagement - open to holders of Wellcome Trust grants, offers between £10,000 and £250,000 depending on the type of Wellcome grant held (CLOSED).