Apply to the PEARL Activity Grants scheme

The 2022 PEARL Activity Grants scheme is now CLOSED.

Please check back in January 2023 for the next round of funding applications.

   What are PEARL Activity Grants?

The PEARL Activity Grants program is an annual small grants scheme offering funding of £100 to £1,000 to University of Lincoln staff and postgraduate students to support the development and delivery of public engagement with research activity.

Engaging publics and wider society in the research produced by universities is a vital part of the research process. To support our researchers in delivering high quality engagement, PEARL has established this grants scheme to support creative new projects and initiatives that will make a targeted impact with selected public audiences through meaningful, two-way engagement.

Applications open: Monday 14th February 2022
Deadline for submissions: 11:59pm, Sunday 20th March 2022

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO: 11:59pm, Monday 21st March, 2022

Outcomes announced: By Friday 1st April 2022

For any questions about this scheme or to discuss any elements of your application, please don’t hesitate to contact us at pearl@lincoln.ac.uk 

   HOW TO APPLY

Before submitting an application, please ensure you read our application guidance document which answers many common questions about the scheme and provides further detail about what we can and cannot fund.

Our application process is fully online. You can access the form via the button below.

The application guidance document details all the questions that you will find in the application form, to allow you to prepare you answers and information ahead of submission.

   Who can apply?

The Activity Grants scheme is open to all staff and postgraduate students from the University of Lincoln.

   What do we fund?

   What do we fund?

We are looking to fund creative proposals that will utilise fun and interactive methods to deliver high quality engagement between researchers and the public.

This scheme is open to broad range of projects and activities. Some examples of the kinds of projects we fund are ; co-produced research projects, interactive onlineworkshops, guided and immersive experiences, performance and arts-based activities, exhibitions, workshops and more!

Basic eligibility criteria:

  • Proposals must focus on a specific, identified piece/area of research.
  • Comprise a formally organised activity or series of activity.
  • Involve a specified public audience or audiences in genuine, meaningful, two-way engagement.
  • Engage at least 10 members of the public.
  • Deliver an identified benefit to society.
  • Seek to enhance the quality of the base research through its activity.
  • Include a clear evaluation strategy for collecting data on the event’s impact and feedback on its success
  • All main project activity & budget expenditure must be planned to be completed within 12 months.

   Application advice drop-ins

To support you in developing your project proposals, we will be running a series of informal, drop-in advice surgeries during the application period.

Face-to-Face drop-ins:

Our in-person drop-in advice sessions will be in Lincoln Pier Cafe in the Minerva building where you can come by to ask Public Engagement Manager, Dr Matt Young any questions or have a chat about your proposal.

      • Mon 21st Feb: 11am-12pm
      • Mon 28th Feb: 11am-12pm
      • Mon 7th Mar: 1pm-2pm
      • Mon 14th Mar: 1pm-2pm

Online drop-ins:

We are also running some online drop-in session via Zoom. Join any of our sessions below at any time via the links below.

Password for all sessions is Grants2022

Looking for ideas and inspiration?

If you’re looking for inspiration to help you develop ideas for your proposal, why not take a look at some examples and case studies of other public engagement projects.

Previously funded projects

To see what projects we’ve previously funded, take a look at our grants pages via the ‘Grants’ tab above, or see previous issues of the public engagement annual review, Discover, Issue 1, Issue 2 and Issue 3.

More examples of great public engagement

The National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) and the Being Human Festival both have a fantastic range of casestudies which showcase engagement projects that have been delivered across the UK and abroad.