Grants of up to £2,000 are available for members of the British Ecological Society for projects in England, Scotland and Wales that promote ecological science to a wider, non-academic audience.
The British Ecological Society is the oldest Ecological Society in the world, having been founded just before the start of World War 1 in 1913. The Society is currently inviting applications to round 2 of its 2026 Outreach and Engagement Grants programme, which offers grants of up to £2,000 with no matched requirement (although the grant can be used as matched funding) for initiatives that help promote ecology and ecological science to a wider, non-academic audience.
The grant will support BES members to deliver independent outreach, public engagement and science communication activities that engage public audiences with the excitement, importance and relevance of ecological science or enhance the experience and skills of others to communicate ecology with public audiences.
Please note that, while applications from schools and museums are welcomed, projects must not be confined to a school or a museum and should involve a significant outreach element. Projects aimed solely at delivering curriculum activities to schoolchildren will not be considered.
All Grants must be for projects that meet at least one of the top-level BES aims:
- Communicate evidence-based messaging for what ecology is, how nature works, and the use of ecological science as a solution to local and global challenges.
- Increase the ability of others to deliver the above aims through outreach and engagement activities.
- Raise awareness and public understanding of ecological careers, their relevance and importance, breadth, and diversity, and show that anybody can become an ecologist, and
- Share how individuals can take action to benefit the environment, themselves, and society.
The Society normally makes between 10 and 15 grants each year from its Outreach and Engagement Grant programme. Overall, the Society awards grants totalling around £500,000 through its various funding programmes to British Ecological Society members. A number of case studies of previously funded applicants are available on the Society's website.
Further information, guidance and an online application form is available on the Society’s website.
The Society’s second and final application deadline for 2026 is on Tuesday 8 September. Successful applicants are expected to be notified in late November/early December 2026.