The call for the ERC Public Engagement with Research Award 2024 was opened on 14 November 2023 with the deadline of 21 February 2024.
photo: Krajowy Punkt Kontaktowy Programów Badawczych UE
Are you an ERC grantee? Did you carry out public engagement or science communication activities in the course of your project or up to two years after its end? Your efforts and impact could be rewarded with a €10,000 prize! Check if you are eligible, read the call documents and apply before the deadline.
Many ERC grantees engage the public with their research, showing commitment to bridging the gap between science and society. Some are outstanding science communicators, effectively conveying complex ideas to diverse audiences and promoting a deeper understanding of cutting-edge scientific advancements. Others invest in public outreach or embrace citizen science, enabling the public to actively participate in scientific research, fostering a sense of shared discovery.
ERC grantees have a contractual obligation to carry out promotional activities for their project, but the ERC intends to recognise those who reach and engage a diverse audience.
A prize of €10,000 will be awarded to the best applicants in three categories:
- Citizen Science: Collaboration or consultation with the public at any project stage, from design to public consultations or citizen juries.
- Public outreach: Putting spotlight on a research topic through diverse public outreach activities, from art and science projects to exhibitions and educational programmes, including diverse audiences and venues.
- Consultation and awareness: Engaging with various citizen groups, including journalists, policymakers and NGOs, a to raise awareness, tackle societal challenges, and contribute to public debates.
Who can apply?
All Principal Investigators in an ERC frontier research project, ongoing or ended on or after 31 December 2021, are eligible to apply. Each Principal Investigator may submit only one application per ERC project under this work programme.
Eligible and admissible applications
All applications must refer to public engagement activities for an ERC-funded project, regardless of the sources of funding for the public engagement activities themselves. These activities should be sufficiently mature to demonstrate impact.
Award criteria
The quality of the applications received will be evaluated on the basis of two weighted award criteria:
1. Strategy and implementation: quality of the public engagement strategy, its alignment with action objectives and audience, and the novelty or creativity of the approach, along with the appropriateness of tools, channels, and resources used.
2. Impact: quantitative and qualitative evidence of the activity’s success in achieving its own public engagement objectives, including possible evidence of learning for both the research team and the engaged public regarding successful engaging strategies.
Further details on the evaluation procedure, as well as possible promotional activities will be specified in the rules for contest.
Application deadline: 21.02.2024!
For more information, please visit the ERC´s website.
Links to websites:
https://erc.europa.eu/manage-your-project/public-engagement-research-award
https://blogs.fau.de/gsfau/2023/11/cfa-public-engagement-with-research-award-2024/
