Inclusion & Diversity Fund

Our Inclusion and Diversity Fund provides financial support for innovative products, activities and research projects that do just that.

Previous recipients of our funding have included projects related to gender, disability, socio-economic background, language, race and ethnicity, the LGBT+ community and more. These have been delivered via initiatives such as data collection and analysis, workshops, conferences and hackathons.

We will consider individual applications up to the value of £5,000. Funding greater than £5,000 may be considered for one project each year. Please contact the diversity team for more details.

The grant scheme is open to everyone (individuals and organisations). This includes, but is not limited to, members of the Royal Society of Chemistry, member-led groups, researchers in academia or industry, museums, community groups, not-for-profit organisations, arts groups and libraries.

Previous recipients of any of our grants are welcome to apply for funding. This can be to scale-up a project that already exists or to fund the development of an original project.

Applicants should not resubmit an unsuccessful application unless invited to do so.

The proposed project must focus on inclusion and diversity – outreach or chemistry research projects will not be considered. If your application is considered more suitable for the Outreach Fund we will contact you and seek your approval to transfer your application.

Applications relating to a range of audiences will be considered, including different age groups, career stages, geographical regions and sectors.

For further detail on our audiences for inclusion and diversity activities please see our inclusion and diversity strategy.

Please note, the Inclusion & Diversity Fund is intended for projects that directly investigate or address inclusion and diversity issues in the chemical sciences. The Inclusion and Diversity Fund is not intended to fund chemistry research.

All applications should clearly show that the proposed project:

• is centred on increasing inclusion and diversity in the chemical sciences community;
• is relevant to our inclusion and diversity strategy;
• has a clearly defined target audience;
• has a clearly defined intended impact;
• is deliverable; and
• includes clear evaluation plans.

In addition, applicants should show that the requested funding will make a significant difference to their ability to deliver the project.

Inclusion and Diversity Fund grants will not be awarded to:

• projects which do not focus on investigating or addressing inclusion and diversity issues (i.e. outreach - projects or chemistry research projects);
• projects whose primary aim is to generate a financial surplus;
• projects for which our support would not significantly enhance the activity;
• projects that are part of an education institution's usual programme of activities, including Open Days and Taster Days;
• cover the cost of general purpose hardware, apparatus or equipment; or
• cover any employment costs of project staff that receive a salary from the applying organisation.