Organisations supported by BIS
Under Section 5 of the Science and Technology Act 1965, BIS provides funding to the following organisations:
The British Science Association
The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) works closely with the association and has provided it with core support as well as ad hoc support for specific projects and activities. BIS provides a significant contribution to the association’s core funding (around 20% of its overall income), and supports a number of association initiatives.
Core funded activities
- Schools Programme - Young and First Investigators Awards (primary level, reaching around 30,000 pupils) and BA CREST and Science Communicators Award (secondary level, reaching around 26,000 pupils).
- The British Science Festival - reaching around 30,000 people directly, but gaining substantial national and regional media coverage (TV, radio, newspapers, magazines).
- Science in Society Programme - Dana Centre meetings, Science Communication Conference and Media Fellowships. Other activities are also included in the programme, but these receive discrete funding from Government through direct commissioning (Common Language through Foresight), or competitive bidding (Small Talk and DISC through OSI Copus grants).
Directly funded activities
- National Science Week Coordination - reaching over 300,000 people across the UK; attracting widespread media coverage (particularly at local/regional level); and 30-50% of the population aware of NSW;
- Fundraising - to enable the association to build its mission and campaign.
- Science Communication Conference Bursary, to enable harder-to-reach groups to attend the conference
Association for Science and Discovery Centres
The Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) serves the specific needs of centres located in the UK. It was set up in April 2001 to give the expanding sector a strong national voice and to be the point of reference for the work of science and discovery centres.
ASDC's purpose is to raise the profile of science and discovery centres in the UK and to establish their role as a forum for dialogue between science specialists and the public and as an informal learning resource for learners of all ages.
Visit the ASDC website
AlphaGalileo
AlphaGalileo is the world's leading independent resource for European research news. The website is used by our expert communications team to disseminate research news from source organisations to a high-quality audience of journalists worldwide. The service is run by an independent not-for-profit company, AlphaGalileo Foundation.
Visit the AlphaGalileo website
Foundation for Science and Technology
The Foundation's purpose is to provide a neutral platform for debate of policy issues that have a science, engineering or technology element. The Foundation organises dinner/discussions and workshops on relevant issues when parliament is sitting
The Foundation also provides a support service to learned and professional societies. Around 230 subscribe to receive the two monthly newsletters. Seminars are organised on a regular basis on topics relevant to managing large and small societies.
Visit the Foundation for Science and Technology
