Ingenious FAQs

Ingenious is a public engagement grants scheme for projects that engage the public with engineers and engineering while providing engineers with skills and opportunities in public engagement.

Ingenious supports engagement with the public (those not already engaged with engineering) in the widest sense. Projects may target audiences that include students, adults, families or policy makers.  This could be in formal educational settings such as schools or informal settings such as museums, libraries, community centres and groups and with organisations such as Girl Guides and STEM clubs. 

Projects proposing to work with schools should provide evidence as to why additional support for schools is needed and that there is not already adequate provision for STEM engagement in the area.

We are interested in projects that reach diverse and underrepresented audiences including communities in the top 20% most deprived neighbourhoods in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and that engage with engineers and publics of different genders, ages and ethnic backgrounds.

Underrepresented or underserved audiences are those which are currently underrepresented in engineering. This includes, women and girls, Black Asian and Minority Ethnic groups and people experiencing economic and social disadvantage e.g. living in areas with high indices of multiple deprivation, people with a disability or long-term illness and pupils receiving the Pupil Premium or equivalent.

Ingenious aims to engage the public with a wide range of engineering disciplines and is keen to celebrate the diversity of engineering. However, if you are unsure whether your project can be classified as engineering please contact please contact the Programme Manager.

Ingenious is a grant scheme for projects about engineering, not science. Engineering content should be explicit in your application and well as in intended project activities.

The engineers involved in the project must be based in and studying or employed in the UK. They must be graduate level or equivalent and above (including retired engineers and those at senior level) and can be from academia, industry or the public sector. Engineers may also be apprentices and engineering technicians. Projects may wish to include undergraduates in certain activities, however we expect projects to showcase role models who have real world experience working as an engineer, applications which only engage undergraduate engineers are not eligible for Ingenious.

We are keen to encourage the participation of engineers that are new to public engagement, or who have little experience in the area. While engineers who are experienced in public engagement are welcome, we would encourage you to think about how you can offer them new experiences or build on their existing skills.

The Academy is committed to diversity and it encourages applications that engage with engineers and publics of different genders, ages and ethnic backgrounds.

The number of engineers you choose to recruit and involve in your project will depend on the project’s size and format. Some Ingenious projects recruit a large number of engineers with a lighter level of engagement, while others offer a small number of engineers opportunities to become involved in public engagement at a much deeper level.

We encourage applicants to be realistic about the numbers of engineers they are able to recruit, as well as the amount of time they expect engineers to dedicate to their projects. Projects often find recruiting engineers to be a challenging aspect of their project and it is essential to have strategies in place for recruitment or links to engineers in industry or academia before submission.

Every project will have different strategies for recruiting engineers; however, a good start would be to get in touch with universities in your area, local engineering companies, engineering institutions, STEM ambassadors and local interest groups.

As one of the aims of Ingenious is to build capacity in public engagement, we could encourage projects to engage with engineers with varying levels of experience. 

For projects wanting to work with audiences other than schools, we recognise that the summer holidays are a prime time during which activities could be run and so have extended our normal deadline for these projects to encompass the summer holidays.

We offer grants rather than prizes or medals so we have decided to slightly change the name of Ingenious to better reflect what we do as a programme.

Applicants must be employed and based in the UK. In addition, the engineers participating in an Ingenious project must be based in and studying or employed in the UK.

We welcome proposals from anyone interested in engineering public engagement including but not limited to: engineers, universities, schools and colleges, youth charities, science and engineering communicators and engagement professionals as well as those working in the arts and cultural sectors.

Please note that only the Lead applicant will be able to access and edit the application. 

For more information, please see the Eligibility section on the How to Apply page of our website.

Due to the way the grant finances are managed, individuals cannot submit an application for Ingenious as the lead applicant. We would encourage individuals to partner with an organisation that can act as the lead applicant and are able to sign up to the award conditions.

Sole traders are welcome to apply for Ingenious, but should ensure they are able to sign up to the Ingenious award conditions before submitting an application.

Yes, providing they are distinct projects from different academics or teams.

Yes you can reapply for the Ingenious grant if it is substantially different to your previously funded Ingenious project. Recent awardees who wish to continue aspects of their recent Ingenious project could consider applying for the newly introduced Follow on Fund scheme. 

This year we are introducing a new Follow on Fund open to recently completed Ingenious projects, allowing successful projects to continue their good work. Awardees wishing to apply for the Follow on Fund will need to complete a short application form, which will be reviewed alongside their completed final report. Please see the Follow on Fund webpage for further information. 

We welcome applications where Ingenious funding would make up a proportion of overall funding. However, for applications of this type we ask applicants to be clear about what parts of the project will be funded by Ingenious and what added-value this would bring to the project. All aspects of the project that are to be funded by Ingenious should fulfil the aims of the Ingenious scheme as given on the eligibility pages. We also require a contingency plan should additional or partnership funding not be secured.

We will only consider resubmissions of previously unsuccessful applications if they have been substantially modified based on the feedback previously provided by the selection panel/programme manager. If you need clarification, please email [email protected]

Ingenious funds a variety of projects, ranging from after-school workshops to collaborations between artists and engineers to engage adults. All projects should engage the public with engineering, with any activities available free of charge,  while giving engineers skills and opportunities in public engagement.

Participating engineers are at the heart of all Ingenious projects. A key aim of the scheme is to build a community of engineers who have the skills and enthusiasm to continue to take part in such activities beyond the lifetime of any individual project.

We welcome tried and tested formats as well as brand new, innovative public engagement ideas.

Case studies and a full list of current projects can be found on our website.

Grants of between £3,000 and £30,000 are available.

Funds are normally paid in three installments, at the beginning, middle and end of the project. 

For more information about eligible costs please see section 5 of our guidance notes, which can be found on How to Apply page of our website.

If you are successful, your funding will be awarded under the Basic Terms and Conditions found on the Academy's website.

This agreement has been developed to ensure funding aligns with our Academy values, is used for the purposes for which it was awarded and is managed in compliance with our own funders' agreements, UK legislation and funding best practice. 

Costs can include salary and consultancy costs for the project delivery team, public engagement activity costs, materials, travel, participating engineers’ expenses and subsistence. Salary costs for staff will only be paid if a full-time salary is not already in place. However, Ingenious funding can be used to cover the costs of staff needed to replace those who are taking part in project activities.

Please note these awards are not calculated on the basis of full economic costing.

Further details on allowable costs are given in the guidance notes.

Ingenious aims to foster a community of engineers who value the benefits of public engagement in itself, including improved communication skills, a new outlook on their work, and the opportunity to debate and discuss with wider society. 

Many universities, businesses and those in the industry are keen to raise awareness of engineering and change people's current perceptions. Participating in an Ingenious project is a development opportunity that can contribute to their success as an engineer in the workplace. Therefore, we would encourage organisations to enable their engineers to take part in such projects as part of their working hours.

However, if this is not possible, projects may wish to use some of their awarded funds towards payment of engineers for their time and at a minimum expect projects to offer reimbursement for expenses that have been incurred. These expenses may include travel, materials/kit and childcare costs.

Each eligible application is reviewed by two external public engagement professionals. Applicants are then invited to respond to any queries raised. An assessment panel consisting of Fellows of the Academy with public engagement experience and representatives from the public engagement community will meet in late January/early February to make the final funding decisions. Each application is assessed and scored by at least two members of the Panel.

Applications will be reviewed against the criteria listed in the Application guidance notes, with the reviewer marking scheme available for applicants to see. 

Please see the How to Apply page of our website for a timeline of the application process

Please see the How to Apply page of our website for a timeline of the application process.

You will need to complete an initiation report at the beginning of your project, an interim report midway through your project and a final report at the end of your project using set Academy report templates and provide interim and final expenditure statements. Grant payments will be made on receipt of acceptable reports. For more information please contact the Programme Manager.

As part of the grant conditions, all successful applicants are required to attend an evaluation workshop before commencing their project where we will discuss evaluation in further detail. However, we would like to know your initial plans for evaluation at the submission stage. Please read our further information about evaluation .