Collaborative project funding

The collaborative project funding is an annual opportunity from The Ogden Trust for university physics outreach teams. We want to support universities to work collaboratively and carry out activities strategically together.

The 2023 collaborative project funding is now open. You can apply via Flexigrant. If you have any questions about this programme please email outreach@ogdentrust.com

Collaborative project funding

Each year, one collaborative project will be awarded support for three years.

• Applications should be from universities in Great Britain. They must be supported by at least three universities based in England, and be from universities with a physics undergraduate course. (Universities who have strong physics research and no undergraduate course should contact outreach@ogdentrust.com to discuss.)
• The projects should be based on one of these three strategic themes:
  • Supporting undergraduate and postgraduate students to engage with schools
  • Supporting teachers
  • Repeat interventions with disadvantaged students
  • If you are not sure which theme your idea fits into,  please contact us at outreach@ogdentrust.com
• Applications should have good supporting evidence to suggest the project will be impactful.
• Projects should be sustainable beyond the funding by becoming embedded in core activity, replacing existing activities in the departmental budget.

The 2022 collaborative project funding was won by the Orbyts project. You can read more about the project in our news story.

Examples of projects that might receive collaborative funding include an existing programme that would expand to other outreach teams; or one that joins together parts of existing programmes to work across multiple institutions.

What the project funding will include

• Co-ordinator funding – in year one of the project £10,000, in year two £5,000. This funding could be for a single co-ordinator or split between two people. We wouldn’t expect to cover overheads.
• Training costs – £1,000 per year (for a total of £3,000 across the three years) to put on training events for other universities to engage.
• Development funding – £4,000 across three years to develop the project and work up any necessary resources to a high standard. For example, purchasing equipment and resources, printing or design costs, payments to partners of community groups to support the project.
• Evaluation costs – The Ogden Trust will directly commission an external evaluator over the three years to assess the effectiveness of the programme and to evaluate the aims set out in your project application.

This is our suggested funding distribution. If you would prefer an alternative, please contact us and include details in your application with a description of why your funding distribution is preferred and what it will allow you to do.

Timeline

• Applications are now open for the 2023 funding. Applications should be submitted using Flexigrant. You will need to create an account with Flexigrant to apply.
• Applications open in January
• Applications close on Friday 12 May 2023

If you have any questions about this programme please email outreach@ogdentrust.com