ASDC Membership

On this page:
 Who we are
Benefits for you and your staff
2010 Annual fees
How do I join?

Who we are

The UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) brings together over 70 major science engagement organisations in the UK.

Together we strive for a society where people of all ages and backgrounds have an opportunity to enjoy and explore science, and feel a sense of shared ownership over its direction.

Each year our members engage over 20 million people with the wonders of science.

Our membership includes:

Together our members make up the UK’s largest publically accessible network dedicated to both informal science learning and family science engagement, employing thousands of dedicated professionals.

We warmly welcome to our membership, all organisations who share the mission of engaging people of all ages, and all backgrounds with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

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What are the benefits to you and your staff?

Lobbying and Advocacy
ASDC works with government departments, MPs and national partners to increase the strategic role of the UK’s science and discovery centres and other member science engagement organisations.

Bringing staff across the UK together
We facilitate the sharing of knowledge, skills, ideas and best practice between thousands of staff in our member organisations across the UK. We hold seminars and training sessions targeted at specific staff on topics ranging from business excellence to dialogue techniques. We also partner with members to run national meetings on specialist content such as discussing climate issues or the latest discussions in human genetics.

Funding, PR and other opportunities
We create national PR and publicity opportunities (e.g. BBC, national radio and other promotions). We also update members with the latest funding possibilities and a variety of other opportunities such as free exhibitions or hosting funded national events.

Offering collaborative projects to our members
We seek funds for national projects and invite members to participate. In collaboration with our members we are currently involved in a range of projects, including an EU-funded nanotechnology project, and the UK-wide Dialogue Academy.

Raising the profile of our members
We raise the profile of our member organisations with the UK’s charitable trusts, corporate funders, learned societies, universities, research councils and government-backed national science engagement programmes.

Advice, support and a central point of contact
ASDC supports members in a variety of ways including providing introductions and offering advice on collaborative funding applications. We work closely with science and discovery centres across Europe and worldwide, and are happy to advise and introduce our members.

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2010 Annual fees

We have two types of affiliation:

  1. Full Members
  2. Commercial Associates

*We will be growing our membership categories in 2010-2011 and will let members know as we develop these.

Full Members

We welcome all science and discovery centres, museums, charitable trusts and other science engagement organisations and departments who share our goal of engaging and inspiring the public with science

2010 annual fees
£390 for organisations with a turnover over £1.5 million
£290 for organisations with a turnover under £1.5 million

We also warmly welcome enquiries from public and charitable bodies partnering with, or supporting science engagement activities.

The reduced rate of £290 is specially to assist:

Please note;
 Because we are a charity like most of our members, we rely heavily on membership fees to continue our operations. We have tried to keep fees very low for all members and offer smaller members the lower rate of £290 per year. However we do ask that if you are a department within a larger organisation that you consider paying the full fee. This would apply to non-profit organisations such as:

Commercial Associates:

We welcome companies who offer products and services supporting our sector. This includes:

Our Commercial Associates are offered visibility with our membership, for example:

The Commercial Associate memberships start at £600 per year. To find out more about the benefits, please contact the ASDC office.

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How do I join?

For more information, simply telephone the ASDC office on the number below or email us at info@sciencecentres.org.uk with ‘Membership Enquiry’ in the subject line.

Our memberships run by calendar year (from January - January) and new members will need to be approved by the ASDC Board. All full members can vote at the AGM and can stand for the ASDC Board.

For further details please contact us at:
The UK's Association for Science and Discovery Centres
The Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5TX
Tel +44 (0)117 915 0181
info@sciencecentres.org.uk

 

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