ASDC Membership

On this page:
 Who we are
Benefits for you and your staff
2012 Annual fees
How do I join?

Who we are

The UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) brings together over 60 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 publicly accessible network dedicated to both informal science learning and family science engagement. Collectively they employ thousands of dedicated science engagement professionals.

We warmly welcome to our membership, all organisations who share our vision of a society where people are intrigued, inspired and involved with the sciences.

Back to top

What are the benefits to you and your staff?

Lobbying and Advocacy
ASDC works with government departments, MPs and national and public bodies to champion inspirational science learning and to increase the strategic role our members play in the nation's engagement with science.

Bringing staff across the UK together
We facilitate the sharing of knowledge, skills, ideas and best practice between the 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 climate science or the latest discussions in human genetics.

Funding, PR and other opportunities
We create national PR and publicity opportunities for members (for example, with the BBC and print media). We speak with national funders and alert members to the latest funding opportunities and disseminate a variety of other collaborative possibilities such as travelling exhibitions.

Offering collaborative projects to our members
We seek funds and partnerships for national strategic projects and invite members to participate. These include national skills and training projects as well as content specific projects such as The National Hands-on DNA project and our national strategic partnership with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

Raising the profile of our members
We raise the profile of our members with the UK’s major national charitable trusts,industrial partners, science organisations, learned societies, and universities.

Advice, support and a central point of contact
ASDC acts as the central point of contact for the sector sharing the latest news and opportunities. We also offer advice on collaborative funding applications and provide introductions to others in the field. We work closely with science and discovery centres across Europe and worldwide, and we are happy to advise and introduce our members.

Back to top

2012 annual fees

We have three types of affiliation:

  1. Full Members
  2. Supporting Members
  3. Commercial Associates

Full Members

We welcome all science and discovery centres, museums, environment centres, and other science engagement organisations who share our vision of inspiring and involving people with science.

2012 annual fees
£475 for organisations with a turnover over £1.5 million
£350 for organisations with a turnover under £1.5 million

The reduced rate of £350 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 £350 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:

Supporting Members

We warmly welcome enquiries from visionary public, charitable and commercial bodies who support and fund inspirational science engagement activities. Please contact us for further details.

Commercial Associates

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

Commercial Associate Memberships are £395 per year. Please contact us for details.

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

Back to top

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 - December) and new members will need to be approved by the ASDC Board. All full members can vote at the AGM and can stand for election to the ASDC Board.

Our memberships run January to December. Each year we update our map. To ensure you feature on our printed map, used for lobbying, please ensure your payment is recieved by 23 March 2012.

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 with 'Membership Enquiry' in the subject line.

2012 ASDC Brochure

 

Back to top

Top of page