FAQs

Q. Is it possible to deliver most of the project at the start of the project period?

A. Yes as long as you are able to meet the minimum reporting requirements and engagement numbers i.e. minimum of ‘4 or more’ engagements with the SAME group, you can decide when is best for you and your partner to carry out your programme within the delivery period. You do not have to use the whole delivery period of September-February.

Q. How many children should we aim to engage, how many repeat engagements?

A. There is not a minimum requirement, although we would steer away from just engaging with one young person. Engagement numbers would need to be higher to achieve the programme objectives. And we expect there to be a minimum of ‘four or more’ engagements with the same group of young people in order to be able to achieve the programme objectives.

Q. Do all four engagements need to be with the same audience? Would it be acceptable to offer a one-off after-school club, a session for a home educator group, and an activity for a community group, or do they all need to target the same group?

A. We request that you plan for a minimum of ‘four or more’ repeat engagements with the same group of participants to be able to achieve the programme goals. They cannot be engagements with different groups each time.

Q. Could we engage with more than one group for multiple sessions?

A. We don’t recommend it for the grant amount and timeline. Focus on one community group and spend as much time with them rather than starting again with another group.

Q. NERC are now less keen to work with schools? How about after school clubs where schools fall in the IMD?

A. That is incorrect, in previous grant programmes NERC was focussed on public audiences only however for this programme NERC are happy for you to engage with school groups.

NERC are very open to the fact that actually working through a school for this programme is a sensible way to engage and recruit a youth group. And also, school clubs where schools fall in the IMD this would work well because we're looking for young people from diverse backgrounds across diverse regions of the UK.

Q. Do you have a guide for interaction hours beyond just 4 interactions? Just so we don’t overdo it (which usually happens)!

A. We haven’t set a minimum or maximum number of interactions hours however I imagine it will be in the low hundreds due to the focus of your delivery being on one small group. For example, it could be 4-8 2hr sessions with 10 young people. So, if you do 8 2hr sessions with your group of 10 youth advocates across 4 months, the total interaction hours to report would be 160 hrs (8x2x10).

Q. Have you considered the impact of the summer school holidays on this timeline? It could be difficult to engage partners/audiences in August?

A. We don't require that you co-develop your proposal with a youth or community partner, as we have done for some in the past. But perhaps those early conversations can help with the recruitment. So please start those early conversations whilst you're writing your proposal. Having insight from your community partner, or from the way in which you're going to recruit this audience, is going to be really important in your proposal.

We have extended the timeline as much as possible, so we can allow for delivery right the way up to the February half term.

Q. Is the £1000 equipment grant in addition to the £9000 delivery grant, or included in that number?

A. The equipment grant is in addition to the delivery grant, therefore the overall grant total is £10,000 for this programme. With £1000 of that assigned to equipment and resources for your delivery.

Q. Could we use the equipment grant mostly for travel?

A. The equipment grant should be used for resources or equipment for your engagements, however if you find you have additional travel costs not factored into your delivery grant then please let us know and we can consider alternative uses for the grant.

Q. Is there flexibility on how you spend the budget (if new ideas come up as the project develops?)

A. Yes there is flexibility. You cannot know everything that's going to happen, all the brilliant things that can come from a project when you write the proposal. Particularly in this project, where you want to be very responsive, provide enough time to adapt to the needs of the audience that you're working with, the needs and interests of the young people. We do however always ask to be informed when there are any major changes to your original proposal.

Q. Is there a recommended day rate for us to cost in our time? (This is always a challenge for grant applications!) - do you consider full economic costings, or salary day rate + e.g. 25% support costs, or otherwise?

A. No we do not have a recommended day rate, different centres have very different day rates, and it depends on whether this programme is being led from the different levels within science and discovery centres. It is also fine to include some overheads in your costings for your day rate.

Q. You mentioned faith groups – are you more interested in working with youths who also attend a faith setting or the cross over of NERC science and RVE?

A. No, a faith group is just another option along with youth groups and other community groups. You could work with a faith leader or a youth group leader to recruit the young people.

Q. If youth groups we’re working with have mostly teenagers taking part, is that ok? Or do you prefer us working with the full range of 7-16 year olds?

A. No we don’t expect you to engage with all of ages within this range. The target audience needs to fit within this range, however we are open to 17yr olds ( a-level students) as they may be more interested in taking part than the younger teenagers.

Q. Is this likely to run next year as well? It's a great programme.

A. We only have funding confirmed for this financial year up until 31st March 2026. We hope the success of this programme would mean we receive funding to continue this work in the future.

Q. Rather than COP, could we focus on Arctic Council as a body with fewer national perspectives?

A. Yes if that event feels more relevant to your audiences you are welcome to choose what events you would like to link to, whether a global event, regional or super local to your community group. The events shared were just suggestions that fall in the delivery period.

Q. Do we need to include NERC researchers in our project?

A. For NERC it is important that you involve and work with NERC researchers or NERC remit as part of the delivery of your programme. However, if you have a really strong proposal in other areas of the criteria this isn’t necessarily an obligation if it doesn’t fit with your proposal. Strong evidence of working with NERC science would need to be there though.

Q. Do you help connect us up with NERC researchers?

A. Yes, we can offer some support, however it is expected that you will attempt to make these connections in your local area yourself first. ASDC will be providing a written guide and online training to help you engage with researchers for this programme. If you are struggling please get in contact with the project manager and they can provide some assistance in making these connections.

Q. Are there any opportunities for assistance in making contact with NERC researchers?

A. In addition to the training session, we can also provide some connections where possible if you are struggling, however ideally it is your responsibility as you know what would be most relevant in your region and with your audience.