About Ingenious
The Ingenious public engagement grants scheme prioritises projects that reach diverse and underrepresented audiences including communities in the most deprived neighbourhoods in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and that engage with engineers and people of different genders, ages and ethnic backgrounds. All projects and project teams should be based in the UK.
Funding from £3,000 to £30,000 is available
Programme aims
The Ingenious programme aims to:
- Support imaginative and creative public engagement, raising awareness of the diversity, nature and impact of engineering
- Broaden perceptions of engineering, targeting public audiences currently underrepresented in engineering
- Build capacity for engineering public engagement by offering engineers training and opportunities in public engagement
We welcome proposals from anyone interested in engineering public engagement, including but not limited to: engineers, universities, colleges and schools, youth charities, science and engineering communicators and engagement professionals as well as those working in the arts and cultural sectors.
Impact
Ingenious has funded over 330 projects across the UK, providing opportunities for over 10,000 engineers to take part in public engagement activities and to gain skills in communication and engagement, reaching over 4 million members of the public.
Since 2010 we have tracked the long-term impact of Ingenious projects on the engineers who have taken part. Over 90% reported benefitting from participating in an Ingenious project, 67% had improved their communication skills and 37% gained new perspectives on their work. Other benefits include developing project management, budgeting and leadership skills.
Ingenious insights webinar: Advice from previous awardees
Recent Ingenious stories

Engineering Meets Dance
The Mechanics of Life brought together engineers, artists, educators, and young people to explore the mechanics of movement through dance.

In conversation with the new chair of Ingenious
We spoke with Pete, the newly appointed Chair of the Ingenious public engagement grants scheme.

Maritime engineering for the Future
As part of W5's Regatta challenge, six school teams sailed their hand-crafted cardboard boats.