Our Sustainable Laboratories Grant aims to accelerate the chemical sciences community’s journey to environmentally sustainable research and innovation.
Funding is available for initiatives and activities that achieve one or more of the following aims:
- Advance understanding of environmentally sustainable laboratory practice
- Increase the take-up of environmentally sustainable laboratory practices in the chemical sciences
- Facilitate sharing of best practices
To be kept up to date before the next round opens, register your interest using the form below. You can also see the list of projects we funded from our 2023 application round here.
These grants follow a commitment we made in October 2022 following the publication of our Sustainable laboratories report, to provide funding to making research practices in the chemical sciences more environmentally sustainable.
Environmentally sustainable research practice refers to doing research activities in a way which minimises their impact on the environment.
Environmentally sustainable research practice is distinct from sustainable or sustainability-focused research, where the outcomes are not applicable to a laboratory or other scientific research setting.
Please refer to the RSC Sustainable laboratories report and our Frequently Asked Questions for further information about environmentally sustainable research practice, including challenges and potential solutions identified in a survey of chemical sciences researchers. You may also find this recent Chemistry World webinar useful.
If you are unsure whether your project is in scope for this scheme, please contact us. You may also find it helpful to see the list of projects we funded from our 2023 application round.
Who can apply?
The grants are open to everyone regardless of career stage, job role, sector, or location.
Grants are available up to a maximum of £10,000.
What can I apply for?
The scheme will be open to a wide range of projects, initiatives and activities that meet the scheme aims. Examples could include research projects, data collection, pilot studies, seed funding towards the development of larger projects, resource development, or activities to support networking, community development and sharing of best practices. This list is non-exhaustive, and we welcome creative ideas which address the above aims.
Please note that for consistency, we refer to any eligible project, initiative or activity as “project” in our documentation for this grant scheme.
Projects and their outcomes should relate to or have impact on chemical sciences research, and must also have benefits to the wider community beyond the grant recipient. Project ideas involving collaboration within and beyond chemistry are also welcome.
You may find it helpful to see the list of projects we funded from our 2023 application round.
Sustainable Laboratories Grants will not be awarded to:
- projects which do not focus on improving environmental sustainability in chemical sciences research practice
- projects whose primary aim is to generate a financial surplus or for commercial development;
- projects for which our support would not significantly enhance the activity;
- projects which are unlikely to have wider benefit beyond the grant recipient or where wider benefit is not clearly articulated
Application timelines
Please note for fairness and transparency to all applicants, we must apply our rules consistently. This means that we do not allow late applications. You are welcome to apply in the next application round providing you meet all
eligibility criteria of that round.
Application open |
2 September 2024 |
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Application close | 7 October 2024 1400 UK time (BST) |
Initial eligibility decisions | Week commencing 21 October 2024 |
Funding decisions | Mid-February 2025 |
Downloadable documents
Sustainable Laboratories Grant report form
Funded projects from our 2023 application round