Mindsets + Missions for Museums and Science Centres of the Future

Overview

Museums and science centres play an important role in inspiring the next generation of researchers and innovators, whether it’s future vaccine researchers or future historians. But they know that opportunities to engage with research and innovation through museums and science centres aren’t open to all.

Mindsets + Missions is a collaborative project for museums and science centres across the UK to help them develop new approaches to engaging underrepresented groups. It is therefore an opportunity to embed positive change for organisations and communities. Across the programme, they will build on learnings from the pandemic towards bold, people-centred and resilient futures. The programme is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). It is a key part of UKRI’s mission to break down the barriers between research, innovation and society.

Mindsets + Missions will involve joining a cohort of organisations and practitioners in an engagement programme, with the opportunity to apply for follow-on project funding to put ideas into practice. UKRI is providing a total of £750k for this programme, which is being delivered by a partnership of the Museums Association, The Liminal Space and the Association for Science and Discovery Centres.

Participants will build on a range of innovation and experimental thinking including the Mindsets for Museums of the Future and Science and Discovery Centre Futures: Missions and Opportunities work from The Liminal Space.

The programme will:

• Recruit dynamic individuals to join an engagement programme of workshops and networking based on bringing the Mindsets for Museums of the Future and Science and Discovery Centre Futures: Missions and Opportunities reports to life. Individuals and, where relevant, their organisations will join our Mindsets + Missions cohort and participants will receive small development grants to support their involvement.
• Coach cohort organisations and support partnerships on the development of project ideas and funding applications.
• Run an application process for cohort organisations to receive larger scale funding (up to c.£75k) for their project ideas so that they can be developed further.
• Network and share learning from the programme across and between the museum and science centre sectors.

Now open to applications to join the Mindsets + Missions cohort with the engagement programme taking place in spring 2023 and follow-on grants being awarded in summer 2023.