funding

The Science Media Centre’s funding model is designed to reflect its position as an independent press office that is not linked to specific institutional interests. As such the Centre seeks donations from a wide variety of organisations with an interest in the accurate reporting of science in the mass media, including scientific institutions, science-based companies, charities, media organisations and government. See below for the list of funders.

The Centre is independent from its funders who do not gain influence over the SMC’s work in return for their financial support. To protect the Centre from any undue influence the SMC caps donations from any one institution at 5% of annual income. The SMC’s Trustees and Advisory Committee have agreed on a small number of exceptions to the 5% upper limit on donations. These exceptions are large trusts like the Wellcome Trust and Drayson Foundation.

The aggregate of public money from government and government funded bodies can also exceed 5%. This allows the SMC to accept funds from different science based departments in central government, from research councils and from arm’s length organisations, while the 5% upper limit continues to apply to each individual body. In addition to core funding the Centre also accepts support from some funders for specific projects.

A copy of our annual report and accounts can be found on this page.

The total income for the Science Media Centre for 2015-16 was £576,335.  The upper limit for donations for 2016-17 is £30,000.

If you would like to support the SMC please contact us on:

t: +44 (0)20 7611 8300

Breakdown of SMC funding 2015-16

Current Funders

(To date: August 2016)

£2,000 and under

• Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC)
• British Psychological Society (BPS)
• British Retail Consortium
• British Society for Immunology 
• Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
• Food and Drink Federation
• Human Tissue Authority (HTA)
• Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine
• John Innes Centre
• Marshall UK
• Motor Neurone Disease Association
• Newcastle University
• Nuclear Industry Association
• Open University
• PR Works
• Quintessa
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Royal Society of Biology
• UK Cleaning Products Industry Association (UKPCI)
• University of Birmingham
• University of Leeds
• University of Leicester
• University of Portsmouth
• Urenco

£2,001 – £4,999

• Academy of Medical Sciences
• Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board
• Alzheimer’s Research UK
• Alzheimer’s Society
• Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
• BASF
• Biochemical Society
• BioIndustry Association
• Celgene
• Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
• Horizon Nuclear Power
• Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA)
• Illumina
• The Institute of Cancer Research
• Institute of Physics (IOP)
• Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN)
• Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)
• John Wiley & Sons Inc
• King’s College London
• L’Oreal UK
• Life Technologies
• London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
• Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency
• Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) Limited
• The Met Office
• Microbiology Society
• National Institute for Health Research
• Novartis
• Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)
• The Nuclear Institute
• Oxitec
• Physiological Society
• Queen’s University Belfast
• Research Councils UK (RCUK)
• The Royal Society
• Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM)
• Society for Radiological Protection
• University of Bristol
• University of Cambridge
• University of East Anglia
• University of Exeter
• University of Glasgow
• University of Manchester
• University of Nottingham 
• University of Oxford

£5,000 – £9,999

• AbbVie
• Bayer Plc
• British Pharmacological Society
• Cancer Research UK
• Cardiff University
• Chemical Industries Association (CIA)
• Cochrane
• Covestro
• Durham University
• EDF
• European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
• GE Healthcare
• Imperial College London
• Innovate UK
• Institution of Civil Engineers
• Institution of Engineering and Technology (The IET)
• Mental Health Research Network Cymru
• Mobile Operators Association (MOA)
• National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
• National Nuclear Laboratory
• Proctor & Gamble
• Rolls-Royce
• Royal Academy of Engineering
• Sanofi
• Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
• Syngenta
• University College London
• University of Edinburgh

£10,000 – £19,999

• AstraZeneca
• British Heart Foundation
• BP International Ltd
• Colgate-Palmolive
• CropLife International
• DMG Media, including Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Metro and MailOnline
• Elsevier BV
• Food Standards Agency (FSA)
• Maudsley Charity
• Medical Research Council (MRC)
• MQ: Transforming Mental Health
• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
• Springer Nature 

£20,000 – £30,000

• Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
• Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
• The Gatsby Charitable Foundation

Over £30,000

• Wellcome Trust

Previous Funders

• AAAS and the magazine Science
• Airwave Solutions
• Alcohol Research UK
• Allied Domecq
• ARM Holdings Plc
• Association for Science Education
• BASF Plc
• Baxter
• BBC Worldwide
• Beeson Gregory
• Boeing
• Boots UK Ltd
• British Computer Society (BCS)
• British Energy Plc
• British Geological Survey (BGS)
• British Embassy in Washington
• British In Vitro Diagnostics Association
• British Land Plc
• British Neuroscience Association
• British Transplantation Society Council
• Cadbury Plc
• Charlie Waller Memorial Trust
• Chilled Food Association (CFA)
• Chiron Vaccines
• CNAP Artemisia Research Project
• Coalition for Medical Progress (CMP)
• Coca-Cola
• Colgate-Palmolive
• Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the European Union (CIAA)
• Conoco (UK) Ltd
• Conoco-Phillips
• Co-operative Group (CWS) Limited
• Copus
• Daily Express
• Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)
• Diamond Light Source
• Dixons Group Plc
• The Dow Chemical Company
• The Drayson Foundation
• Du Pont (UK) Ltd
• Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)
• EDF Energy
• Eli Lilly & Company
• Emergent Biosolutions Inc
• EnergySolutions
• Engineering UK
• Environment Agency
• European Science Foundation (ESF)
• ExxonMobil
• EUK Consulting
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
• The Government Office for Science (GO-S)
• International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)
• Independent Climate Change Email Review
• Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST)
• Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Techology (IMarEST)
• Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)
• Institute of Mental Health
• JH Ritblat Charitable Trust
• Kraft Foods Inc
• Lever Faberge
• The Marmot Review
• Mental Health Foundation
• Mental Health Research Network
• Merlin Biosciences
• Mobile Manufacturers Forum
• Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association
• Monsanto UK Ltd
• National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
• National Grid
• Nature
• New Scientist
• News International Ltd
• Northern Foods
• Parkinson’s Disease Society
• Pfizer Limited
• Philips UK
• The Physiological Society
• The Posen Foundation
• Powderject
• QinetiQ
• Queen Mary, University of London
• Rathbones
• RDS
• Re-Solv
• Regenesys
• Rethink
• Rothamsted Research
• Royal Astronomical Society (RAS)
• Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP)
• Royal College of Pathologists
• Royal College of Physicians
• Royal Society of Chemistry
• Royal Society of Medicine
• SAGE
• Sanofi Pasteur MSD
• Science Council
• Scottish Mental Health Research Network
• Shell UK Limited
• Siemens Plc
• Simon Best
• Smith & Nephew Plc
• Springer
• Tate & Lyle Plc
• Tesco Limited
• Trinity Mirror Plc
• UCB
• UCL Institute of Health Equity
• UK Energy Research Centre
• Unilever UK
• University of Portsmouth
• University of Teesside
• Vodafone Group
• Weizmann UK
• Wi-Fi Alliance
• World Health Organisation (WHO)
• Wyeth