About the Follow on Fund
The Ingenious Follow on Fund aims to make it easier for great Ingenious projects to continue doing great work.
Lots of work goes into establishing positive relationships with partners, companies, schools and community groups and we hope this fund can support the continuation of these relationships.
Funding from £3,000 to £15,000 is available
Aims
The Follow on Fund is intended to support successful projects to continue doing great work meeting the main aims of the Ingenious scheme. The main aims of the Ingenious Follow on Fund aims are:
- Maximise impact and reach from resources already developed under the Ingenious scheme
- Allow new relationships with partner organisations, engineers and engineering companies, schools and community groups to be nurtured to build long lasting working relationships.
- Provide time to explore additional sources of funding to enable projects to become self-sustaining projects
Programme timeline
| Proccess stage | Timeline |
| Application submitted | 15 September 2025 |
| Eligibility checking | September 2025 |
| Funding panel review | October 2025 |
| Applicants informed | November 2025 |
| First instalment of funding | From December 2025 |
Funding decisions will be made in November 2025 and funds will be awarded to successful projects from December 2025, although it is acknowledged that projects may continue running activities in the interim timeframe.
Projects working with school groups must be completed, including evaluation, by 31 July 2027 whilst projects working alternatively or additionally with family or community groups, must be completed by 31 August 2027.
Eligibility criteria
- This Follow on Fund is only open to those projects from Round 17, 18 or 19, funded from 2023 onwards.
- Projects must be complete and had their final reports and expenditure statements uploaded and approved on the grants management system.
- Projects must continue to work with public audiences, with activities offered being free to access.
- Projects must continue to work with engineers, these can be engineers previously recruited if you continue to offer them development opportunities, or you can choose to recruit new engineers and offer them training and development opportunities.
- Applicants must be UK residents
- Have not previously received Follow on Funding for their proposed project
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Who can apply?
Applications must follow on from Ingenious projects from Round 17, 18 or 19.
Applications for this scheme will be accepted from previous lead applicants, or from key project team members listed in the original application. If the person wishing to apply for this grant is not known to the Academy, a letter of support will be required from the original lead applicant or a senior member of staff from the lead organisation (e.g. Head of Department, Director or CEO), to confirm that you are suitably positioned to continue with the project.
I’m from an earlier round of Ingenious, why can’t I apply?
With the Follow on Fund, we hope to help newly completed projects pickup where they left off and build upon recently formed relationships with partner organisations and communities.
We want to maximise impact and reach with existing resources and establish the legacy of the project, and with limited funding available, we are prioritising more recent projects who will be in a better position to resume their projects.
Why isn’t there an external review stage?
Projects already in receipt of Ingenious funding have already been reviewed by both external reviewers and the Ingenious panel and judged to be projects worthy of funding. Whilst we would like to fund all requests for follow on funding, we have deemed panel review and discussion sufficient to review applications for the Follow on Fund, with the aim of getting funding to the successful projects as soon as possible.
Do I have to recruit new engineers?
You are welcome to recruit new engineers if you would like but it is not mandatory, as long as you still have previously recruited engineers involved with the project and continue to offer them opportunities to develop their public engagement skills.
We will however ask about the proportion of new versus previously recruited engineers in the application form, to help us understand the format in which the project will continue.
Why are there different project end dates for projects working with schools and those working with families and community groups.
For projects wanting to work with audiences other than schools, we recognise that the summer holidays are a prime time during which activities could be run and so have extended our normal deadline for these projects to encompass the holidays.
Can I apply for both the main scheme and the Follow on Fund?
You should only apply for one scheme. We only have limited funding available and we want to be able to offer as many organisations the chance to run an Ingenious project as possible, with the hope of building up capacity for public engagement across the UK.
I received the Follow on Fund last year, can I apply again this year?
Unfortunately no. One of the aims of the Ingenious scheme is to allow successful projects the time to explore additional support or funding opportunities. We have limited funds available and we want to give this chance to as many recently completed projects to continue as possible.