Funding call

We welcome applications from Public Involvement and Engagement (PIE) practitioners working across a range of UK-based data research organisations and infrastructure programmes in varied data and statistics domains (e.g. administrative, financial, health, environmental, social). This call is not limited to existing PEDRI members. 

Proposed projects should contribute to the development of PIE in a data research organisation or infrastructure programme. While the activity may be part of a larger or ongoing project, applicants must clearly define a standalone component that applies the PEDRI Good Practice Standards from the outset and involve PIE practitioners or leads. 

Applicants are encouraged to address all seven PEDRI Good Practice Standards. However, applicants can choose to focus on the specific Standards that are most likely to improve PIE within their organisation. In such cases, the project must address a minimum of three Standards in depth and one of these must be Standard 1 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 

Projects are expected to engage and involve relevant public members throughout – from the development of the application, through to the evaluation of the completed project. Proposals that demonstrate consideration of the long-term sustainability of their proposed activities or initiatives are most likely to be successful.  

Projects must commence on the 1st of November 2025 (or as close to this date as possible) and be completed within twelve months.  

Detailed eligibility criteria and information about how we will assess applications can be found in the ‘From Standards to Impact’ call document towards the bottom of this page.

Complete the application form at the bottom of this page, please note word counts on the form are provided as guidance on maximum limits. There is no explicit expectation or requirement to reach those maximum limits. Submit the following documents with your application: 

• Project timeline (Gantt chart or similar)
• Statement of Support from your organisation (e.g. Head of Department or Service)
• CV of applicants and any co-applicants

All applications must be submitted by 01/09/2025  at 23:59 GMT to procurement@hdruk.ac.uk, with involvement@hdruk.ac.uk in cc and the subject title: From Standards to Impact Funding Call 

• Complete three self-evaluation activities using the Good Practice Standards Evaluation Tool.

• Participate in a PIE community of practice to share experiences and learning through monthly online meetings. 

• Produce a short and accessible blog post of 500 words to describe the project, and it’s impacts and outcomes.

We will host an information webinar to share details about the funding call, and to answer questions from potential applicants on Tuesday 15 July, 11am-12pm. Please register on Eventbrite to attend.

To learn more about the Good Practice Standards and how they were first developed, read the findings from our public consultation that led to the first draft.

Explore our resource hub and discover tools and guidance to support your application.

Please contact the PEDRI team by email on contact@pedri.org.uk  if you have any questions about your application, or the application process. We will answer any questions received by 1st August 2025 and will add a list of Frequently Asked Questions to this page. 

The University of Warwick provide guidance what equity, diversity and inclusion is, why it is important to public engagement and tips to get started.

Catch up on our recent webinar to learn about how to apply Equality Impact Assessments within your work, to ensure inclusive public engagement.  

Improve data literacy by sharing data explainers, such as data de-identification, five safes framework and administrative data or the data literacy course developed by the McPin Foundation and DATAMIND. 

Explore how to communicate in accessible and inclusive ways. The Office for National Statistics provide a communication toolkit to help you increase the public’s understanding of how data and statistics can benefit local communities or the Data Saves Lives Toolkit shares how to encourage positive dialogue about health data.  

Consider what is meant by public benefit when it comes to how data gets used to improve people’s lives.  

Make sure to keep track of your PIE activity to support impact measurement. And follow good practice when recognising public members through payment.  

Take a strategic approach to build support for public engagement in your institution and explore the different approaches you can take.