Fiona Fox is chief executive of the Science Media Centre.

The Science Media Centre’s funding model is designed to reflect its position as an independent press office that is not linked to any specific institution or institutional agenda. As such the Centre seeks donations from a wide variety of organisations with an interest in the accurate reporting of science in the media. We have over 100 funders including scientific bodies, science-based companies, science publishers, universities, patient research charities, media organisations, research funders and government. See below for the list.

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 contributions from any one institution at 5% of prior year income. The SMC’s Trustees and Advisory Committee have agreed on two exceptions to the 5% upper limit: the Wellcome Trust and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI’s contribution is over the 5% cap as this represents the consolidated amounts from several Research Councils which is now paid via the umbrella organisation set up in 2019.

New funders

• Biogen
• Cystic Fibrosis Trust
• Department of Health & Social Care
• Financial Times
• InSPIre the Mind blog
• MRC Biostatistics Unit at the University of Cambridge
• National Oceanography Centre
• Pirbright Institute
• Roche
• Science Museum
• Institution of Gas Engineers & Managers
• UCB Pharma Ltd

Funders April 2020 – March 2021

£2,000 and under

Personal donations from 6 individuals, each donation not exceeding £2,000

• Alzheimer’s Society
• Association for Clinical Biochemistry & Laboratory Medicine
• Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC)
• British Society for Immunology
• Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
• Durham University
• European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE)
• Health Data Research UK (HDRUK)
• InSPIre the Mind blog
• Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)
• Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM)
• Institution of Gas Engineers & Managers
• John Innes Centre
• London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
• National Oceanography Centre
• Nuclear Industry Association (NIA)
• Pirbright Institute
• Quadram Institute Bioscience
• Science Museum
• Society for Radiological Protection (SRP)
• The Times
• UK Cleaning Products Industry Association (UKPCI)
• University of Birmingham
• University of Exeter
• University of Glasgow
• University of Leeds
• University of Portsmouth
• University of Reading
• University of Sheffield
• University of Warwick
• University of York

£2,001 – £4,999

Grant from Global SMC Initiative (wholly-owned subsidiary of AusSMC) for COVID-19 Vaccine Media Hub project

• Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB)
• Alzheimer’s Research UK
• Biochemical Society
• British Ecological Society
• British Pharmacological Society (BPS)
• Cochrane Collaboration
• Covestro UK Limited
• Food & Drink Federation
• Genomics England
• Informa (Taylor and Francis)
• The Institute of Cancer Research
• Met Office
• Microbiology Society
• Mobile UK
• MRC Biostatistics Unit at the University of Cambridge
• National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL)
• Newcastle University
• Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
• Physiological Society
• Proctor & Gamble (P&G)
• Queen Mary University of London (QMUL)
• Queens University Belfast
• Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH)
• Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych)
• Royal Society of Biology
• The Royal Society
• Society for Endocrinology
• University of East Anglia (UEA)
• University of Manchester
• University of Nottingham
• University of Reading

£5,000 – £9,999

• AbbVie Ltd
• Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS)
• Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)
• BASF Plc
• Bayer Plc
• BioIndustry Association (BIA)
• BP International Ltd
• Bristows LLP – pro bono support
• British Heart Foundation
• Cancer Research UK (CRUK)
• Chemical Industries Association (CIA)
• Cytiva
• Danone Holdings UK
• FoodDrinkEurope
• Francis Crick Institute
• GE Healthcare
• Imperial College London
• Institution of Engineering and Technology (The IET)
• Institute of Physics (IOP)
• Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN)
• John Wiley & Sons
• King’s College London
• Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
• National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)
• Nestle UK Ltd
• Nutrition Society
• Rolls-Royce
• Royal Academy of Engineering
• Sellafield Ltd
• UCB Pharma Ltd
• UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH)
• University of Bristol
• University of Cambridge
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Oxford

£10,000 – £19,999

  AstraZeneca
  *   DeepMind Technologies Limited
*     Department of Health & Social Care
*     Elsevier
*     [[:Food Standards Agency]] (FSA)
*     LifeArc
*     [[:Merck]] Sharp & Dohme (MSD)
*     [[:Sanofi Aventis]]
*     Society for Applied Microbiology (SFAM)
*     Springer Nature Ltd
*     [[:University College London]] (UCL)

£20,000 – £30,000

• Diageo Plc
• DMG Media, including Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Metro and MailOnline
• Full Fact – from a Google grant *
• GlaskoSmithKline (GSK)
• The Gatsby Charitable Foundation
• National Institute for Health Research (NHIR)

* Full Fact were given a block grant from Google to distribute around Europe. Full Fact made the decision to give money to SMC, but the money was sourced from Google.

Over £30,000

• Wellcome Trust
• UKRI

Previous Funders

• AAAS and the magazine Science
• Abbott Laboratories
• Airwave Solutions
• Alcohol Research UK
• Allied Domecq
• ARM Holdings Plc
• Association for Science Education
• Astellas
• Baxter
• BBC Worldwide
• Beeson Gregory
• Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
• BNP Paribas Foundation
• Boeing
• Boots UK Ltd
• British Computer Society (BCS)
• British Embassy in Washington
• British Energy Plc
• British Geological Survey (BGS)
• British In Vitro Diagnostics Association
• British Land Plc
• British Neuroscience Association
• British Psychological Society (BPS)
• British Retail Consortium
• British Transplantation Society Council
• Cadbury Plc
• Cardiff University
• Celgene
• 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
• Corteva Agriscience
• CropLife International
• Daily Express
• Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
• Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)
• Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford
• 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 & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
• Engineering UK
• Envigo
• Environment Agency
• European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP)
• European Science Foundation (ESF)
• ExxonMobil
• EUK Consulting
• Government Office for Science (GO-S)
• Horizon Nuclear Power
• Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA)
• Human Tissue Authority (HTA)
• Illumina
• International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)
• Independent Climate Change Email Review
• Innovate UK
• Institution of Civil Engineers
• 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
• Johnson & Johnson
• Keele University
• Kraft Foods Inc (Phillip Morris/Altria)
• Lancaster University
• Lever Faberge
• Life Technologies
• L’Oreal UK
• Marks & Spencer (M&S)
• The Marmot Review
• Marshall UK
• Marshall Bio
• Maudsley Charity
• McPin Foundation
• Medical Research Council
• Mental Health Foundation
• Mental Health Research Network
• Mental Health Research Network Cymru
• Mental Health Research UK (MHRUK)
• Merlin Biosciences
• Mobile Manufacturers Forum
• Mobile Operators Association (MOA)
• Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association
• Monsanto UK Ltd
• MQ: Transforming Mental Health
• Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
• The Naji Foundation
• National Grid
• National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
• New Scientist
• News International Ltd
• Northern Foods
• Novartis
• Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)
• The Nuclear Institute
• Open University
• Orsted UK Ltd
• Oxitec Ltd
• Parkinson’s Disease Society
• Pfizer Limited
• Philips UK
• The Posen Foundation
• Powderject
• QinetiQ
• Queen’s University Belfast
• Quintessa
• Rathbones
• RDS
• Re-Solv
• Regenesys
• Rethink
• Rotary Club of Milton Keynes Grand Union
• Rothamsted Research
• Royal Astronomical Society (RAS)
• Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP)
• Royal College of Pathologists
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Royal College of Physicians
• Royal Society of Chemistry
• Royal Society of Medicine
• SAGE
• Sanofi Pasteur MSD
• Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
• Science Council
• Scottish Mental Health Research Network
• Shell UK Limited
• Siemens Plc
• Simon Best
• Smith & Nephew Plc
• Society for General Microbiology (SGM)
• Springer
• Syngenta
• Tate & Lyle Plc
• Tesco Limited
• The PR Works Ltd
• Trinity Mirror Plc
• UCB
• UCL Institute of Health Equity
• UK Energy Research Centre
• Unilever UK
• University of Strathclyde
• University of Teesside
• Urenco
• Vodafone Group
• Weizmann UK
• Wi-Fi Alliance
• World Health Organisation (WHO)
• Wyeth ¹⁾