TAS2025 CONFERENCE GRANTS CIÊNCIA VIVA
Introduction
The International Conference ‘Theatre About Science’ (TAS) will take place at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, from 23 to 25 October 2025. This event intends to map and reflect upon the intersections of theatre and science, promote exchange and enlarge the knowledge in the field, trace the evolution of previous trends and identify new types of crossovers. One additional perspective guiding this conference is to promote the encounter of artistic and science communication professionals. This will be the third edition of this biennial event, confirming a consistent and continuously renewed interest in the cross-fertilisation between theatre and the sciences.
In every edition, the TAS organising committee aims to promote national and international participation, and to expand a worldwide network of participants. Support for expanding this network may include travel, accommodation and registration for the conference.
The grants are powered by Ciência Viva.
REGULATION
1. Aim
The TAS2025 Conference Grants aim to increase the opportunity to participate in this event to a diverse network of people who work and/or are interested in blending theatre with science, but that are unable to cover the cost of registration, accommodation and/or travel to Coimbra. The main objective of these grants is to encourage the presence of participants who contribute to a diverse and inclusive conference.
2. Eligibility criteria
Anyone who does not have financial capacity or support to participate in the conference is eligible for the TAS2025 Conference Grants. We cannot guarantee that we’ll be able to support all the candidates.
3. Submission of applications
Applications for the TAS2025 Conference Grants must be made individually, by filling on this form. Applications must be submitted by 1:00 pm (GMT) until 9 May, 2025 with the following mandatory information:
— Name of the candidate;
— Email address;
— Institution/organisation;
— Occupation;
— Are you a member of a theatre company? If yes, which one?
— Where are you located?
— From which country will you travel?
— Abstract submitted? (Yes/No);
— Title of submitted abstract;
— Motivation for participating in the conference (maximum 2500 characters with spaces): describe your interest and motivation to participate in the TAS2025 Conference, indicate the personal and professional benefits of participating in the event, and your experience in similar events;
— Do you expect to receive support from your institution or another entity to participate in the TAS2025 Conference? (Yes/No);
— If yes, which ones? If not, explain to us why this does not happen, and the relevance of the grant if awarded to you.
— Approximate budget for travel and accommodation (feel free to include screenshots of a preliminary budget).
4. Application review process
4.1 Phase 1: Eligibility
The evaluation of the eligibility of candidates will be carried out by the Organizing Committee of the TAS2025 Conference, in accordance with the criteria defined in point 2 of these regulations.
4.2 Phase 2: Evaluation
Applications will be evaluated by the grant jury. The evaluation is done by assigning scores on a set of five criteria, up to a maximum of 20 points. The criteria are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. Evaluation criteria and respective categories to be assigned
| Evaluation criteria | Categories |
| Country of origin according to the country’s income level according to the World Bank | Low |
| Medium-low | |
| Medium-high | |
| High | |
| Institution of Origin | Theatre company |
| Education/research institution or similar | |
| Other institution | |
| Type of participation at the TAS2025 International Conference | Short performance |
| Workshop | |
| Oral presentation | |
| Only attending | |
| Professional theatre practitioner / professional science communicator | Full time |
| Part time | |
| No | |
| Motivation to participate in the TAS2025 Conference | |
Applications will be ranked in descending order of the total score resulting from the jury’s evaluation. The candidates with the highest scores will be selected, using up to a total budget of 3000€.
5. Jury
The jury for the TAS2025 Conference Grants will be made up of three members of the organising entities according to the following distribution: one member from Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC-UC), one member of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research (iiiUC), and one member of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CEIS20).
The jury is sovereign in its decisions, and therefore these are not subject to appeal.
In the event of a tie, the jury may use other criteria to break the tie between applications (provided that they are clearly identified in the announcement of the results), such as approval of the submitted proposal, score given by the reviewers, among others.
6. Announcement of results
The results of the competition will be communicated individually, by email, to all selected candidates by 23 May 2025. Candidates not selected will also be notified after the jury’s decision.
Candidates considered ineligible according to the criteria defined in point 2 of this regulation will be notified by email by the Organising Committee of the TAS2025 International Conference up to one week after the application deadline.
The list with the ranking of eligible candidates will be made public on the conference website: www.theatreaboutscience.com
7. Deadlines
Submission: 1:00 p.m. (GMT), 9 May, 2025
Announcement of results: 23 May, 2025
8. Data processing
The information provided by candidates will be recorded within the limits strictly necessary to ensure their participation in the application for the TAS2025 Conference Grants. The TAS2025 organising committee is responsible for the collection and processing of data under Portuguese Law No. 58/2019. You can request the correction or deletion of your data at any time, by email: tas@marioneteatro.com
Theatre about Science 