Resources include the funding, external sponsors, community partners, as well as the items, spaces, and equipment needed to run the events. The questions we answer about resources are:
● How are informal physics programs funded?
● Are community partners involved? What is their role?
Funding: Almost all the programs in our sample have some kind of funding from their home institution. About 20% of programs identify the National Science Foundation as providing some funding, either through a specific grant, or indirectly through national lab funding. Other sources of funding reported are: private company funds, community donations, money from alumni and emerita faculty, university endowments, and restaurants contributing food. Funding is necessary to keep these programs operational, and that institutional connection is the main source of financial support. In challenging financial times for universities, such as during COVID shutdowns, informal physics can be in a precarious position. We also find that many of these programs rely on non-paid volunteers to deliver activities - these free “human resources” allow operating budgets to be kept significantly smaller than if students were paid hourly for their efforts.
Community Partners: Over half the programs identify that they work with community partners to help with running events. Some community partners named were local community colleges, elementary and middle schools, children’s/science centers, and local teacher organizations. The roles that were mentioned for these partners included providing the venue for events, help with advertising, arranging activities, and recruiting audiences. Programs that did not work with community partners had activities located at the home institution.