Please support independent science journalism

Dear Reader,

I’m writing this for a couple of immediate and pressing reasons.

The first and most important is to let you know that the Royal Institution of Australia is at a crossroads as to how it carries out its mission in the future. The foundation funding that’s sustained us for 14 years is nearing exhaustion and, unless we can attract new support, we will need to withdraw from most of our publishing activities.

These are important publishing activities that Australia’s commercial media is unable or unwilling to provide.

With that in mind, we would welcome end-of-financial-year donations this year perhaps more than at any other time in our history. If you’re able to help out, please go to riaus.org.au/give and place your tax-deductible donation before 30 June.

There are few times in recent history when it’s been more important to champion facts and the truth, and to reflect on the importance of science in our everyday lives.

We’ve a comprehensive presence on all the major digital avenues and platforms; Cosmos is now in its 17^th year, and RiAus in its 14^th. We know that you’re aware of the work we do to report faithfully and clearly on science. In places where untruths flourish, we are one of the only Australian voices promoting facts and truths. I’d like to invite you again to take up a complimentary subscription to Cosmos Weekly so that you can stay informed about where science intersects the important issues of the day. This url will set up a free six month subscription for you: thecosmosweekly.com/friends.

Also – and one of the most important things we do – is providing free science teaching resources for schools around the country.

At last count about 5500 teachers – many of them in remote and regional schools, and many of them teaching science not through direct science qualifications, but necessity – are regularly using our resources.

Extending that regional outreach, recently we’ve also been developing relationships with rural and regional newspapers to allow them to publish the science content they tell us they need and want but are unable to produce.

Science matters. It underpins our industry, our agriculture, our transport, our communications – to name but a few. We’re a small country which has historically punched above its weight in providing innovations and ideas that have contributed to the global account.

We have an opportunity to use science as a path to the future for our children, our manufacturers, and our businesses, to stay competitive on a global stage. We believe that we have an essential role to play in continuing to report on science’s role in national development in the crucial years and decades to come.

We would value your support to help us support Australian science and its communication to Australia and the world.

Yours faithfully,

Will Berryman
Executive Director
The Royal Institution of Australia
[email protected]