Run a Local Version: Announcement and Applicant Information

We are excited announce that the Introduction to Biosecurity course is looking for people to run local versions of the course. A local version can be in person or online with a specific country or regional focus.

This pilot round is for local versions starting late April or early-mid May, with some flexibility depending on the availability of accepted organisers. We plan to run 3-5 local versions during this trial.

This document covers key information for applicants1.

Summary

• Course start dates: late April or early-mid May 2026 (state availability when applying)

• Format: 4-week facilitated course with 1.5 hour weekly discussion sessions

• Scale: 10-30 participant spaces, with up to 10 spaces per facilitated group

• Time Commitment: ~20 hours for organisers, ~3-3.5 hours/week for facilitators (someone can organise and/or facilitate)

• Funding: £660 default, +extra if a local version has multiple facilitated groups

• Application process: 30-45 minute form, 30 minute video interview

Local Version Requirements

The Introduction to Biosecurity course is a 4-week facilitated course, where each week includes approximately 1.5 hours of readings followed by a 1.5-hour facilitated discussion session. You can find the July 2025 syllabus here.

A local version involves running a version of this course either runs in person, or online with a specific country or regional focus. This can therefore also be catered more to the regional context (note: you will be expected to find some resources, e.g. readings or videos, for this).

This local version can be made up of 1-3 facilitated discussion groups, depending on how many participants you expect. We expect a single facilitated group have approximately 10 participants offered spaces, and therefore a local version to have spaces for 10-30 participants.

Time Commitment

The exact time commitment for organisers has been estimated at approximately 20 hours in total, primarily concentrated in the several weeks before the start of the course. However, this depends on factors such as the number of applicants, and how much time you want to put into it (e.g. whether you want to significantly adapt discussions to a regional context). We will have an updated time commitment estimate after this pilot round.

Resources such as application review guidance, session plans, facilitator guidance, operations guidance and feedback forms are available from our initial online version. Many of these resources will be made available on our Substack, but these (and others) are already available for course use. This reduces the time requirement for organisers.

For facilitators, time commitment is ~3-3.5 hrs/week for 4 weeks (~1.5 hours of readings, a 1.5 hour discussion session, and minor additional session prep) for the first group. For each additional group, the additional time commitment is 1.5 hours + minor additional session prep.

Funding

By default, £660 will be available for each local version, which will be paid as a grant. This is calculated as an organiser stipend of £400, a facilitator stipend of £240 (note: the facilitator and organiser can be the same person), and £20 to cover costs of sessions (e.g. software if online, snacks).

If you run more than one facilitated discussion group in your local version, there is additional funding available. Per group, you can receive an extra £240-£360, calculated as an organiser stipend of £100, a facilitator stipend of £120 or £240 (£120 if same facilitator, as little additional preparation and no additional reading time is required from the facilitator), and £20 to cover costs of sessions. This is capped at 3 groups and £480 in facilitator stipends.

Application Process

The application process is made up of an initial 30-45 minute form, and a 30-minute video interview.

When reviewing applications, we are most interested in your interest in biosecurity, motivation for running this course, your approach to explaining biosecurity to people with less context, and the potential impact given your selected target audience.

Apply Now

To apply, fill in this form by 27th March 2026 End of Day Anywhere on Earth.

Subscribe now

If you have any questions, please reach out at info@biosecuritycourse.com if you have any questions. You will receive a response within 5 business days.