Who we are

The Royal Institution (Ri) is an independent charity dedicated to connecting people with the world of science. We're about discovery, innovation, inspiration and imagination. You can explore over 200 years of history-making science in our Faraday Museum as well as engage with the latest research, ideas and debates in our public science events.

We run science programmes for young people at our Young Scientist Centre, present exciting, demonstration-packed events for schools and run mathematics masterclasses across the UK providing hands-on education in maths and engineering.

We are most famous for our Christmas Lectures which were started by Michael Faraday in 1825. The Christmas Lectures have been broadcast on television since 1966. In 2010, the Lectures returned to BBC Four and in 2011 the combined broadcast reached over 4 million viewers.

The Ri Channel is the smart place for science. Watch the best science videos from the Ri and across the web, catch up on our events and access Christmas Lectures.

Anyone can join the Ri. If you're interested in how the world works, or how to make it work better through science, the Ri is the place for you.

The Royal Institution is a registered charity, no 227938.