Terms and conditions

Terms and conditions for the Ri website, events and ticket sales, Ri Membership, Ri Patrons and more.

Website

Website terms and conditions

This page sets out the terms and conditions of use (the "terms of use") on which this website www.rigb.org is made available to you. Please read this page carefully.

By accessing this website you are agreeing to comply with the terms of use and understand that the resultant data we collect will be treated in accordance with our privacy policy. You should keep a copy of this page for future reference.

Please note that the Terms of use do not apply to any of our other websites or any third party websites which are linked to by this website.

Who we are

This website is managed by The Royal Institution of Great Britain, a charity registered in England and Wales under registration number 227938. Our registered address is 21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BS (our "Postal Address").

If you have any questions, complaints or comments about the website, terms of use or privacy policy then please write to us at our postal address above or by email to ri@ri.ac.uk.

We have notified the Information Commissioner's Office and we are registered on the Data Protection Register under registration number Z7087010. Our VAT number is 778 5207 91.

Changes to Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

We are constantly looking for ways to improve the website. We may amend the terms of use and privacy policy from time to time, in which case any changes will be published on this page. By continuing to use the website, you shall be deemed to agree to be bound by those changes and revised terms.

User conduct

You agree that in using the website you will not:

  • disseminate any content which is defamatory, obscene, in breach of copyright, or which may have the effect of being harassing, threatening or abusive to an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age or disability or otherwise;
  • use the Site in any way that may lead to the encouragement, procurement or carrying out of any criminal activity;
  • transfer files which contain viruses, trojans or other harmful programs; or
  • use the Site for any purpose other than your personal or not-for-profit educational use.

Any content you post on the website may be moderated and we reserve the right to amend or delete any such content as appropriate. We may also prevent you from leaving any further comments if we have reasonable grounds to believe that you have breached any of the restrictions contained in these Terms of Use. This shall not limit our right to take any other action against you that we consider appropriate to defend our rights or those of any other person.

Legal Proceedings

You agree to compensate us for any claim or legal proceedings brought against us by any other person as a result of your breach of the terms of use.

If we take legal action against you for any breach of the terms of use and a court makes an award in our favour, you will be responsible for all costs allowable by the courts. If you breach the terms of use and we take no action against you, we will still be entitled to use our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach the terms of use.

If any part of the terms of use is disallowed or found to be ineffective by any court or regulator, the other provisions shall continue to apply.

If you wish to take court proceedings against us in respect of our terms of use or privacy policy you must do so within the United Kingdom. Relevant United Kingdom law will apply.

Website links

You may establish links to the website provided you do not remove or obscure the copyright notice or other notices on the website; you give us notice of such link by emailing us at ri@ri.ac.uk; and you immediately stop providing such links upon notification by us.

Links within the website may lead to other third party websites. These are intended for your ease of reference and convenience only. We do not control or endorse such websites and are not responsible for their contents. We assume no responsibility for and shall not be liable for any loss or damage which you may suffer by using such websites. You agree that you will not involve us in any dispute between you and any third party in respect of such websites.

Terms of use

Your promises to us. You confirm that:

  • all information and details provided by you to us are true, accurate and up to date in all respects and at all times;
  • you will comply with the restrictions on your use of the website as set out in these Terms of Use; and
  • in relation to any material submitted to or posted on the Site by you that you have the right to do so and have obtained all necessary licences and or approvals.

Rights granted and rights reserved

Your use of the website and its contents grants no rights to you in relation to our intellectual property rights including, without limitation, copyright, trademarks, logos, graphics, photographs, animations, videos and text or the intellectual property of third parties in the website and its contents.

You may not copy, reproduce, republish, download, post broadcast, record, transmit, commercially exploit, edit, communicate to the public or distribute in any way the website pages, any content on the Website or the computer codes of elements comprising the website other than for your own personal or not-for-profit educational use. Subject to the above, you may download insubstantial excerpts of this content to your hard disk for the purpose of viewing it provided that no more than one copy of any information is made.

Any use which is not permitted by these terms of use may only be undertaken with our prior express authorisation. By submitting any material to us via the website, you grant us a right to use such material at our own discretion in any media including, without limitation, to edit, copy, reproduce, disclose, post and remove such material from the website.

Event terms and conditions

Booking conditions

Eventbrite

Online booking for Royal Institution events is run by a third-party service, Eventbrite (www.eventbrite.co.uk).

To book Royal Institution events through Eventbrite users must register with Eventbrite and set-up user account with a unique email and password.  All information provided by you or collected by Eventbrite in connection with the Services is governed by Eventbrite's Privacy Policy, a copy of which is located at www.eventbrite.com/privacypolicy. The Royal Institution reserves the right to send you emails relating to the specific event(s) you have booked.

View the full Eventbrite terms of service (www.eventbrite.com/tos)   

Errors

Errors made by you when entering your data, are your responsibility and the Royal Institution will not be held responsible for any inconvenience caused by the supply of incorrect personal information, nor will we offer refunds on any accidental purchases made. It is your responsibility to check that the tickets issued to you are accurate.

Event partners

The Royal Institution occasionally runs events in partnership with other organisations, learned societies and charities. In this instance we reserve the right to share your contact details with these third parties, solely for the purpose of providing you with information relating to that event.

Public events

Refunds and exchanging tickets

The Royal Institution will only guarantee a refund if the event is cancelled by us. Our liability in this case will be limited to the face value of your tickets.

If you wish to cancel your booking, you must let us know 24 hours before the start of the event.

Eventbrite bookings

The Royal Institution may allow users to request ticket refunds on online ticket purchases through Eventbrite at our discretion.

To request a refund, users must log into their personal Eventbrite account.

Phone bookings

If you have purchased tickets by phone and wish to cancel your booking, you must call us at least one working day prior to the start of the event. To request a refund, please phone 020 7409 2992 or email events@ri.ac.uk.

Free tickets may be released at any time by the user at no charge.

Science Short Courses

For Science Short Courses, attendees may request a refund up to 7 days before the start of the course. After this point, a refund cannot be offered.

Member tickets

You must ensure that you book only the tickets for which you are eligible based on your level of membership at the time of the event. The Royal Institution reserves the right to cancel your ticket if member ticket eligibility criteria are not met.

Concessions

Concession tickets are available for the following groups:

  • Aged 66 or over
  • Aged 16 or under
  • Full-time students
  • Unwaged
  • Anyone in receipt of Universal Credit
  • Disabled

All children aged 4 and above need a ticket to attent events at the Ri.

Payment

For online payments processed through Eventbrite payments may be made using American Express, MasterCard, Visa, or Visa Debit.

Payments made by phone are processed by a secure Tier 1 DSS compliant payment processor. We accept MasterCard, Visa, Visa Delta, Maestro and American Express. We cannot accept Solo, Visa Electron or Diners cards.

Bookings on behalf of a party of people

If you are booking on behalf of a party, you accept these terms and conditions on behalf of all members of your party and are responsible for all payments due from the party.

Age suitability

Unless specified, our public events are suitable for ages 15 and above. However for most events, younger children are more than welcome to attend with parental permission.

Children aged under 13 years must be with accompanying adult. If you are unsure of the suitability of an event for a young person, please contact the Public Programme team at events@ri.ac.uk.

Freedom of speech

The Royal Institution is a forum for the free and open discussion of ideas, and we recognise the fundamental importance of freedom of speech within the law. All speakers who contribute to any of our programmes represent their own views and do not necessarily represent the views of the Royal Institution.

Livestream events

Before the event 

To gain access to our online events, you will need to book a ticket through our Website. The ‘Book Tickets’ button will take you to the Eventbrite page for the same event. Our prices range from £3 for Ri Members or Ri Patrons, to £20.  

If you are a Ri Member or Ri Patron, and want to choose a higher priced ticket, you are free to do so.  

Once you have purchased your ticket, you will get an email confirmation from Eventbrite.  

There will be two reminder emails sent out. One 2 hours before the event takes place and one 10 minutes before the event takes place. These will have an option to log in through Eventbrite to watch the event, or use the direct webpage link. 

During the event 

We aim to go live 5 minutes before the event begins.  

If you have a blank screen or no sound, please refresh the page. Sometimes for the sound, you will need to actively unmute the video by pressing the volume icon on the video itself. 

If you’re still having issues at the start time of the event, you can either: 

  • Contact us through the chat box on the webpage 

  • Email us through Eventbrite 

  • Email us directly through events@ri.ac.uk 

There are some occasions where technology works against us, and we will have to postpone the event. We will notify you: 

  • Via the chat box. The host will keep you updated between 5 mins before the start and the cut off time of 15 minutes after the start.  

  • Via email. This may be slightly more delayed response but the host will answer you there. 

  • Finally, via Eventbrite email. This will go to all audience members and will be sent if the event is being postponed.  

After the event 

Ticket holders will be able to rewatch the recording of the event for two weeks after the event takes place. A reminder of this will be sent out via Eventbrite email the day after the event.  

We try to upload our events to our YouTube channel within a couple months’ time. Here, it is free for everyone to view. 

Find out more

Read all our livestream FAQs here.

Holiday workshops

Refunds and exchanging tickets

The Royal Institution will only guarantee a refund if the event is cancelled by us. Our liability in this case will be limited to the face value of your tickets. If you have purchased tickets by phone and wish to cancel your booking, please phone 020 7409 2992 or email events@ri.ac.uk. If you have purchased tickets via Eventbrite and wish to cancel your booking you will need to log into your personal Eventbrite account. You may only request a refund if you have cancelled your ticket at least two weeks (14 days) prior to the workshop start date. After this date, a refund may be possible, but only if there is someone on the waiting list who can take your place.

Age restrictions

Holiday workshops are very strictly for students within the age criteria advertised for each event. We are unable to accept bookings for students outside these ages and any bookings made for students who are not of the correct age at the time of the workshop will be cancelled. This is to make sure students attending can get the most out of their experience.

Other information

Workshops which run from 11am to 3pm include a lunch break and students must bring a packed lunch and a drink. For ages 15–18, students will be allowed the leave the building during this break. For ages 12–14, only when permission has been given at the time of booking will students be allowed to leave unattended. For ages 7–8 and 9–11, students will be fully supervised and only allowed to leave the building when collected by their responsible adult.

If students have any allergies, medical conditions or access requirements please inform us of these at the time of booking, so we have time to make any adjustments required. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us via events@ri.ac.uk.

Attending Ri events

Event changes

The Royal Institution reserves the right to make any alterations to speakers, event content, event timing and/or event venue, and will make reasonable efforts to contact audience members to inform them of any changes. The Royal Institution will not be held liable for any changes made to the advertised event.

Right to refuse and search

The Royal Institution reserves the right to refuse you admission if, in its reasonable opinion, your admission to the venue might:

  • Be a risk to the safety of the audience and/or yourself, and/or
  • Affect the enjoyment of members of the audience, and/or
  • Affect the running of the event

For example, if you act aggressively and/or appear to be under the influence of drink and/or drugs, you will be refused admission. We may also request you to leave (taking any such appropriate action that may be necessary to enforce this right) before or during events for any of the reasons given above. Should you be refused admission or requested to leave you will not be entitled to a refund. The Royal Institution may also, on certain occasions, have to conduct security searches to ensure your safety.

Children

All children under the age of 13 must be accompanied by an adult while in the theatre. The Royal Institution reserves the right to refuse admission to an unaccompanied child under the age of 13. 

All children aged 4 and above need a ticket to attent events at the Ri.

Latecomers

The Royal Institution will, in most cases, be able to seat you if you arrive late to an event. However, we reserve the right to refuse you admission if you do not arrive by the start of the event. We also reserve the right to re-sell your ticket if you have not arrived by the start of the event. In the event of this occurring, we will endeavour to find you a seat or standing room, but this cannot be guaranteed.

Risk assessments

For a copy of the risk assessment prepared for schools attending Royal Institution events, please email schools@ri.ac.uk

Filming and recording

By attending a Royal Institution event, audience members consent to being filmed, livestreamed, recorded and photographed. Audience members grant the Royal Institution the right to use recordings of any type made of their attendance in any and all media, and by means of publicity and promotion relating to the Royal Institution. School parties should ensure that appropriate parental permission is obtained before attendance at any Royal Institution event.

The unauthorised use of photographic, sound or film equipment in the venue is strictly prohibited. If you wish to use this equipment, please contact the Events Team prior to the start of the event. The copyright is assigned to the Ri for any recordings of events produced by the Ri. Unauthorised recording may result in content being destroyed, and your removal from the event without a ticket refund.

Electronic equipment

All electronic equipment, especially mobile phones, must be set to silent before entering the Theatre and/or any other spaces where events are taking place.

Smoking

The Royal Institution operates a non-smoking policy throughout its entire building.

Events that supersede these terms and conditions

Some special events, for example the CHRISTMAS LECTURES, have Terms and Conditions for booking and attendance that supersede the ones given here. In those cases we will inform you of the new Terms and Conditions on booking.

Ri Membership and Ri Patrons

Terms and conditions

Ri Membership offers options for people of all ages and backgrounds with an interest in science to join the Ri. In addition to our membership options, the Ri Patrons programme offers a range of exclusive benefits as well as further insight into our world-class education and heritage programmes.

Please note that ‘membership’ refers to both the Ri Membership scheme and the Ri Patrons programme.

  • Your membership is an annual membership and your payment covers a period of one year from the date of purchase or the date specified when purchasing a gift membership
  • Membership is non-transferable and non-refundable
  • Your membership will be confirmed on the date of purchase
  • Your membership pack (for new members or renewing members) will be sent by second class post and should reach you in 15 working days
  • If you have not received your membership pack by the end of this period, please contact the Ri Membership team to arrange for a replacement
  • Lost or stolen membership cards will be replaced free of charge in the first instance. Subsequent requests for a replacement card will each carry a £5 administration charge (unless, in the event of theft, a police report is provided). In all cases, the minimum time taken for replacement cards to reach you is 15 working days
  • Your membership card can only be used by the named member. Proof of identity may be requested on presentation of your membership card
  • If you are unable to show a valid membership card on entry to an event, you may be required to show proof of your membership or pay ticket fees before you are admitted, which are non-refundable
  • Ri Patron subscriptions are split between a benefit portion and a suggested donation. The suggested donation portion is eligible for Gift Aid and as a charity we are able to claim 25p on top of every £1 made as a donation to us. You may purchase the benefits separately if you prefer not to make a philanthropic donation. Alternatively you may choose to gift the whole amount of your subscription as a pure donation, with no complimentary benefits expected in return, making the entire amount eligible for Gift Aid. Please note if you would like to make your donation via CAF (Charities Aid Foundation) or via another charitable foundation and take up the benefits, two payments must be made so that we receive the benefits portion of your subscription separately
  • You are encouraged to book your tickets in advance as there is no reserved allocation for members once events have sold out
  • Direct Debit payments will be taken within six weeks of joining the Ri and on an annual basis from when your membership renewal is due. You will be notified of the upcoming collection of your subscription at least four weeks in advance of your renewal date
  • If you intend to cancel your membership you must notify the Ri Membership team prior to the start of the month in which you are due to be renewed
  • You can renew or upgrade your membership, and update your contact details at any time. Simply contact the Ri Membership team at membership@ri.ac.uk or by calling +44 (0)20 7491 6588 Monday to Friday 9.30am – 5.30pm
  • The Ri may close to the public during the course of the year due to external venue hire or for the delivery of our programmes. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause
  • We reserve the right, at our discretion, to refuse entry and/or membership and/or to revoke membership without refund if the member behaves in a threatening or abusive manner towards any person at the Ri, damages or threatens to damage any of the collections or property of the Royal Institution, or acts in a manner which in the Ri’s sole opinion brings the Ri into disrepute
  • We reserve the right to revoke your membership at any time, without financial compensation, if you commit any breach of these terms and conditions
  • We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time
  • The membership subscription rates and benefits have been set by the Board of Trustees and Ri management, in accordance with the Ri’s Byelaws
  • All members of the Ri aged 18 or above must abide by the rules and regulations set out in the Ri Byelaws

Ri Membership introductory offers

  • Introductory offers may be available from time to time for a limited time only
  • We reserve the right to terminate or withdraw an offer at any time, without prior notice and with no liability
  • Any introductory offer is only applicable to new members only, on their first year of membership and will renew at full price 12 months after the date of joining
  • Introductory offers are not applicable to current members
  • Introductory offers cannot be used in conjunction with any other discounts or promotions 

L'Oréal Young Scientist Centre

Terms and conditions

Whilst the operational costs of the LYSC are donated by L’Oréal, there is a small charge for consumables.

Once your booking is confirmed, an invoice will be raised and in most cases will be sent by email.

Payment will be required within 30 days of the invoice date or 14 days before the workshop, whichever is the sooner.

If payment has not been received by this date the Ri reserves the right to reallocate your place to another group.

If a workshop is cancelled more than 14 days before the date of the workshop, the LYSC staff will in the first instance try and rearrange the workshop for another mutually convenient date. If this is not possible the workshop cost will be refunded, minus a 10% administration charge.

In the event of a cancellation within 14 days of the date of the workshop, we regret that refunds cannot be given.

The Royal Institution is closed 19 March

The Ri is closed this week on Tuesday 19 March.