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Volunteer with us
Pint of Science Australia is a national not-for-profit organisation and registered charity, supported entirely by volunteers, that aims to increase awareness and appreciation of science in Australia.
Our flagship annual festival and off-season science engagement activities serve to bridge the gap between research and the Australian public, provide a platform for researchers to communicate their science, and for volunteers to develop their professional skills and networks that can facilitate their career progression.
We offer a broad range of volunteering positions across the organisation, including one-off on-the-night volunteers, festival-focused coordination roles, and year-round national positions which keep Pint AU going.
We believe in the growth of others. We value the contributions from each of our volunteers and strive to give back in the forms of mentoring and professional development.
Whether you are a recent graduate looking to gain experience to strengthen your employability, a professional switching careers and looking to put new skills into practice, a passionate individual wanting to help further science communication, or just want to volunteer for a good cause, Pint of Science Australia is the place for you.
Contrary to popular belief, you do NOT have be a scientist or researcher. We are looking for motivated and dedicated volunteers with diverse skills to offer, a willingness to learn, and a desire to collaborate with people from different backgrounds.
We operate based on shared values of respect, inclusion, belonging, collaboration and accountability, and we expect our volunteers, speakers, sponsors, partners and stakeholders to be aligned with these values.
Our organisation offers a variety of leadership and supporting roles across our National and Local Teams.
National Team
If you're after a leadership or a supporting role on the National Team who run Pint AU’s year-round activities, get in touch by responding to the relevant Position Description.
Explore National Team roles >>
Local Team
If you're after a volunteering opportunity on one of the Local Teams that run the annual May festival in their local city or town or assist as an MC or on-the-night volunteer, head to our Local Volunteer Opportunities for more information.
Speakers
If you're interested in presenting your research at our next festival, or engaging with an audience through our Podcast or Blog, complete our Speaker EOI.
A little more about our volunteer roles…
Not sure on a team or role? Read through the information below and see what best suits your interests, skills-set, and time commitments.
National Team
As a member of the National Team, your commitment to Pint AU extends beyond the annual festival. You’ll play an important role in shaping our national initiatives, with a focus on long-term strategies and improvements for Pint of Science Australia.
We have both leadership and supporting roles available to help Pint AU stay in operation.
Local Team
Our Local Teams operate in the events environment in the lead-up to, and during the annual festival. As a member of one of our local teams, you’ll work with volunteers in your local city or town (with support from the National Team) to deliver the annual Pint of Science festival across Australia.
We offer both longer-term roles and one-off, on-the-night positions to support the success of our annual May festival.
National Portfolio
Finance
We're a GST-registered charity. In this portfolio, you’ll manage the financials of Pint AU to ensure the long-term success of our science engagement activities and the annual festival.
Key responsibilities include budgeting, reporting, and compliance.
Operations
In the Operations team, you can focus on different aspects of the annual festival to best coordinate with Local teams across the country, or on running or improving year-round operations, with roles offered in
- Festival Operations
- IT, and
- Merchandising & Logistics.
Key responsibilities for our Festival Operations roles include coordinating and guiding our local teams to ensure timelines are on track for a successful festival across the country.
Our IT and Merch roles will help to ensure our digital infrastructure runs smoothly, and our awesome merch reaches our volunteers and audience every festival.
Media & Communications
Promote science engagement across our Podcast and Blog or help spread the word of #PintAU, our annual festival and science engagement activities across traditional and digital media channels!
Key responsibilities of our Media volunteers include liaising with news and radio contacts ahead of the festival, and the running of our podcast and blog throughout the year.
Meanwhile, our Communications volunteers manage the brand and website, engage with our audience on social media and help to improve our internal communications practices.
Strategy & Policy
In our Strategy and Policy team, you’ll play an important role in shaping our goals as an organisation, determining the best paths to achieve them, and measuring how well we do.
Key responsibilities include expanding partnerships to support our ongoing science engagement activities and annual festival, creating a better volunteering experience, leading data analysis and reporting, setting out clear policies and helping translate them into action.
Local Portfolio
Event Coordination
In the local team within the Event Coordination portfolio, you'll play an important role in the planning, coordination and delivery of a successful festival for your local city.
These roles include
- City Coordinator or Co-City Coordinator (for each city or town in the festival)
- Venue Manager (for each venue in the festival)
MC
MCs are responsible for being the Master of Ceremonies for the event(s) at the annual festival, under the direction of the City Coordinator.
In addition to MC-ing each event and running fun activities between talks, this role includes liaising with the local volunteer team and speakers, and collating the presentation decks before the event.
On-the-Night
The “On-the-Night” volunteer roles are specific to running the events on the night (and up to three consecutive nights) at their local venue.
Speaker
At the annual Pint AU festival, you’ll present your research in a relaxed and casual pub environment to the public. You’ll avoid jargon and do your best to capture your crowd’s interest in your research in only 10-15 minutes.
Outside of the annual festival, we aim to engage with speakers and continue to raise awareness of research through our online channels, including the Pint AU Podcast “Pod of Science” and Pint AU Blog.