Public Engagement

Medical Research Council

Working with Lisa Jamieson, I was commissioned by the MRC to review and provide prioritised recommendations for where they should focus resource to achieve their public engagement aims and review and recommend developments in the governance and assurance processes for public engagement and communications activity for MRC units and institutes. Methods included structured interviews and focus groups with MRC staff, researchers and stakeholders across the health research sector.

European Institute of Innovation and Technology

I am an expert evaluator and chair of the EIT Food public engagement and consumer behaviour evaluation panelwhere I assess and select excellent and impactful projects to be funded. EIT Food was set up to transform our food ecosystem and it supports innovative and economically sustainable initiatives which improve our health, our access to quality food, and our environment.

Babraham Institute

I undertook a light-touch review of the Babraham Institute's public engagement programme to provide evidence and recommendations for their new strategy. The Babraham Institute is one of the BBSRC strategically-funded Institutes and focusses on a fundamental biosciences research which underpins healthy ageing. The outcomes of the review helped them to develop a new public engagement strategy in-line with their new funding round.

Wellcome

I am a mentor for several of the Wellcome Centres, where I support and encourage the staff at the Centres to develop their engagement work. This includes advising and supporting the development of their public engagement strategies, advising on training, reward and recognition, and culture change and supporting governance, partnership building and help with funding applications. I have provided support to the Wellcome - MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University and the Wellcome EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering at Kings College London, the Gurdon Institute at University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell-Matrix Research at the University of Manchester.

University of Plymouth

I undertook a mapping exercise to understand the scale and extent of public engagement within marine research at the University of Plymouth. I identified potential areas for collaboration in existing public engagement activities and potential opportunities for growth and future public engagement activity.

Involve

I worked with Involve as an associate to support the NIHR BioResource with improving the diversity of their resource. I carried out interviews to understand the views of the various stakeholders and map the engagement work which was already taking place. I spoke to internal and external stakeholders including existing PPI/E groups, researchers, local NIHR BioResource staff and relevant NIHR staff. The findings from the desk research and stakeholder interviews were distilled into a report to support the NIHR with producing an effective engagement and involvement strategy.

Academy of Medical Sciences

Working with Lisa Jamieson, we tested Emerging Research Leader's response to the Academy's report on the “Long-Term Sustainability of Health Research”. We explored their views and priorities on the future of health research, the role of the Academy and their own part in delivering on the report’s recommendations.

National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE)

I am assessor on the NCCPE Engage Watermark - an award granted to institutions to recognise their strategic support for public engagement and their commitment to improve the support oﬀered. This includes assessing an institution's support for high quality public engagement with research, against the NCCPE’s EDGE tool, through data and information provided by the institutions and interviews with staff, students and partners.

South East Physics Network (SEPnet)

Working with the NCCPE, I supported SEPnet departments to develop a more robust understanding of the nature of research impact (in the context of the REF) and how it can be nurtured, realised, evidenced and assessed:

Clarify the role of public engagement (PE) with research as part of the broader impact agenda.
Clarify the difference between PE as a route to ‘ref-able’ impact, and PE as outreach
Encourage delegates to reflect on how to build a more impact-focussed culture in their departments, and to begin to plan how to implement a strategy and robust processes (e.g. evaluation and evidence-capture) to underpin this.

The State of Play

In 2016, the research councils and the Wellcome Trust funded a review to explore the extent of public engagement within UK universities.

The State of Play - Public Engagement with Research in UK Universities

Working alongside David Owen and Helen Featherstone, I developed and delivered a synthesis of current evidence, drawing on recent research to address different aspects of the state of public engagement with research in UK universities and how or whether a culture has been taking place in UK Universities and public research institutions over the last 10 years in terms of public engagement with research.

Public Dialogues

I managed an Open Data Dialogue, which was undertaken on behalf of the Research Councils UK in partnership with JISC. It was part funded through the Sciencewise Expert Resource Centre and informed the Royal Society's working group on access to research. The dialogue was specifically developed to provide public insights into future open data, data reuse and data management policies across the research councils and beyond.

I led a Public Dialogue Review which drew on lessons from public dialogues, consultations, and other public engagement exercises commissioned by the Research Councils since 2003. The purpose was to reflect on what has worked, in what ways dialogues have contributed to the goals of RCUK’s public engagement strategy, and what considerations should be given to designing the next phase of RCUK public dialogue support. The review was supported by the Sciencewise Expert Resource Centre.