Public Engagement with Research

Chloe SheppardRCUK Strategy Unitwww.rcuk.ac.uk/per

RCUK Public Engagement with Research Strategy – our Vision

• To enable society to value and have confidence in research processes and outputs;

• For public engagement to inspire young people to pursue research careers; and

• To increase the societal impact of research by creating a culture where:– The research sector and researchers themselves value public

engagement as an important activity;– An awareness of social and ethical issues informs research

decisions.

RCUK Public Engagement with Research Strategy – our rationale

• If we involve and listen to the public (and encourage our research communities to do so) then our decisions and research should be informed by their views, and therefore more likely to have enhanced impact in return for the investment.

• Similarly, if we talk with the public (and encourage our research communities to talk to the public) about the outputs of our research and their implications and applications then society will share in the benefits of that knowledge, whether for their health, wealth or culture, and therefore helping to maximise the impact of that research.

• And if we encourage researchers to interact with schools to enrich students’ experiences then we can help improve the supply of skilled people to the research base and the UK economy and encourage more to act as informed citizens.

What’s in it for me?

Benefits of public engagement for researchers:• Skills development• Career enhancement• Enhancing your research quality and its impact• New research perspectives• Higher personal and institutional profile• Influence and networking opportunities• Forming new collaborations and partnerships• Enjoyment and personal reward• Additional funding• Increasing awareness of the value of research

to UK society• Increasing student recruitment• Inspiring the next generational of researchers

RCUK Public Engagement with Research Strategy – our aims

• Aim 1 Recognising and responding to public views – Identify public attitudes and values to be considered through the lifecycle of research, and foster debate that will enable public aspirations and concerns to contribute to Councils’ policies and research strategies.

• Aim 2 Inspiring young people – To help secure and sustain a supply of future researchers to support the research base that is critical to the UK economy by encouraging engagement between young people and researchers.

• Aim 3 Supporting researchers – Achieve culture change in the HE and research sectors so that public engagement is embedded alongside research and valued as an important activity through encouraging researchers to engage with the public and supporting and rewarding those who do so.

Opportunities for researchers: young people programmes

• Researchers in Residence• Bringing Cutting Edge Science into the Classroom

- Teacher CPD courses- Fresh Science online CPD

• RCUK also sponsors:- Nuffield Foundation Science Bursaries- British Science Association CREST Awards

www.rcuk.ac.uk/per/schoolsandyoungpeople

Bringing Cutting Edge Science into the Classroom

What is it?• RCUK researchers have been involved in the development and delivery of teacher CPD

courses on topics such as New Materials and Nanotechnology and Astrophysics. • Courses have been designed to help secondary school teachers deliver some of the

more challenges aspects of the curriculum.

Fresh Science – online CPD• helps teachers to stay up-to-date with cutting edge science.• Provides a source of inspiring lesson materials.• Facilitates links between teachers and researchers

What does it involve?• Providing ideas and feedback on the content of courses, giving examples of your own

research.• Delivering courses to an audience• Providing materials for teachers to use in their lessons and engaging in online

discussions

For more information on how to get involved:Email: Kay Roberts ekayroberts@sky.com

Nuffield Science Bursaries Programme

What is it?• offers Year 12 students 4 – 6 weeks summer work experience with leading scientific

industries, research institutes and universities, working alongside practising scientists and engineers on defined projects.

Why get involved?• Gain good mentoring skills• Develop communication skills• Utilise an extra pair of hands to produce data

What does it involve?• Supervising and managing the workload of a student for 4 – 6 weeks

How can I find out more and get involved?Visit: www.nuffieldfoundation.org

Supporting researchers

• Concordat for Engaging the Public with Research

• What’s in it for me?

• Science and Art Festivals

• Beacons for Public Engagement

Beacons for Public Engagement

• The Beacons are six university-based collaborative centres help support, recognise, reward and build capacity for public engagement work

• National Coordinating Centre for Public engagement captures and shares learning between the Beacons and across the sector

• Successes include universities committing to PE within their strategies, creating champions, changes to promotions criteria, job descriptions and appraisals to recognise PE, creation of prizes and provision of training and funding to enable researchers to engage

NCCPE Public Engagement Ambassadors Scheme (Pilot)

Aims to:• Support people to develop their skills and experience in public engagement, and to share it

with others by– Offering funding to attend events and conferences– Providing networking opportunities

• Support people passionate about public engagement to act as change agents within their own institution by

– Offering training and resources

• Inspire a culture change in how universities engage the public by– Building capacity

Aimed at:• Anyone with a passion and interest in HEI public engagement – including researchers,

support staff, students and those outside HE• Application forms downloadable from http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/how-we-

help/ambassadors-scheme

Funded by the UK Funding Councils, Research Councils UK and the Wellcome Trust

NCCPE Public Engagement Network

Aims to provide a space for people passionate about HEI public engagement to:

• Share events, research and other opportunities• Problem solve• Find others to collaborate with• Share news

Recently launched – and we are currently looking for people who want to be active in the network.

To join send an email to Listserv@jiscmail.ac.uk with the text JOIN NCCPE-PEN first name last name

Funded by the UK Funding Councils, Research Councils UK and the Wellcome Trust

NCCPE Website: Practitioners Toolkit & Events

Practioners’ ToolkitInteractive / searchable resource:

• Methods and guides to PE• Inspirational Case Studies• Experts• Funding and training opps • People’s Profiles

Events programme

www.publicengagement.ac.uk

Pathways to impact

Can public engagement activities be regarded as pathways to potential economic and societal impacts?

• Yes, provided that applicants clearly articulate and explain the specific contribution from these activities to the pathways to economic and societal impact.

• It is recognised that engaging the public in your research can improve the quality of research and its impact, raise your profile, allow the public to act as informed citizens, inspire the next generation of researchers and develop your skills.

Images generated by nanotechnology projects funded through the Research Councils