Engaging researcher introduction participant toolkit 12 07-2012

What…is public engagement?
Public engagement means many things to many people. There isn‟t a single definition and
depending on your research discipline and your Institution‟s culture your experiences of
„what it is‟ and „doing it‟ will differ greatly. But it is useful come to a shared understanding of
what we mean by public engagement.

“Public engagement describes the myriad of ways in which the activity and benefits of
research can be shared with the public. Engagement is by definition a two-way process,
involving interactions and listening, with the goal of generating mutual benefit.”
– Vitae “The engaging researcher” booklet.

There are a large number of opportunities to engage with the general public, for example:
• Giving talks at local and national organisations about your research area
• Running or contributing to adult education courses
• Contributing to open days and other school outreach activities
• Taking part in writing or poster competitions
• Joining a national scheme like STEM Ambassadors to go into schools
• Writing a press release or blog about your research

Models: The Public Engagement Onion
This model shows public engagement methods
and activities as a series of layers, like an onion.
With each layer the focus moves from two-way
dialogue and co-design or co-decision making to
telling or information giving. Hence the impact on
your research or on influencing policy decreases
as you move towards the outer layers of the onion.

Depending on your discipline you will see some
activities may have a more natural or obvious fit
with your own research. For example:
STEM based research has a history of
inspiring future generations of scientists.
„Information‟ and „Stimulating Thinking’
Social science has a tradition of
investigating public attitudes and shaping
public policy. „Understanding Thinking’ and
„Informing Decision Making’
The grant peer review panels of UK
research funders such as AHRC and
BBSRC include reviewers from outside the
academic community to provide
perspectives on the social, cultural or
economic impact of proposals. „Making Decisions’.
However as research becomes more collaborative and innovative you are likely to see a
blurring of these traditional divisions. When thinking about the types of public engagement
activities you wish to get involved in, use the Onion model to consider how you could create
a meaningful experience for both yourself and the people involved in that activity.
Source Acknowledgement: Wellcome Trust

www.vitae.ac.uk
Vitae is supported by Research Councils UK (RCUK), managed by CRAC: The Career Development Organisation and delivered in partnership with regional Hub host universities
Vitae®, © The Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited

Why…engage the public with my research?
The benefits of engaging the public with your research include creating opportunities for
others to get involved, providing new perspectives and engaging people in your research
area and why it matters.

Funding bodies and universities are increasingly encouraging researchers to do public
engagement activities. Documents such as the Concordat for Engaging the Public with
Research (and associated briefings) provide a strong encouragement for all researchers,
regardless of their discipline, to engage the public in their research.

There many good reasons for participating in public engagement activities. Here are just
some of the reasons shared by other researchers:
• Developing your skills
• Stimulating research creativity and innovation
• Enriching your career
• Motivating – inspiring you & your research
• Enhancing your research quality & its impact
• Gaining new research perspectives
• Raising your personal & institutional profile
• Influencing & networking opportunities
• Helping to build trust
• Forming collaborations & partnerships
• Enjoyment & personal reward
• Accessing more funding
• Increasing awareness of the value of research
• Increasing student recruitment
• Inspiring the next generation of researchers

It‟s important to think about why you want to engage the public with your research as this will
impact on what you do and who you engage with.

Who…are the public?
We are all the public. When we engage with others, we inevitably have to make an
assessment of how to communicate with them. These assessments are often based on
assumptions and stereotypes. The public you engage with may have already developed a
particular view of what researchers are like – a picture often built up from the media. To
engage with any particular public audience you need to build up picture but have to aim for
accuracy rather than assumptions and stereotypes.

Each group of people you engage with will have particular characteristics and one of the
keys to engaging fully with the group is to recognise those characteristics and to start
thinking yourself into their shoes. You might start doing so by considering the following:

How do members of your audience see themselves?
Where do they come from? What age group are they? How diverse is the group in
terms of gender, ethnicity and disability? What would be your expectations of the
household incomes, occupations and educational backgrounds of audience
members?
How much does the audience already know about your topic? What does the
audience know about you? How do they view you?

www.vitae.ac.uk

What attitudes or misconceptions is the audience likely to have about the topic? Has
there been media coverage of the topic and should they believe everything they‟ve
read in the papers? What papers will they have read?
What is your relationship to the audience? What attitude do you expect the audience
to have towards you? What can you do to build a bridge between you and the
audience?
What kind of information is important to this audience? How are they likely to use the
information they‟re given?
What kind of approach will this audience expect? (formal; informal; academic lecture;
conversational; theatrical performance)
• What motivates the audience? What makes your audience tick? What are they
enthusiastic about?
• What might you expect to gain from this audience?

What…about research might be interesting to the public?
“The question should not be is our research any good, but what is it good for?”
Professor Chris Brink, VC, Newcastle University

You might know why your research is important and how it contributes to knowledge within
your discipline, but to be an engaging researcher it is crucial that you can also explain the
broader context of your research area. Keep in mind your audience and discuss what is
important, relevant and interesting about the research area from their perspective.

Reasons for engaging with the public extend beyond the benefits to the research and
researchers themselves. Some argue that if research is publicly funded, society has a right
to shape research agendas and be involved in decisions about how discoveries are used.

How…do I design a public engagement activity?
In designing a public engagement activity, you need to be realistic about the amount of time
it will take you to prepare and run an activity and think about what resources you have at
your disposal.

Examples of public engagement activities could include:
Running hands-on demonstrations at museums or science centres
Taking part in festivals
Doing a public talk or lecture
Working with schools or young people
Running a public dialogue or debate event
Appearing on television or radio
Writing a blog or contributing to a website
Writing for a public magazine
Involving the public as co-researchers

www.vitae.ac.uk

Three things you could do next …

1 Get inspired and get talking
Once you start asking the right questions you‟ll be surprised to discover just how much
public engagement activity is taking in your own institution and across your local region.

Speak to other researchers across the department; find out what sorts of activities they are
involved in and how they got started. Are there faculty or central outreach/science
communication/public engagement/widening participation units?

And remember not every public engagement activity needs to be designed from scratch,
take a look at the impact and public engagement case studies on funding body and learned
body websites. You will find a wealth of opportunities, funding and contacts.

2 Take your research out on the town
Get involved in a science, history, social science or arts festival. Festivals provide a great
opportunity for collaborating with other researchers and partners such as museums, art
galleries and science centres and for working with all kinds of public groups. The types of
activities can range from talks and workshops to exhibitions, public debates and
performances to interactive drop-in style activities.

If you‟re not sure what happens at a festival, then make a commitment to attend one in the
coming year – for the most part events are largely free and offer you a great chance to build
your networks,

3 Raise your public engagement profile
Share your experiences with other researchers, get connected and keep up to date with
events and activities.

Consider writing your own blog whether is it about your research or your activities related to
that research, a reflective journey about your public engagement activities can provide a
source of inspiration to others. Find out how microblogging tools such as Twitter can ensure
that you are up to date with the very latest opportunities available to you. Or join an online
network such as the:
Vitae Public Engagement Blog – www.vitae.ac.uk/publicengagement
NCCPE Public Engagement Network – www.publicengagement.ac.uk

As well as raising your own profile, you‟ll find links to other online resources and support.

www.vitae.ac.uk

Planning your next public engagement activity
This template might help you to plan your next activity.

www.vitae.ac.uk

Public Engagement Checklist
 x
ACTIVITY PLAN
State your objectives clearly/what you want to achieve
Identify your audience
Create an audience profile
Secure funding (if required)
Are you working alone or in partnership? Who would be your partner(s)?
Compile a budget
Time Plan with dates and milestones (when you hope to achieve various actions)
Evaluation strategy
How you will record your activity eg photographs, video
VENUE
Conduct a site visit to see size and location of space within venue
Check accessibility of space for buggies/people in wheelchairs/etc.
Find out what the venue‟s procedures are for first aid, fire evacuation, child protection
Find out where electric power points (if any) are located
Ask if venue staff will be available to help set up/take down your activity
Discover the location of the toilets, catering facilities, your named venue staff member for
the day
Car parking – where can you drop off your equipment, park your vehicles
See if venue staff can give you any advice or tips!
RESOURCES
Recruit people/volunteers to help
Brief helpers prior to activity date
Book transport to get resources to venue
Identify and source equipment required
Construct or acquire equipment, signs, activity sheets, etc.
Source any free giveaways
HEALTH & SAFETY
Sort out Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks if required
(May be required when working with children. Your university’s HR Department or Widening
Participation Team should be able to help you)
Complete a risk assessment
(Required for any public event. Your university should have a form)
Source a copy of public liability insurance
(Required for any event held in a public space. You will be covered by the university’s
policy)
Ensure any electrical equipment is PAT tested
(Any portable electrical equipment older than one year must have been tested. It is likely to
have a sticker indicating the test/retest dates)
Have a procedure for gaining consent from the public if taking photographs/video
(This should be covered in your university’s child protection policy if not ask the advice of
the venue)
PUBLICITY
Include in your audience profile how they like to hear about activities. Use this to target your
marketing.
Free advertising – find out how your venue can help you advertise your activity
(Eg include in What’s On guide, send out a press release, display posters, etc.)

www.vitae.ac.uk

Resources and opportunities in public engagement

Below are a few examples of various resources and opportunities available to you to help
and support your public engagement activity. For a more detailed list with associated web
links please visit the public engagement section of the Vitae website:
http://www.vitae.ac.uk/publicengagement

The advice and ideas in these resources can be transferred from one discipline area to
another so try not to limit yourself to those within your own research area.

Guides & Online Resources:

Communicating with the public: guidance notes (BBSRC)
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Community Engagement (NHS)
Impact Toolkit (online from ESRC)
A guide to successful communications and communicating science: A scientist‟s survival kit
(European Commission)
Dialogue with the public: practical guidelines (RCUK)
Raising the profile of your research thorough the media (ARHC)
Social Media: A Guide For Researchers (Research Information Network)
Association of British Writers
Vidiowiki (a community of researchers from around the world talking about their work and
why it's interesting, in 3 minutes or less)

Good Practice Examples: Online (podcasts & blogs)

Geek Pop (a free online music festival featuring artists inspired by science and celebrating
geek culture)
Cancer Research UK Blog

Social Science for Schools (ESRC)
Jodcast (an astronomy podcast)

Public Engagement Evaluation Resources:
Public engagement evaluation guide (Manchester Beacon for Public Engagement)
Practical guidelines: a guide for evaluating public engagement (RCUK)
Making a difference: a guide to evaluating public participation in central government
(INVOLVE)
Evaluating participatory, deliberative and co-operative ways of working (Interact Working
Paper)

www.vitae.ac.uk

Organisations & Networks:
Arts Council
Association for Science Centres and Discovery Centres
British Interactive Group
National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE – has toolkits, engagement
guides and case studies)
People and Participation
Royal Society of Arts
Sciencewise Expert Resource Centre for Public Dialogue In Science and Innovation

Note: A number of professional bodies offer outreach programmes and funding for
researchers to participate in public engagement activities. We encourage you to check out
other opportunities with professional bodies in your research discipline.

Events / Opportunities:
Bright Club (London, Manchester, Wales, York, Edinburgh)
The Big Draw, Campaign for Drawing
Cafe Scientifique
Festivals (eg. Cambridge Festival of Ideas, Cheltenham Science Festival, Hay-on-Wye
Literature Festival, Manchester Histories Festival, St Andrew‟s On The Rocks Arts Festival)
I‟m a Scientist / Engineer Get Me Out of Here!
Maths Busking (street performance)
National events (eg. Heritage Open Days, Festival of British Archaeology, ESRC‟s Festival
of Social Science)
Nuffield Bursaries
STEM Ambassadors
Widening Participation*
Volunteering & community engagement*
Note: *Many UK universities offer these schemes and opportunities. They may have an
outreach or public engagement unit.

Competitions & Awards
Famelab
Wellcome Trust Science Writing Competition
Joshua Phillips Award
Society of Biology Science Communication Award
Note: Many regions and HEIs run public engagement competitions. Be sure to check out
what is going on in your local area.

www.vitae.ac.uk

Engaging researcher introduction participant toolkit 12 07-2012

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