The University is committed to supporting public engagement with research. We are now asking for the help of our colleagues with a survey to capture your views on the opportunities, benefits and barriers, and how the University could better support this work.
A huge range of inspiring and innovative work already takes place across the University, which we see in the inspiring projects entered in the Research Engagement and Impact awards each year. Many researchers enjoy working with non-academic audiences and recognise the benefits this brings to their work.
We have recently asked the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement to help us carry out a survey of public engagement at the University. The aim is to capture a fuller picture of all the activity taking place. This will help us plan our submission to the second stage of the NERC-funded Open Up Science project. But it will also help us to highlight the benefits of public engagement, identify some of the barriers, and capture ideas for how we could better support this work right across the University.
We are keen to get as wide a response as possible to the survey from both staff and students, whether or not you are currently involved in public engagement activities. So please take a few minutes to complete the survey and also share with colleagues and your students if you use public engagement methods in your teaching. The deadline is noon on 16 November.
The findings will be used to assess the strategic and practical support the University currently offers and to identify areas we could improve. If you have any questions about the survey or how the information will be used, please contact Katie Cooper in the Impact team (Katherine.Cooper@reading.ac.uk), or the NCCPE administrator, Lisa Adlington (lisa.adlington@uwe.ac.uk).
To learn more about our public engagement with research, visit our new ‘get involved’ web page and discover why we’ve recently signed up to the NCCPE’s manifesto.