Ten new Public Engagement grants awarded

Ten new public engagement grants worth £1,000 each have been awarded to UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to develop and run a public event inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games. The events are taking place between October 2010 and February 2011 and represent a wide range of activities including lab demonstrations, lectures, debates and mass participation events.

The grants were made available from Knowing Sport, the Public Engagement Programme for the International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport (ICSEMIS) and are supported by Research Councils UK (RCUK) and Podium.

The events were selected from proposals that sought to capture the excitement of the Games and engage new public audiences with the science and academic research which underpins sport. All the events are free to attend and are taking place at publicly accessible venues. The selected events include:

• University of East London – ‘Sports Open Lab’
• University of Hertfordshire – ‘Health, Sport and Physical Activity: What You Need to Know’
• Leeds Metropolitan University – ‘In our own words: Athlete experiences of well-being and development in elite and professional sport’
• Liverpool John Moores University – ‘Meet the Sport Scientist’
• University of the West of Scotland – ‘London 2012: The First Transhuman Olympics?’
• University of Wolverhampton – ‘Improving the Running Experience’
• University of Kent – ‘Health, Medicine and Science – A Sports Open Day’
• University of Westminster – ‘Fitbeats’
• University of Leicester – ‘Knowing Sport Lecture Series’
• University of Gloucester – ‘Drawing the Line on Doping: Harm, Fairness and the ‘Spirit of Sport’

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Further information

For more information about the initiative, please visit the Podium website here

Notes to editors

1. ICSEMIS is the world’s foremost gathering of scientists and academics in fields related to sport and will be held in Glasgow prior to the 2012 Games. The ICSEMIS 2012 Partners are the IOC, the IPC, FIMS and ICSSPE. The Brunel Consortium organising ICSEMIS 2012 consists of: Brunel University, the University of Strathclyde, Liverpool John Moores University, the University of Ulster and the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC).

2. Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the strategic partnership of the UK’s seven Research Councils. The Research Councils seek to create a culture where the research sector and researchers themselves value public engagement as an important activity, and where an awareness of social and ethical issues informs research decisions.

3. Podium is the Further and Higher Education Unit for the 2012 Games and is working in partnership with the ICSEMIS 2012 organising committee to deliver the Knowing Sport public engagement programme.

4. Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the strategic partnership of the UK's seven Research Councils. We invest annually around £3 billion in research. Our focus is on excellence with impact. We nurture the highest quality research, as judged by international peer review providing the UK with a competitive advantage. Global research requires we sustain a diversity of funding approaches, fostering international collaborations, and providing access to the best facilities and infrastructure, and locating skilled researchers in stimulating environments. Our research achieves impact – the demonstrable contribution to society and the economy made by knowledge and skilled people. To deliver impact, researchers and businesses need to engage and collaborate with the public, business, government and charitable organisations. www.rcuk.ac.uk

   The seven UK Research Councils are:

   • Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC);
   • Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC);
   • Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC);
   • Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC);
   • Medical Research Council (MRC);
   • Natural Environment Research Council (NERC);
   • Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC).