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Public Engagement
These
case studies include engaging the public with research such as a pathway to impact.
In addition to communicating research findings to the public, researchers should
also consider two-way engagement - interaction and dialogue with the public to inform
their research. The
National
HE STEM Programme have also provided support for these case studies.
Dr Ceri Lewis: from the University of Exeter
has used tweets, blogs and podcasts to disseminate
her research and create impact. This has enabled
end users of research, other researchers and even
the public to provide feedback, comments and questions
to influence her research. Communicating her work
to a young audience through her work with schools
has also developed her skills.
Professor Nick Tyler: from University College
London researches how people interact with the environment
which has led him to set up the Pedestrian Accessibility
and Movement Environment Laboratory (PAMELA). To
maximise the impact of his research he has engaged
with users and the public which has led to a collaboration
with Thameslink2000 train link in London which has
had national impact for train design in the UK.
Professor Frank Sengpiel: from Cardiff University
is inspired to tell people about neuroscience and
as the lead for public engagement at Cardiff University’s
new Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute
(NMHRI) organises events such as public lectures.
He hopes that explaining his research clearly will
help the general public, and other potential users
such as the research and clinical communities understand
the relevance of his work.
Professor Robert Logie: is group leader
at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Cognitive
Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology (CCACE). He has
worked with the BBC on a cross-media science season
to explore the fascinating world of memory, on radio,
television and the web including an on-line memory
test which has been completed by more than half
a million people. Professor Logie believes that
interaction with the public is vital as it helps
to identify ways in which basic research can be
applied to society.
Professor Rhodri Williams: from the University
of Swansea changed the direction of his research
from the rheology of industrial engineering fluids
to rheology of blood coagulation through a chance
meeting. As a result, Swansea is now seen as a world-leading
centre in this field and him and his colleagues
have two spin-out two companies, and are having
a clinical impact in local hospitals. He now regularly
engages with a wide variety of users including the
general public, as the feedback he receives from
them has been invaluable to his research.
Professor Dek Woolfson: Professor Dek Woolfson from the
University of Bristol advises against writing the pathways to impact
at the end of the grant proposal. He suggests populating it with
headings and sub headings for each area where there is a potential
impact. Professor Woolfson’s impact activities are very much focussed
on building the research capacity of the next generation, helping
to lay the foundations for better engineering of biology and engagement
with the public. He believes that public engagement encourages an
understanding of his science from different perspectives, which
in turn has a positive impact on his own research.
Professor Nicky Gregson: Professor Nicky Gregson at Durham
University never anticipated that research into waste and global
recycling could produce such creative and innovative pathways to
impact which has led to the making of two films, a photography exhibition
and a school play. Professor Gregson was keen to explore a variety
of pathways to impact and together with her team, the Geographical
Association, as well as a ship breaking project team began working
with a Sheffield school and took a group of children to ship breaking
in progress. Unintentionally the children became part of a parallel
research project based on the poignant and revealing interviews
conducted by the school children with the veterans of the ship that
was being salvaged.
Dr Paul Roche: Dr Paul Roche is Head of Astronomy and Director
of Faulkes Telescope at the University of Glamorgan. Dr Roche has
spent his career enthusing teachers, schoolchildren and members
of the public about space and has worked closely with teachers,
providing them with tools to bring into the classroom. Dr Roche
admits that combining research with outreach projects is a challenge
and that it helps to have supportive supervisors but feels that
there is now a much wider recognition of the benefits of science
communication.
Professor Susheila Nasta: Professor Susheila Nasta at the
Open University aimed to stimulate debate on heritage and deepen
cross-cultural national and international understanding between
Britain and India and has endeavoured to find ways to reach as wide
an audience as possible. Professor Nasta’s team were awarded an
additional one-year grant to take an exhibition of the project’s
findings to India, which was seen by the Foreign Office and described
as “essential knowledge for every British diplomat coming to India.”
Dr Tomoya Obokata: Dr Tomoya Obokata from Queen’s University
Belfast project explores how the law enforcement agencies in the
North and South of Ireland respond and collaborate on trans-border
organised crime. Dr Obokata’s aim is to build co-operative long
term relationships with different trans-border law enforcement agencies
and has set up an advisory board comprising policy makers, practitioners
and civil society groups whose networks will increase the likelihood
of the research findings reaching the people that can use it.
Professor John Wolffe and Professor Arthur Burns: Professor
John Wolffe and Professor Arthur Burns pondered how to make historical
research relevant to today’s society. In partnership with the Anglican
Diocese of London and Lambeth Palace Library, they have developed
an on-line resource to help parish clergy and lay people research
their own church history. Professor Wolffe stresses the importance
of taking a flexible approach to pathways to impact and has been
gratified that as a result of his research, he has received further
funding to extend his engagement activities to other places of worship
in London.
Professor Julian Dow: Professor Julian Dow from the University
of Glasgow thought he knew what impact meant until he had the opportunity
to judge the BBSRC’s Excellence with Impact competition. Professor
Dow realised that impact can mean different things to different
people and that there are many ways to generate impact. Professor
Dow’s research is in functional genomics, particularly using fruit
flies and can be very photogenic, so he together with colleagues
hit upon a novel and high tech way to engage with the public by
using posters and QR codes linking to podcasts explaining their
research.
Professor Ian Julian Bateman: Professor Ian Bateman is from
The Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment
(CSERGE) based at the University of East Anglia. He is currently
leading on an award winning project to develop a computational model
for a decision making process called the Eco-Systems Service Approach
which considers the direct and indirect impacts of land use change.
Professor Bateman has developed and nurtured links with Government
departments and highlights the importance of getting research out
to the policy world in ways that are easily accessible.
Dr Stephen Cavers: Dr Steven Cavers at the NERC centre for
Ecology and Hydrology led a project studying the process of evolution
in pine trees native to the UK, which aims to help commercial growers
produce stronger, more resilient varieties of pine trees. Dr Cavers
has established contacts with Forest Research, the Forestry Commission’s
research arm, which communicates with a wide national network of
tree planters to understand what research stakeholders consider
important; he has also implemented a skills development plan to
improve the communication skills of the project researchers and
to proactively create opportunities to interact with end users.
Dr Miguel-Aliaga:
Dr Irene Miguel-Aliaga from the Zoology department at the University of Cambridge has found that working with multiple age groups is a major challenge, but that it has unexpected benefits and appears to hone and focus the communication skills of the presenters.
Dr Miguel-Aliaga and her colleagues designed a set of simple, hands-on teaching modules to highlight state of the art research in fruit fly genetics, physiology, and behaviour. After listening to a five-minute introductory talk, they visited the teaching stations, then they were asked to fill in a questionnaire designed to evaluate the technical and conceptual aspects of the exercise and 86 percent did so.
Professor William Gaver:
Dr Irene Miguel-Aliaga from the Zoology department at the University of Cambridge has found that working with multiple age groups is a major challenge, but that it has unexpected benefits and appears to hone and focus the communication skills of the presenters.
For Professor Gaver his research impact is about propagating innovative ideas to use technology in everyday life. This involves embodying fundamental research about peoples’ values and activities in designs that are highly unusual but still appealing. “We make things that work – highly finished prototypes that work technically and aesthetically and also experientially. We engage with emerging technologies. Where we speculate is challenging how people engage with them.”
Dr Jon Copley:
Dr Jon Copley, a researcher in marine ecology at the National Oceanographic Centre (NOC) at the University of Southampton and his team have two clear objectives for its public engagement activity; Inspiring and informing people all around the world of new discoveries in the deep ocean and involving them in the research process.
Dr John Elliott:
Dr John Elliott’s research at the University of Oxford focuses on the forensic study of earthquakes. The users of his research are NGOs dealing with the humanitarian cost of earthquakes and emergency services and planning agencies in Governments. His research has the potential to save many lives so he believes that it is important to find routes for communication beyond journal articles. Dr Elliott found the prospect nerve-racking but recently took advantage of the media training offered free to NERC-funded researchers.
Dr Michael Pocock and Dr Darren Evans:
Dr Pocock, and his colleague Dr Darren Evans are responsible for a highly successful citizen science project, the Conker Tree Science Project, supported by the NERC. The project involves thousands of people around the country; has spawned its own smartphone app (the LeafWatch app), which reached number 1 on iTunes education downloads; and has generated masses of national and regional TV and radio coverage.
Professor Martin Siegert:
Professor Martin Siegert, Science Programme Director at the Sub-glacial Lake Ellsworth Consortium explains that economic exploitation of the Antarctic is forbidden under the international Antarctic Treaty, yet the project has created unexpected opportunities for potential economic impact. The team have had to find new design and technological solutions to manufacture large drilling equipment which can be packed into shipping containers for safe transportation to the Antarctic. They have also had to solve the complex engineering problem of how to capture the lakebed sediment and water sample and get it back to the surface without contamination to the sample or the lake itself.
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock:
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock a senior space scientist at UCL has become a well-known broadcast commentator for space-related news making documentaries on space science for several channels.
“My science communication does have an impact on the work I do, especially if I have to drop everything for a TV interview; but the benefits are multiple,” she says. “Having someone with a media profile can be good for the company image. But there are also the transferable skills: the ability to take fairly complex ideas and break them down into something straightforward and communicate it to different levels of understanding is invaluable”.
Dr Paula Chadwick:
Dr Paula Chadwick, a gamma ray astronomer at Durham University understands that people are interested in black holes and mysterious cosmic particles. Along with other particle astrophysicists around the UK, she is involved with a national project called CORUS, which aims to place cosmic ray detectors in schools.
Professor Mark Hodson:
“I view what I do as story telling more than anything else,” Professor Hodson from the University of Reading points out. “So I go along and tell environmental stories such as how earthworms evolved to cope with contaminated metals or how we can remediate contaminated soil. I tell stories that I think will grip people’s imagination.”
Professor Colin Pulham:
Professor Colin Pulham from the University of Edinburgh finds that understanding his audience, of whatever age and finding innovative ways to bring science alive is key to his approach.
Professor Pulham played a major role in a series of EPSRC-funded Chemical Connection projects, which took demonstrations and hands-on activities to schools, community groups and other organisations throughout Scotland and northern England. Feedback from participants at these workshops highlighted the huge popularity of enabling participants of all ages perform experiments and make discoveries for themselves.
Professor Stephen Curry:
Professor Stephen Curry from Imperial College London knows that anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of a ‘winter vomiting bug’ infection, will be very aware of the debilitating effects of the human norovirus, one of the main types of calicivirus. Better understanding could, he believes, lead to the development of new antiviral therapies against noroviruses.
Finding ways to bring this and related research to a wider audience has prompted Professor Curry to enter ‘I’m A Scientist, Get Me Out of Here’, an online competition aimed at getting children excited by science.
Professor Martin Gallagher:
Professor Martin Gallagher, from the Centre for Atmospheric Science (CAS) at the University of Manchester explained that on a small project it can be difficult to define who the beneficiaries will be. Having to come up with a Pathways to Impact has certainly made him think about impact activities that he would previously perhaps not have considered.”
Professor Andy Parker:
Find your unique selling point, that fascinating reason why you do your research, and find ways of conveying that enthusiasm to others. “Yes, spin-off companies are going to have an economic impact on society, but this pales into insignificance when compared with the economic impact that is generated by inspiring people to become scientists.”
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