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Have developments in engagement and impact outpaced provision for ‘an engaged PhD journey’?

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Have developments in engagement and impact outpaced provision for ‘an engaged PhD journey’?

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UKRI (2023a) argues that “The PhD is the first step towards a career in research, providing graduates with training for a range of opportunities”. In a complementary mode, PhD programmes are routinely promoted on the basis of comprehensive training and professional development in core knowledge and transferable skills with the aim of developing researchers and enhancing employability prospects. Whilst UKRI’s (2023b) New deal for postgraduate research highlights a need for greater “collaboration with employers”, in terms of funding, co-creation of PhD projects and contribution to training, it places less emphasis on the need to support postgraduate research students in all aspects of an engaged research journey.

We argue that this context begs the following questions: what does a career in post-doctoral research now routinely involve; have PhD programmes kept pace with developments in the UK research system in relation to engagement and impact; and does a PhD provide a first step towards a job within or beyond academia that requires skills and competencies in impact and engagement?

Our provocation is that provision for ‘an engaged PhD journey’ is patchy. In some instances, PhD candidates are well served in preparing them for a range of impactful postgraduate opportunities, both within and beyond the academy. In other examples, training and support are less optimal for an engaged PhD journey.

In this session we will offer prompts for discussion about what we see as aspects of an engaged PhD journey that receive less attention (when compared to training and professional development): 1) PGR, Supervisor, Mentor and Examiner recruitment and selection; 2) assessment, ‘upgrade’ and examination processes; and 3) engaged PhD skills and competencies for employability.

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NCCPE Engage PGR Provocation v3 06 12 23

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Can public engagement be truly ethical? 

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Can public engagement be truly ethical? 

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This provocation is aimed at starting a conversation about how we can do public engagement as ethically as possible. As community and civic engagement in particular gain more prominence, the need to be ethical in how we engage with communities, especially vulnerable ones, is critically important. There is already a lot of thinking around this, as well as resources, support and communities of practice. However, I think there are still questions to be asked at all levels – public engagement professionals, academics, and university leadership – about how ethical engagement practices are currently and what we can do to improve them and ensure we are working with external partners and audiences in ways that aren’t exploitative and don’t uphold or reinforce societal inequities. I would like to inspire a conversation about these issues and encourage participants to reflect on their own roles and projects, as well as how they can drivers of change at an institutional and/or sectoral level.

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Rhea Sookdeosingh Engage 2023 Provocation Video

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Funders and HEIs must invest in co-created, community-led innovation if we want sustainable, inclusive research ecosystems

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Funders and HEIs must invest in co-created, community-led innovation if we want sustainable, inclusive research ecosystems

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Collaboration and co-creation in the arts and humanities can be a powerful tool in helping to overcome inequity, build connection, and tackled shared issues or goals. However, it can also worsen inequalities if context is not properly considered. All too often, focus is placed upon the outputs of collaboration, rather than the sometimes-difficult processes necessary to sustain innovative partnerships. Co-creation is not a ‘one-size fits all’ approach and must be applied thoughtfully, but existing academic systems and processes can’t always meet these needs. If we invest in co-creation, and shift focus to what can be learned about it as a vital part of the research ecosystem, we can test new ideas and approaches to creating, sharing, and using knowledge to tackle shared challenges, making research more inclusive. Investing in overcoming these barriers – by rethinking funding, partnerships, and models of R&D – is crucial to harnessing the innovative potential of R&D today.

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CAPTIONED Lauren Baker Mitchell_AHRC Creative Communities_NCCPE Engage Online 2023

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The distance between the policy and public engagement worlds is a missed opportunity to better understand how the public value R&D; we need a closer relationship to show R&D’s role in society

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The distance between the policy and public engagement worlds is a missed opportunity to better understand how the public value R&D; we need a closer relationship to show R&D’s role in society

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CaSE’s Discovery Decade seeks to make R&D matter to more people- while ensuring sustained funding for R&D remains a political priority. The project straddles the worlds of policy and public engagement- and has engaged with both. We have seen excellent examples of collaboration- but believe that strengthening the relationship will help us better understand and engage the public- to the benefit of all sides.

We will explore the current relationship and ask how it could be improved- offering PE professionals the opportunity to share good practice and common barriers. As a policy-focused organisation- CaSE would listen and learn from these experiences- and offer a policy perspective where appropriate.

Outcomes would feed into CaSE’s new public dialogue exercise- which seeks to explore public agency in the R&D system. It is essential that recommendations are actionable by stakeholders in both policy and public engagement- and this would inform how we disseminate and implement the results.

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Campaign for Science and Engineering Discovery Decade - NCCPE Engage 2023

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How can the content of courses drive transformative processes for students, communities and institutions?

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How can the content of courses drive transformative processes for students, communities and institutions?

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Working with the MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism at London Contemporary Dance School as a jumping off point, I would like to find a collective conversation about how innovative content and course delivery can make a space for transformative processes for students, communities and institutions. I would like to discuss collective leadership, decentralisation, co-creation and emergence as the foundations of this proposal and to exchange about the meeting point of exclusive systems and inclusive practice.

** Please bring a pen and paper to this session!

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Community Advisory Boards: We Have Reinvented the Wheel a Thousand Times-Now it’s Time to Learn!

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Community Advisory Boards: We Have Reinvented the Wheel a Thousand Times-Now it’s Time to Learn!

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When it comes to community advisory boards (CABs) people have reinvented the wheel thousands of times in thousands of places. This could be a good thing! What and how can we learn from this breadth of experience and breadth of contexts?

CABs originated in clinical practice and public health as a means of consulting communities through representative groups. However, these approaches have since spread to other sectors and evolved in structure, methodology and name. What works in which situations and to which end is often something learnt through trial and error…or not. We want to convene, access and mobilise critical thinking about 'What Works' when it comes to community advisory structures and processes.

NCCPE has been working with independent researcher Jude Fransman to understand both how CABs themselves convene diverse knowledge and, how diverse knowledge about CABs (spanning roles, sectors, disciplines, and geographies) might be convened for our collective learning.

Jude has mapped some of the practice, knowledge and actors. But, now we need your help:

1- What and who have we excluded and how?

2- How might we bring a CAB related knowledge and people together whilst being conscious of representation, hierarchy and exclusion?

3- What general lessons are there for our sector to ensure we draw on a wealth of existing knowledge whilst ensuring inclusivity, power and purpose are heartfelt considerations.

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Celebrating the science lecture  (with added demos) 

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Celebrating the science lecture  (with added demos) 

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The Royal Institution's audiences are growing on all platforms; millions of people across the world wanting to hear from scientists directly about what the scientists think is interesting about science. Whether as democratic imperative or cultural access, we – the publicly-funded science/research sector - have a responsibility to respond to that public demand. Join Daniel Glaser, Director of Engagement at the Ri, for an exciting demonstration of science in action and a chance to debate the relationship between science communication and public engagement

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Are we succeeding at Public Engagement if we continue to echo in the same chamber?

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Are we succeeding at Public Engagement if we continue to echo in the same chamber?

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At the University of Central Lancashire, we do many events for the community on campus, including the award-winning Lancashire Science Festival, which brought around 10,000 people to our campus this May. Despite our best efforts, the event seems to be resonating within the same core demographics, with 2/3 of participants already having ties to higher education. This suggests re -engagement with an existing, familiar audience rather than extending our reach. We tried many strategies to reach the wider community, such as distributing community passes that allow children to eat for free. We have also improved our presence in the community; we work closely with a community engagement officer, and we offer more activities in community venues. We know it will take time to build trust so that everyone feels welcome on campus, but it would be good to discuss this with colleagues and share ideas.

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Output: The distance between the policy and public engagement worlds is a missed opportunity to better understand how the public value R&D; we need a closer relationship to show R&D’s role in society

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Output: The distance between the policy and public engagement worlds is a missed opportunity to better understand how the public value R&D; we need a closer relationship to show R&D’s role in society

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Our session sought to understand the different perceptions between these ‘worlds’ and to understand how we could build a stronger relationship between them to the benefit of the public. Around half of participants in the session said they sometimes worked with people from the policy world, and a similar number had or did seek to engage the public on policy-related topics. We discussed what came to mind when thinking about the relationship between public engagement and policy professionals, and common themes were around there being missed opportunities and a disconnect between the two – including caution around the complexity of the relationship and there being unrealistic expectations about how to involve the public in their work. As a group we shared the potential benefits of a closer relationship, which included having greater impact as an organisation or team, the ability to bring diverse public voices into complex areas, and building a greater understanding between the two areas.

We explored some ideas of how we could work together more, and heard examples of good practice – such as Southampton’s physical co-location space. Ideas included somewhere to share resources, recognising that it is already time consuming keeping up with current thinking in one sector, forums and efforts to earn and build up trust on both sides, such as through setting shared expectations and greater openness and transparency.

Results from Sli.do polls and some of the thoughts captured in breakout rooms can all be found on this Padlet: https://padlet.com/rebecca1228/the-distance-between-the-policy-and-public-engagement-worlds-nmpcjw09lpfitg27

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OUTPUT: Can public engagement be truly ethical? 

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OUTPUT: Can public engagement be truly ethical? 

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Please click on the link below to see the Padlet from the provocation session. In it, you will find a transcription of the chat contributions.

https://padlet.com/rheasookdeosingh/can-public-engagement-be-truly-ethical-an3926w4ucf0a6i9