Public engagement with research - done the survey yet?
Tuesday, 23 October 2018
The University is committed to supporting public engagement with research. We want your help with a survey to capture views on the opportunities, the benefits, the barriers, and how the University could better support this work.
There is a huge range of inspiring and innovative work already taking place across the University (demonstrated by the projects submitted to the Research Engagement and Impact awards each year) – and 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 undertake a survey of public engagement at the University to capture a fuller picture of all the activity taking place. The impetus for this is the planning we need to put in place to prepare a submission to the second stage of the NERC-funded Open Up Science! Project, but equally importantly it will 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 they are currently involved in public engagement activities). So please take a few minutes to complete the survey yourself, and also share with colleagues and students.
The survey can be found on the NCCPE website: https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/university-reading-engagement-survey.
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@uwe.ac.uk).