Public engagement

Universities are being encouraged to extend the ways in which they engage with their local community and the general public by:

• increasing their community's participation in, and understanding of research, especially research relevant to healthcare, the environment, sustainability and public policy
• helping to raise the aspirations of school children to go on to higher education
• supporting life long learning
• undertaking and supporting voluntary work in the community.

Public engagement is key to the researcher's role. It helps raise the profile and impact of your research, increases and develops your skills and is often extremely rewarding on a personal level.

There are a number of ways in which universities are working to increase public engagement and lots of opportunities for you to get involved as a member of research staff:

• increased media coverage of research
• mentoring in schools
• the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Science in Society initiative which offers;
  • small grants to fund public engagement projects 
    
  • a Researchers in Residence scheme
    
  • training opportunities for researchers wishing to get involved in public engagement projects
    
• increased use of space on main routes of the campus for public activities, tours and installations
• the Beacons for Public Engagement programme (funded by Research Councils UK and the Wellcome Trust) intended to support a step-change in recognition for public engagement across the higher education sector. There are six regional Beacons and a National Co-ordinating Centre.

The Vitae public engagement discussion space features articles from a range of perspectives. For example, Sarah Davies wrote about 'Public engagement a love story of our times' charting the increased recognition of public engagement in policy over recent decades, and Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Manchester wrote about the importance of public engagement to HEIs and research institutes. Join the discussion at www.vitae.ac.uk/publicengagement