Support for Public Engagement

Public Engagement with Research Seed Fund

Call for proposals now open

The University of Oxford's small grants scheme provides funds for researchers to develop, deliver and evaluate Public Engagement with Research projects and activities.

Applications are welcome from those new to or experienced in Public Engagement with Research. Funds (typically £2k to £4k) can be requested to pilot a new project or enhance an existing activity.

How to apply

The call for applications will open on 3 August 2020, and will close on 23 October 2020.  

Applications are submitted through IRAMS.

The Guidelines and case support for 2020 are available here:

Previous projects

Summaries of the 2019-20 funded projects are available here:

Project summaries from the Final Reports of the 2018-19 projects are here, including lessons learnt:

Any queries? Please email publicengagement@admin.ox.ac.uk

Enriching Engagement Grants Scheme

Round 2 Projects Announced

Seven projects have been awarded funding in Round 2 of Enriching Engagement. 

Further Information 

The deadline for the latest round is now closed, however, further details on the scheme process and application documents are provided below:

• no lengthy written applications required - just great ideas and effective project planning
• workshops and one-to-one surgeries to inspire and shape your thinking
• open to those that are new to public engagement; and those with experience in this area
• no anonymous written reviews and closed panels - applicants are invited to discuss their proposal directly with the funding committee members.

The pre-application support programme is open to any researchers eligible to apply for the Enriching Engagement scheme, across the University of Oxford, which includes a series of innovative workshops and 1:1 mentoring available from the Medical Sciences Division to help you put in the strongest application possible. It does not have to be the PI for the grant who attends, so long as they are Wellcome funded.

Applications are submitted through IRAMS:

        Enriching Engagement Round 2 Application FAQs 29 May 2020.pdf

Any queries? Please email publicengagement@admin.ox.ac.uk

Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust expects their grant-holders to engage the public with their research and as such provides support and funding for this activity as part of research grants. Furthermore, various Wellcome Trust funding schemes designed specifically for public engagement can be applied for directly. 

Research Council

Public Engagement with Research (PER) activities can be included and resourced as part of Research Council grant applications via the following mechanisms:

• the case for support where public engagement forms part of the research process
• as a work package of a larger grant, such as a programme grant

Guidance for applying for PER activities through Pathways to Impacts can be found here.

The guidance includes what information to provide in your Pathways to Impact section; a list of example PER costings; FAQs and a PER planning template.

Other funding opportunities

For other external funding opportunities, visit the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) website.

The Forum

The Forum is a termly series of events for Oxford's research community to explore and debate Public Engagement with Research practice and policy and provide opportunities for sharing learning and networking.

When will the next Forum take place?

The Forum will occur once a term at different times (to help accommodate staff with differing work/life circumstances), try out different formats (debates, workshops etc) and discuss a range of topics.

If you would like to keep up to date with news of the next Forum, you can sign up the PER Digest, a monthly email newsletter with PER updates and opportunities. To subscribe please email publicengagement@admin.ox.ac.uk with "Start PER Digest" in the subject line.

We would welcome ideas and suggestions for future PER Forum topics; please do let us know via the same email as above. 

Previous PER Forums

PER FORUM: Develop your Impact Case Study for REF 2021 – Public Engagement - 06 June 2019

This session was for members of Oxford’s research community to build, develop or enhance their potential REF 2021 Impact Case Study with respect to Public Engagement.

Evaluating Public Engagement with Research: why, how and when to evaluate?

The second PER Forum took place on the 5th March 2019 and explored why we should evaluate PER, how to evaluate the impact and outcomes of PER, how to ensure evaluation is relevant and engaging for different audience groups and what best practice evaluation looked like.

Early Career Researchers: when to get engaged?

The first PER Forum took place on the 12^th December 2018 and explored the place of public engagement as an Early Career Researcher. The event brought together a panel of academics experienced in PER to explore; what are the pros and cons for ECRs undertaking PER and how can we improve research culture to enable ECRs to pursue their public engagement aspirations.

See here for more opportunities and support for ECRs in PER.

Public Engagement with Research Strategic Plan

The University of Oxford's Public Engagement with Research Strategic Plan was launched on 12 December 2016. The purpose of the  Plan is two-fold:  
- to frame an ambitious vision for Public Engagement with Research at Oxford;

- to identify the key steps towards it that will be undertaken in the next three years and against which to measure progress.

Oxford’s vision is to embed high-quality and innovative public engagement as an integral part of research culture and practice, enhancing its position as a world-leading research institution. A key focus of the Plan is to equip academics and researchers across the institution to develop and deliver high-quality Public Engagement with Research activities and to foster a culture in which they are recognised for their accomplishments. This will be achieved by:

◦  building this activity into the planning and resourcing of new research projects;
◦  facilitating opportunities for collaboration, in particular between researchers and the University’s museums, gardens, libraries and collections;
◦  providing researchers with support and training and
◦  publicising and celebrating examples of best practice both within the University and externally.

Professor Sarah Whatmore, University Academic Champion for Public Engagement with Research (2015 - 2017) said “We were able to build on a strong constituency of practitioners and enthusiasts at Oxford to develop this Public Engagement with Research Strategy, which provides a more systematic approach to enable newcomers to this agenda to participate, but also supports those who are long experienced in public engagement to do their work even more effectively and with greater impact.”