Support for Public Engagement

 Enriching Engagement Grants Scheme

Embedding Awards EOI round closing 1 July; Round 4 open

Key dates: 

• Round 4 opens: 17 June 2021
• Embedding Awards deadline for Expressions of Interest: 1 July 2021
• Embedding Awards deadline for invited fully developed applications: 16 September 2021
• Round 4 closes: 16 September 2021

Enriching Engagement is a pilot grants programme open to Wellcome grant holders and awardees at the University of Oxford, to develop and deliver Public Engagement with Research projects.

Embedding Awards: special round summer 2021

The Embedding Awards are a special round of Enriching Engagement, for projects from £150k- £300k. Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for Embedding Awards are due 1 July 2021; a funding panel in July will assess them and invite a select few to proceed in developing full applications, which will be due in September.  

An info session for prospective applicants will be held on Tuesday 18 May, 1 - 1.30 pm; fill out this form to register.

A key feature of Embedding Award projects is that they will work closely with an external partner(s). For the full criteria, eligibility, and other application guidance, see the Embedding Awards Application Guidance document linked below.  

It is expected that all prospective EOI submissions for Embedding Awards will work closely with Oxford public engagement staff to develop their proposal. Contact the university’s central Public Engagement with Research team at publicengagement@admin.ox.ac.uk for assistance with proposal development and connecting with departmental public engagement staff as appropriate.  

Key dates:

Expressions of Interest (EOIs) due: 1 July 2021

EOIs are to be submitted via IRAMS and include a completed EOI form: 

Round 4 - closing 16 September 2021 

Project summaries of the funded projects for Round 1 - 3 are here:

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.
• A Budget Guidance document and Past Panel Feedback document are available to applicants upon demand; please contact publicengagement@admin.ox.ac.uk to request.
• If you require any of the below documents in a different format for accessibility reasons, please contact publicengagement@admin.ox.ac.uk

Applications are submitted through IRAMS:

Enriching Engagement Round 3 Application FAQs - updated November 2020.pdf

Enriching Engagement Application Guidance Round 4.pdf

Enriching Engagement Case for Support Round 4.docx

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

Departmental PER Seed Fund

Applications are currently closed

The Departmental PER Seed Fund is an internal grant scheme to support building capacity for Public Engagement with Research (PER) at the departmental level. 

Applications are invited from those representing departments / faculties (hereafter referred to as ‘departments’) and applicants can be any staff member employed in that department including researchers, public engagement professionals and other staff.

This scheme opened for applications in January 2021 on a rolling basis and closed on 1 June 2021. All awarded funds must be spent by 30 July 2021. Plans are underway to offer this scheme again for 2021/2022 on a rolling basis from autumn 2021; this page will be updated with further details in summer 2021.

Proposed budgets may be between £1,500 and £4,000. Funds can be requested to support activities and projects that build research staff and research student capacity in Public Engagement with Research and/or activities that contribute to ongoing departmental support for Public Engagement with Research. 

How to apply

Applications are submitted through IRAMS.

The Application Guidance, Case for Support, and EDGE Guidance are available here:

• Departmental PER Seed Fund Application Guidance (pdf)
• Departmental PER Seed Fund Case for Support (docx)
• Departmental PER Seed Fund Edge guidance (docx)

 Any queries? Please email hanna.smyth@admin.ox.ac.uk. 

Awarded projects

Summaries of the projects awarded Departmental PER Seed Funding thus far are as follows:

English Faculty: Dr Stuart Lee & Prof. Carolyne Larrington

"Expanding the Capacity for the English Faculty’s Great Writers Inspire Podcasts: Pilot Study and Recommendations"

This project seeks to test drive a public engagement model for the English faculty: mapping out the process by which a research cluster can streamline the creation of podcasts to increase public engagement with research, solicit contributions amongst research students and professional support staff, and engage younger students with Faculty research activities and resources. Using its existing Fantasy Literature cluster as a pilot Dr Caroline Batten, working with Dr Stuart Lee and Professor Carolyne Larrington, will produce a series of new podcast episodes and teaching resource packs as proof of concept, creating diverse and expansive content for the Faculty’s Great Writers Inspire and with links to the University’s OxPLORE initiative. Importantly, Dr Batten will produce a report evaluating the project’s workflow and impact, providing a blueprint for future English Faculty PER projects that will benefit staff and students across a wide variety of research areas. Oxford plays a starring role in the history of fantasy literature, and since 2018 the English Faculty’s fantasy research cluster, headed by Larrington and Lee, has sought to draw on Oxford’s rich resources to foreground exciting new work on fantasy literature and showcase new authors in podcasts, videos, and lectures accessible to the public.

Reuben College: Dr Catarina Vicente & Janet Stott

"PER student programme at Reuben College"

Reuben College is the newest graduate college in Oxford, focusing on interdisciplinary research addressing 21st century challenges. Unusually for a college, Public Engagement with Research (PER) is a strategic focus of Reuben, and the college is currently exploring how PER in a college setting can be both distinct and add value to the PER provision in departmental and divisional settings. Areas of focus include both interdisciplinary PER and a space for scholarly explorations of PER. Our application from the Departmental PER Seed Fund aims to support the development of our student PER programme. Specifically, it will help us develop our Introduction to PER workshop, which will be offered to all new students as part of Reuben’s weekly skills workshop series, as well as our student PER innovation fund, where small funds will be available for students to develop their own interdisciplinary PER projects under the mentorship of a Fellow at Reuben.

Zoology: Julia Migné and Sofia Castello Y Tickell

"Fostering public engagement within the department of Zoology through podcasting"

This project will build capacity for PER within the Department of Zoology by involving students and staff members in the development of season 2 of the Good Natured podcast. Good Natured is a Conservation Optimism podcast, where listeners can join Julia Migné (Department of Zoology staff member) and Sofia Castelló y Tickell (postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Zoology) for uplifting chats that shine a light on conservation challenges. In each episode, they interview an inspiring conservationist. Their guests come from a variety of backgrounds – artists, scientists, business owners, and activists – and engage with conservation in a variety of ways. The production process will involve Department members as guests and pilot listeners. The project will also include training sessions within the Department around the topic of communication framing and storytelling so that participants feel empowered to conduct PER activities in the future.

Nuffield Department of Population Health: Dr Rachel Rowe, Prof. Fiona Alderdice, and Sophia Wilkinson, with Rachel Plachcinski and Charlotte Bevan

"The Listening Series: increasing equity in departmental patient and public involvement and engagement activities by listening to and learning from seldom-heard groups"

The Listening Series aims to further increase equity in public engagement with research (PER) activities in the Nuffield Department of Population Health, and further develop more effective and meaningful engagement with people from a wide range of different experiences and backgrounds.  The Department has recently developed a PER strategy and some research groups, including the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit which is leading this project, have a long track record of involving the public in their research.  Even with that experience, however, our PER is not as inclusive or equitable as it could be – people from ethnic minority and socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, for example, are less likely to be engaged with and involved in our research.  To inform our PER strategy, and so that we can develop practical guidance for our researchers and students, this project will pilot a ‘listening series’ in which we will hear from representatives of voluntary groups or organisations representing or working with communities that are under-represented in our PER activities.  Facilitated by an independent expert, these listening sessions will be video-recorded and edited to produce podcasts and practical guidance for dissemination within the Department and to the wider research community.

School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography: Dr Will Allen

Developing the knowledge and capacity of researchers to produce short and impactful videos

This activity will facilitate direct contact among researchers based at the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography (SAME) and professional videographers. These researchers are already undertaking video-making training with the objectives of developing their technical skills while producing their first video projects. By providing time to engage with professionals, as well as embedding this training within the department, this funding will lead to high-quality video outputs communicating anthropological research while also fostering critical conversations about the opportunities and challenges associated with using video as a medium for representing communities.

Public Engagement with Research Seed Fund

Applications are currently closed.

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 opened on 3 August 2020, and closed on 23 October 2020.  

Applications are submitted through IRAMS.

The Guidelines and case support for 2020 are available here:

Previous projects

Summaries of the 2020-21 funded projects (microsite)

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

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.”