10:30am - 4:30pm British Summer Time (GMT+1)
Wednesday 17 April 2024
Public Engagement with Research Symposium 24
Following our successful and well-received inaugural event, we're delighted once again to invite colleagues from across the University to join our 2024 Symposium for all-things Public Engagement. Our one-day event is jam packed with top-quality, practical training, introduction sessions and inspiring speakers. This event will offer you the opportunity to understand how to boost the impact and value of your research to a wider audience, and all the benefits that brings.
Public engagement is multi-faceted and there isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ way of doing things. Impact from research can be measured in various forms – from writing an extract in a book to influencing policy, or from speaking at an event to inspiring the next generation. This event will allow you to plan your day to focus on the aspects that interest you most.
This symposium will dial in to the importance of your impact on society and allowing research to be the catalyst for change. It will offer training and inspirational stories to inspire development of personal skillsets and behaviours, offering you the prospect of transforming your research to deliver real change. Let’s talk about why involving the public can improve the quality of your research; when, and how you can do this – and how you can engage and persuade your funders.
On the day - our programme
In the morning sessions we are providing various opportunities to take part in engagement training and hear inspirational stories as we run a variety of fun, useful and accessible taster sessions which aim to develop your skillset.
We are delighted to welcome a speaker from the Medical Research Council in the afternoon, who will be talking about their engagement journey through their strategic approach to public partnerships.
We will also be hearing from our home grown talent, with academic speakers from Surrey, joined by their partners from Surrey Wildlife Trust talking about how partnership and wide ranging public engagement is central to their trail blazing work in Space4Nature, which combines satellite Earth Observation, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and citizen science to boost biodiversity in Surrey.
Our afternoon session will also feature a panel debate and we'll hear from our Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation, Professor Lisa Collins on her engagement journey and what she sees as the future for engagement and knowledge exchange at Surrey.
More informally, we’ll have an opportunity for Surrey engagement stars to talk about their work in sessions and through poster displays, inspiring others to build engagement into their research programmes, projects, and practice.
Whether it's because your impact case studies need a polish, you’re thinking your career could blossom if you just put yourself out there more, funding for engagement could make or break your research, you’re looking for an innovative way to tell people what you’ve been up to in the lab or you’re just interested in the softer side of research, this day will have something for everyone from experienced professors to those beginning their PGR research journey.
Ultimately, we want to build and celebrate a wide community of engagers at Surrey who know that engagement with the public and sharing knowledge isn’t just a hobby or a “nice to have”, but an increasingly critical part of professional research practice and our wider responsibility to society as a university community.
Free
Lecture Theatre Block
University of Surrey
Guildford
Surrey
GU2 7XH
This event has passed
Please book your tickets via Eventbrite using the link to the right.
If you have any questions about the day, please email the Public Engagement Team at publicengagement@surrey.ac.uk
Agenda
| TIME | SESSION | HOST | ROOM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.30 | Taster sessions | 1. Evaluation of Engagement - Dr Jamie Gallagher 2. BrightClub Taster Session - Dr Steve Cross 3. Putting yourself out there, a guide to Events & Media Training - Sam Jones, Dalitso Njolinjo & Dr Lindsay Broadbent 4. Working with younger groups - Hollie Baker & Dr Michelle Collins | See your booking email |
| 11.30 | Taster sessions | 1. Impact through Engagement - Dr Jamie Gallagher 2. Science Communication 101 - Dr Steve Cross & Dr Ally Grandison 3. Engaging with Policy-makers - Chris Webber & Tessa Dowdell from UK Gov, Open Innovation Team 4. Engaged Research at Surrey - Prof Prashant Kumar, Dr Natalie Riddell & Dr Marie Martel | See your booking email |
| 12.30 | Networking | Lunch & Networking Your opportunity to meet and discuss with all the morning session leaders about the services they offer as well as the chance to speak to colleagues, sharing public engagement case studies and best practice. | Lower Concourse |
| 13.30 | Welcome | Gill Fairbairn, Director of Research, Innovation & Impact Vickie Sheriff, Director of Communications & Marketing | LT D |
| 13.45 | Keynotes | Dr Ana Andries & Surrey Wildlife Trust - Space4Nature Mary Derrick, Medical Research Council Co-developing a Public Partnerships Strategy | LT D |
| 14.45 | Break | Tea & Coffee | Lower Concourse |
| 15.00 | Panel Discussion | The Future of Engagement Chair: Prof Lisa Collins Panellists: Prof Rachel Brooks, Dr Andrew Rogoyski, Prof Prashant Kumar, Dr Jamie Gallagher & Mary Derrick, Medical Research Council. | LT D |
| 16.00 | Evaluation | Dr Jamie Gallagher | LT D |
| 16.10 | Closing remarks | Patrick Degg, Vice-President, Global | LT D |
