External Training

The NCCPE (National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement) offers five ‘off the shelf’ training courses, in addition to other initiatives, to support and further develop PE work. The five courses include:

• High-quality Public Engagement
• Evaluation: developing your approach
• Working in partnership – for researchers
• Introduction to community engagement
• Engaging the public with controversial areas of research

The NCPPE also has the Engage Academy - a year long development programme for professionals in public engagement. They host an annual Engage Conference for all those interested in PE in higher education, too.

The NIHR (National Institute of Health Research) have a dedicated section of the website called Learning For Involvement has a series of training and resources relating to PE and public involvement.

UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) have loads of information in their Good Research Resource Hub, including 'Guidance on engaging the public with your research'.

The Royal Society hosts several sessions regarding Public Engagement both for experienced and non-experienced researchers. You can see what training sessions are available here.

They also run two innovative schemes whereby researchers can get paired with politicians and experienced scientists respectively.

The Pairing Scheme allows scientists to pair with UK parliamentarians and civil servants and learn about each other’s work, gaining an insight into how research can help inform policy making. This years offering appears to be online, and more information can be found through the above link.

The Mentoring Scheme allows new and up-and-coming research leaders the chance to be paired with an experienced mentor.

The Wellcome Trust has a couple of useful resources for planning PE events.

• Using an engaged research approach
• Step-by-step guide to planning public engagement activities

The Voice of Young Science (VoYS) offer free workshops for STEM and social science early career researchers, trainees and medical professionals. 

Useful resources such as Public Engagement: A Practical Guide are available too.

Similarly to the pairing scheme offered above, the British Science Association runs an initiative called Media Fellows. This is where scientists spend two-six weeks working at a media outlet such as the Guardian or BBC. Here they can learn how the media operates and reports on science and how to engage the general public with science through media.

They also run a programme aiming to connect Community Leaders with local researchers to promote innovative community-led science engagement in Community Buddies.