Mapping public engagement with research in a UK University.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Grand A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4383503 | biostudies-other | 2015
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Similar Datasets
Project description:Recent years have seen increasing encouragement by research institutions and funding bodies for scientists to actively engage with the public, who ultimately finance their work. Animal behaviour as a discipline possesses several features, including its inherent accessibility and appeal to the public, that may help it occupy a particularly successful niche within these developments. It has also established a repertoire of quantitative behavioural methodologies that can be used to document the public's responses to engagement initiatives. This kind of assessment is becoming increasingly important considering the enormous effort now being put into public engagement projects, whose effects are more often assumed than demonstrated. Here we report our first attempts to quantify relevant aspects of the behaviour of a sample of the hundreds of thousands of visitors who pass through the 'Living Links to Human Evolution Research Centre' in Edinburgh Zoo. This University research centre actively encourages the public to view ongoing primate research and associated science engagement activities. Focal follows of visitors and scan sampling showed substantial 'dwell times' in the Centre by common zoo standards and the addition of new engagement elements in a second year was accompanied by significantly increased overall dwell times, tripling for the most committed two thirds of visitors. Larger groups of visitors were found to spend more time in the Centre than smaller ones. Viewing live, active science was the most effective activity, shown to be enhanced by novel presentations of carefully constructed explanatory materials. The findings emphasise the importance and potential of zoos as public engagement centres for the biological sciences.
| S-EPMC3319593 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Ferment: An outreach project using Nanopore 16S amplicon sequencing to investigate fermented foods
| PRJEB29723 | ENA
Project description:The use of research in public health policymaking is one of the prerequisites for successfully implemented health policies which have better population health as an outcome. This policy process is influenced by the actors involved under the policy umbrella, with inter-related contextual factors and specific structural and institutional circumstances. Our study investigates how policymakers' research capacities influence the use of research in the health policy process and identify areas where capacity-building interventions give the most meaning and impact. Furthermore, we investigate policymakers' research engagement and use this to inform public health policy in the public sector in Denmark. We collect and report data using Seeking, Engaging with, and Evaluation Research (SEER) methodology. Policymakers are reported to have research capacity, but it is questionable how those competences have actually been used in policymaking. Decision-makers were often not aware or did not know about the existing organizational tools and systems for research engagement and use and two third of respondents had not been part of any research activities or had any collaboration with researchers. Overall, research use in public health policymaking and evaluation was limited. As a conclusion, we propose that capacity-building interventions for increasing research use and collaboration in EIPM should be context-oriented, measurable, and sustainable in developing individual and organizational competences.
| S-EPMC8583010 | biostudies-literature
Project description:European Researchers' Night is an annual pan-European synchronized event devoted to public engagement with research. It was first held in 2005 and now occurs in over 400 cities across Europe, with the aim of bringing researchers closer to the general public. To investigate social inclusion in these events, we conducted survey research across three national contexts (Ireland, Malta and the UK) and events in seven cities between 2016 and 2019 (n = 1590). The results from this exploratory descriptive study confirmed one hypothesis, namely that event attendees had substantially higher levels of university qualification than the national publics. This is in line with wider patterns of unequal participation in public engagement with research activities based on socio-economic status. However, we also found mixed evidence on the prevalence of ethnic minority representation among event attendees compared to the general population, thus failing to uphold the second hypothesis that predicted an over-representation of white majority participants. This second finding diverges from existing research findings about ethnic diversity amongst science communication audiences, raising the possibility that some public engagement events are over-performing on this dimension of social inclusion. Overall, the findings demonstrate that European Researchers' Night has potential for addressing the critical goal of enhancing the diversity of audiences for public engagement with research, even as it falls short on the key metric of socio-economic diversity.
| S-EPMC8279411 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe success of big data initiatives depends on public support. Public involvement and engagement could be a way of establishing public support for big data research.ObjectiveThis review aims to synthesize the evidence on public involvement and engagement in big data research.MethodsThis scoping review mapped the current evidence on public involvement and engagement activities in big data research. We searched 5 electronic databases, followed by additional manual searches of Google Scholar and gray literature. In total, 2 public contributors were involved at all stages of the review.ResultsA total of 53 papers were included in the scoping review. The review showed the ways in which the public could be involved and engaged in big data research. The papers discussed a broad range of involvement activities, who could be involved or engaged, and the importance of the context in which public involvement and engagement occur. The findings show how public involvement, engagement, and consultation could be delivered in big data research. Furthermore, the review provides examples of potential outcomes that were produced by involving and engaging the public in big data research.ConclusionsThis review provides an overview of the current evidence on public involvement and engagement in big data research. While the evidence is mostly derived from discussion papers, it is still valuable in illustrating how public involvement and engagement in big data research can be implemented and what outcomes they may yield. Further research and evaluation of public involvement and engagement in big data research are needed to better understand how to effectively involve and engage the public in big data research.International registered report identifier (irrid)RR2-https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-050167.
| S-EPMC11364952 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Scientific excellence is a necessity for progress in biomedical research. As research becomes ever more international, establishing international collaborations will be key to advancing our scientific knowledge. Understanding the similarities in standards applied by different nations to animal research, and where the differences might lie, is crucial. Cultural differences and societal values will also contribute to these similarities and differences between countries and continents. Our overview is not comprehensive for all species, but rather focuses on non-human primate (NHP) research, involving New World marmosets and Old World macaques, conducted in countries where NHPs are involved in neuroimaging research. Here, an overview of the ethics and regulations is provided to help assess welfare standards amongst primate research institutions. A comparative examination of these standards was conducted to provide a basis for establishing a common set of standards for animal welfare. These criteria may serve to develop international guidelines, which can be managed by an International Animal Welfare and Use Committee (IAWUC). Internationally, scientists have a moral responsibility to ensure excellent care and welfare of their animals, which in turn, influences the quality of their research. When working with animal models, maintaining a high quality of care ("culture of care") and welfare is essential. The transparent promotion of this level of care and welfare, along with the results of the research and its impact, may reduce public concerns associated with animal experiments in neuroscience research.
| S-EPMC7994292 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND: Patents are one of the most important forms of intellectual property. They grant a time-limited exclusivity on the use of an invention allowing the recuperation of research costs. The use of patents is fiercely debated for medical innovation and especially controversial for publicly funded research, where the patent holder is an institution accountable to public interest. Despite this controversy, for the situation in Germany almost no empirical information exists. The purpose of this study is to examine the amount, types and trends of patent applications for health products submitted by German public research organisations. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a systematic search for patent documents using the publicly accessible database search interface of the German Patent and Trademark Office. We defined keywords and search criteria and developed search patterns for the database request. We retrieved documents with application date between 1988 and 2006 and processed the collected data stepwise to compile the most relevant documents in patent families for further analysis. We developed a rationale and present individual steps of a systematic method to request and process patent data from a publicly accessible database. We retrieved and processed 10194 patent documents. Out of these, we identified 1772 relevant patent families, applied for by 193 different universities and non-university public research organisations. 827 (47%) of these patent families contained granted patents. The number of patent applications submitted by universities and university-affiliated institutions more than tripled since the introduction of legal reforms in 2002, constituting almost half of all patent applications and accounting for most of the post-reform increase. Patenting of most non-university public research organisations remained stable. CONCLUSIONS: We search, process and analyse patent applications from publicly accessible databases. Internationally mounting evidence questions the viability of policies to increase commercial exploitation of publicly funded research results. To evaluate the outcome of research policies a transparent evidence base for public debate is needed in Germany.
| S-EPMC2987808 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In response to the accepted risk of emerging antimicrobial resistance, many organizations and institutions have developed and delivered events and activities designed to raise awareness of the issue and to change the behaviour of the intended audience. However, few of these events for a general public audience are documented or able to be sourced by those who might wish to repeat, adapt or modify, particularly those events that are successful. 'Insider knowledge' appears to be the best search tool. Moreover, evaluation of the success or impact of the event is rarely published. It would be useful if there were a 'hub' where descriptions of such activities could be deposited, enabling the building of a significant resource with real academic value.
| S-EPMC8210175 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe Arab world faces numerous health challenges that mandate a competent public health workforce and strengthening public health education.ObjectiveTo analyze university-based Master of Public Health (MPH) programs offered at Faculties of Public Health (FPH) and of Medicine (FM) in Arab countries.MethodsWe searched a regional database of academic public health institutions, conducted a search of university websites, and reviewed websites of the Association of Arab Universities and World Directory of Medical Schools. A factsheet for each MPH program was emailed to deans of respective faculties for validation and completion. We examined associations between presence of such programs and population size and Human Development Index (HDI).FindingsA total of 19 FPH and 10 FM at 28 universities offer MPH programs (7 programs per 100 million population). Ten countries offer no MPH programs; the remaining 12 offer 1-5 programs each. Ten MPH programs were initiated over 45 years (1965-2009) and another 19 over 10 years (2010-2019). No correlation was observed between offering an MPH program and the country's HDI or population size. Less than half of the programs admit students from fields outside health. FPH and FM-based programs are comparable in offering core disciplines but FPH programs offer more Social and Behavioral Sciences (83% vs. 60%). More FM-based programs provide practicum training (78% vs. 53%); 10 programs offer none. Epidemiology, alone or with Biostatistics, and Health Management and Policy are the two most frequently offered MPH concentrations. None of the MPH programs offer a concentration on public health in conflict or humanitarian crises; only one offers a certificate on the theme. Only three programs, all FPH-based, reported international accreditation.ConclusionsThe recent increase in MPH programs in Arab countries is encouraging. Critical gaps are absence of MPH programs in 10 countries, less coverage of the social sciences, and lack of practicum experience in 10 programs. Upgrading and promoting public health education across the region to fill these gaps calls for collaboration among existing MPH programs. More in-depth analysis of the history and mission of these programs, as well as their admission criteria and curricula, is needed.
| S-EPMC8300585 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background:High quality public engagement and involvement (PEI) in data-intensive health research is seen as one way of ensuring that social legitimacy, i.e. a social license, is conferred through public acceptance of the need for research use of their data. This is a complex research area, and portfolios of involvement have been suggested, but not yet evaluated, to support the role of public contributors. The study aim was to evaluate if and how membership of a data-intensive research public forum can act as a mechanism for enhancing members' personal development. Our objective was to understand the circumstances and mechanisms that help to explain how, why and for whom involvement with a public forum enhanced those members' personal development. Method:Qualitative data were collected from 15 current and previous members, via semi-structured interviews, notes from meetings, and consultations with and feedback from members. Data were critically compared, contrasted and reviewed until no new themes could be discerned and then condensed into context-mechanism-outcome (CMO) configurations. Realist evaluation was used to generate a theoretical and empirical appreciation of the contextual circumstances and mechanisms which help to explain the extent to which involvement with a public forum would enhance members' personal development and, if so, how, why, and for whom. Results:Three CMO configurations were identified. All of them showed that using the portfolio facilitated growth in forum members' personal development, but only where the members valued using the portfolio. This was particularly so for female members. Members valued the portfolio in one or more of three ways: as a tool to record and evidence activities, to facilitate reflective practice or as a guiding framework. Conclusions:Data analysis and consideration of the three CMO configurations suggests a refined middle range theory that 'The use of a portfolio as a framework for learning in a public forum will facilitate members' personal development if they value its use as a framework for learning'. Further work is needed to confirm these findings both elsewhere in data-intensive health research and in other complex research areas using public forums for PEI. Plain English summary:Public engagement and involvement in health research is now well established and makes a valuable contribution to the research process. However, little is known about its impact on participants. This article investigates how involvement in a data-intensive health research public forum impacts on public forum members, rather than the research process. Personal involvement portfolios were used to support their involvement work and help evaluate if and how involvement in research activities enhanced members' personal development. Taking a realist evaluation approach, 'Context-Mechanism-Outcome' configurations were used to explore how membership of a public forum might enhance public forum members' personal development. The Context-Mechanism-Outcome configuration refers to an exploration of what influences the extent to which an intervention is successful or unsuccessful in producing positive outcomes and tries to identify the reasons why it is successful for some and unsuccessful for others. However, evidence from this realist evaluation recommends that engagement and involvement should always be underpinned by procedures which ensure that public contributors receive ongoing and tailored guidance and support throughout the process.
| S-EPMC7325137 | biostudies-literature