University of Oxford Public Engagement with Research conference

It was a pleasure to attend and present at the University of Oxford Public Engagement with Research conference on Thursday 5th July 2018. Aimed primarily at University of Oxford researchers and support staff (along with some external guests), the conference was billed as, 'an opportunity to be inspired, to learn, to be challenged and keep up to date with the cutting-edge of Public Engagement with Research (PER) practice and policy'. The event was very informative and entertaining (it was the first time I heard real live ancient Greek music!).

I was very pleased to be invited to participate in a session called 'Public Engagement with Research: past, present and future', along with Dr Jenni Chambers, Head of Public Engagement at UK Research and Innovation. My own presentation was called 'A brief history of UK public engagement with research'. In particular, focusing on 1985 to the present, I emphasised: the sometimes uneasy bringing together of the public understanding of science (PUS) agenda with very different agendas in the arts, humanities and social social sciences; the ongoing institutionalisation and - more recently - professionalisation of PER; the notable ambition of the 'culture change' that is envisaged by the UK funders of research; and the (social science) critiques of the PER agenda. To considerable extent, the presentation drew on work that I did a couple of years ago on the Factors Affecting Public Engagement with Research project. As part of the session, Dr Chambers discussed the current PER landscape and we finished off with a discussion of the future potential of PER.

You can see the conference programme here.

You can see my slides here.

You can see more of my work on public engagement here.