Amidst times of flux, people will often look for the simplest wins. In academia, this might be the next publication or research grant while in wider society, people are consumed with the clear and present challenges of everyday life. How in such complex landscapes, can we enrich scientific progress through active participation of communities, which so many of us want to see.
One of the most influential group of actors in this process are the major funders of research themselves, bringing not only resource but influence over how research is carried out. In this session we’ll hear from major funders from different countries including the United Kingdom Research Council (UKRI), Swedish Research Council (SRC), Science Foundation Ireland (SFC) and Germany’s Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft (German Science Association) around their strategic intent to better embed meaningful public engagement in research and how engagement practitioners and brokers can play a key role.
Following a brief panel discussion we will invite audience participation around some key questions including how to position engaged research as more than ‘nice to do’, asking if funders should be more active in influencing institutional behaviour, and whether we have really seen a shift from a ‘publish or perish’ culture.
