The 20th-24th July saw the UK’s first PEP week, highlighting the role that Public Engagement Professionals play in facilitating engaged and participatory research across the Higher Education sector and beyond.
Growing Belonging: Exploring Belonging and Wellbeing at Yourspace Sutton
Dr Jess Marshall talks about the Growing Belonging project, investigating the connection between belonging and community participation, and how research can begin to measure the outcomes of this. This work was supported by our Engaged and Participatory Research Fund for the 2025-6 academic year.
How to Share your Scientific Research with the Public
Identifying avenues for engaging non-academic audiences with your research can be challenging, particularly when you are new to public engagement, or worry about finding ways to make complicated research topics more accessible. Science festivals are a popular way of introducing STEM research to new communities, and there are a range of festivals taking place throughout the year, supported by our own Exeter academics.
What is sustainable beekeeping and how can / should we do it?
Fay Kahane tells us how support from the Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Fund helped develop her PhD research, working in collaboration with external partners to investigate the future of sustainable beekeeping.
Queerly Made: Crafting LGBTQ+ Identity and Community
Dr Daniel Fountain tells us about the development of “Queerly Made”, which explores the legacy of craft in the LGBTQ+ communities, and looks at tackling the challenges of underrepresentation in national craft collections. Support from our Engaged and Participatory Research Fund has helped bring this subject to new audiences through workshops and exhibitions in the Tees Valley.
Highlights from the ESRC Festival of Social Science
Each year, the Festival of Social Science invites researchers in the social sciences to test out small-scale events that help to bring their work to new audiences, and showcase the importance of social science research to the world in which we live. Read on to hear more about past activities, and how people can get involved in the festival.
Celebrating our Engaged and Participatory Research Fund Awardees
For the last few years, our Engaged and Participatory Research (E&PR) Fund has aimed to facilitate connections between researchers and partners external to the university. On the 15th June, we invited our 2024-5 and 2025-6 cohorts to join us for a special event, sharing findings and best practice, and celebrating their fantastic achievements from the course of their projects.
Top Tips for Public Engagement with Research
With the 2025-26 academic term coming to an end, we wanted to reflect on the findings from this year’s Public Engagement with Research drop-in programme. This blog breaks down these sessions into key findings researchers can use in their public engagement work.
Understanding Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement
What do we mean by Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE), and how can researchers and members of the public participate? Find out more about the opportunities for PPIE at the University, and how our researchers are collaborating with patients and the public.
NIHR Team Science Award: Building Research On Climate-smart Care for Optimising Lifelong health Impacts for women (Team BROCCOLI)
The latest of our blog posts from this year’s funding cohort features Dr Dorothea Miranda Geddes-Barton who highlights the importance of Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) in her work, engaging with diverse perspectives in preparation for an NIHR Team Science Application.