Public Engagement with Research describes the many ways that members of the public can be involved in the design, conduct and dissemination of research. High-quality engagement is a two-way process with the goal of generating mutual benefit between the public and researchers and ultimately enhancing the quality or impact of research. There are many benefits to engaging the public with research and engagement activities can take many different forms. The kind of activity undertaken will vary depending on the purpose of the engagement:

• To inform and inspire the public: Researchers informing and inspiring young people, adults and family audiences about their research. Possible techniques include: participation in festivals; talks and presentations; digital engagement.

• To consult and listen to public views: To better inform researchers on the public’s views and concerns about their research, and also an opportunity to hear fresh perspectives and insights. Possible techniques include: public debates; online consultations; panels and user-groups.

• To collaborate with the public: Whereby researchers and the public work together on particular projects or help define future research direction, policy or implementation of research outcomes. Possible techniques include: crowd-sourcing; citizen science; co-production of knowledge.

Public Engagement with Research can lead to significant benefits for everyone involved, including researchers and research students, their institutions, and the many different publics in society.

Some of the potential benefits for researchers include:

• Greater research impact
• Improved research quality
• New research questions generated or fresh insights into research challenges
• Increased accountability and transparency of research
• Increased responsiveness of research to societal needs
• The potential to build trust between research institutions and society
• Increased visibility, both of the research and the researcher’s profile
• Addressing increased public interest in research and raising awareness of the outputs arising from the funding of research
• Developing new transferable skills, useful in employment and promotional prospects
• It is important to funders, as well as the University, and opens up access to additional funding