Public Engagement with Research

What is Public Engagement with Research?

Our Action Plan

LJMU have recently developed an action plan to develop our PE support over the next three years. You can read our action plan here: Public Engagement Action Plan.

What is Public Engagement with Research?

Public Engagement with Research (PER) describes a range of methods of involving members of the public (those not affiliated with an HE institutes) in your research. There are lots of different ways you can do PER, but the overall goal will always be to create mutual benefit.

Public engagement can add value to research work. It can take different forms depending on the purpose of your engagement and the people you engage with to achieve your aims. Consider it a tool to help you to do good research.

Examples of PER:

  • Participatory/Collaborative research
  • Citizen science
  • Participatory arts
  • Oral histories
  • Co-production/creation

Support for Public Engagement Activity

Your Public Engagement Officer

LJMU’s Public Engagement Officer, Gemma Reed, can support you with your PER work. Gemma sits within the Research and Innovation Services team. Her role is to support staff across the University to develop and deliver the public engagement activities connected to their research and knowledge exchange. Gemma can help researchers to embed public engagement into their research by providing support with planning PER activities, grant applications and training opportunities.

To contact Gemma, please email g.v.reed@ljmu.ac.uk.

LJMU Public Engagement Network

LJMU has a public engagement network for researchers to share, learn and develop together. Please search for “Public Engagement Network Team” on Microsoft Teams to join.

Recognition and reward

Recording your public engagement activity

Public engagement activities are valued by LJMU and the wider research community. Therefore, it is important to record and capture your public engagement activities for professional development purposes as well as so that LJMU can report on these valuable activities in national benchmarking exercises such as REF, KEF and HEBCIs.

Please record all your relevant public engagement activities on Symplectic, under ‘Professional Activities’, ‘Public Engagement’.

Vice Chancellors award for Excellence in Public Engagement with Research

This award recognises an individual or group who deliver outstanding public engagement with research. It recognises two-way engagement, where the project is implemented to make a positive contribution to the public and to LJMU's research work.

The award will be presented at the annual LJMU Research and Knowledge Exchange Conference at the end of the year. Nominations open in the autumn.

Conferment information

Public engagement can be used as evidence for conferment promotion at LJMU, via the Engaged Scholar route. Learn more about the Professorship and Readership Conferment process.

Funding for PE

There are two funding competitions from Research and innovation Services, which may be of interest:

  • PEC Fund: The PEC (Public Engagement Cultivator) Fund is provided to foster relationships that could lead to Public Engagement with Research (PER) activities. It seeks to enhance and accelerate partnerships between LJMU researchers and members of the public. Researchers (including PGRs) can bid for up to £500. This is a pilot project with a rolling deadline, throughout 2026.
  • PRF Engaging Participatory Research Fund: Researchers can apply for up to £10,000 to cover the costs of co-produced research and to run capacity-building activities such as:
    • Piloting a project that uses innovative participatory research methods.
    • The development of materials to support researchers to develop their skills in participatory research
    • Case studies and evidence of the impact of co-produced research

External funding

Funding for public engagement activities is available from a range of sources. If you would like to receive information about upcoming public engagement opportunities, please email your Public Engagement Officer, or join the Public Engagement Network Team on Microsoft Teams to join. You can also visit the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) and UKRI websites to discover a range of PER funding opportunities.

If you need advice or support with applying for public engagement funding, please contact the Public Engagement Officer, who will be able to support you: g.v.reed@ljmu.ac.uk.

Further information

The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the theory, practice, and application of public engagement work. LJMU has made a commitment to public engagement, by signing the NCCPE’s Manifesto for Public Engagement.