Today's rare foray onto the UK political scene by Tony Blair reminded me of a simpler time when politicians just used to repeat the same word three times for added emphasis. Or was it the daleks who used to do that? Funny how nightmares and the stuff of dreams can sometimes get confused in this way. Should either... Continue Reading →
‘Hungry’ at the Edinburgh Science Festival? Y-Touring have got just the thing for you.
The Edinburgh Science Festival is fast approaching (5th - 20th April in fact). It is some time since I have been but well worth it every time I have gone (whether as speaker or visitor). A perfect way to spend some of your Easter holiday in fact. So let me plug - mercilessly and without... Continue Reading →
@SDenegri presentations about the public and health research from Leicester, HSRN and Leeds
I'm always very chuffed when people ask for a copy of my presentations after a talk. Usually I am quite good at emailing them to people or asking the organisers to send them round. Anyway, I have done a lot of meetings lately and thought I would post here copies of my slides from the... Continue Reading →
The long and cohort of it: missing public engagement opps from birth
Longitudinal studies (in other words, research that follows a population group over a long period of time) would seem to naturally lend themselves to public engagement and the building of strong relationships with the population concerned. The number of these studies being conducted is increasing as is the amount of investment in them, so they... Continue Reading →
Registration opens for Engage 2012: Responding to Change
Don't be put off by the fact that I'm speaking at one of these - my fellow speakers are great! The National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement has launched registration for a series of specialist workshops targeted at organisations, professionals and members of the public who are passionate about public engagement. These workshops will take... Continue Reading →
A few bytes and bobs of news about medical records, open data etc – the Danish are not just good at making drama
Data and its use for society's benefit is one of the areas where we are now seeing rapid developments in both practice and policy. And not just in terms of health care or medical research. I thought I'd link-up a few of the announcements and news items that have happened just this past week to give people... Continue Reading →
This article (entitled 'The Rise of the Patient Leader') written by David Gilbert at InHealth Associates appeared in HSJ earlier this year. I didn't send round a link at the time because of HSJ's paywall. But now you can find it on InHealth Associates' website free of charge...which seems a very good excuse to send it round and... Continue Reading →
Research impact: One small tweak for HEFCE, one important nod to public involvement
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) yesterday issued the final criteria and working methods for its Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment exercise. The research press is still full of various academic voices continuing to rant against the whole issue of HEFCE assessing 'research impact' for the first time. Seems to be a waste... Continue Reading →
Who would come top in your league table of public engagement in science? And who would you relegate?
They say in football that the league table never lies. Fans and players may begrudge a decision or two, or feel that luck did not go their way in a match. But even the most ardent supporter will accept their team's league position after than final game as a true reflection of how good they... Continue Reading →
Technology pulll-through in research and the role of the public
Next week I shall be taking part in my first meeting as a lay member of NIHR's 'Invention 4 Innovation' programme. I have had a number of conversations with people recently about how patients are and should be involved in the field of what is jargonistically called 'technology pull' - getting new technologies into health... Continue Reading →
Whatever happened to Science and Society? Why UK science could do with a chief listening officer.
Just occasionally the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Science and Society website pages show a flicker of light like a far-off dieing star. This evening I returned from the TalkScience event at the British Library and noticed that an update from the 'Science for All' advisory group set up many moons ago, had been... Continue Reading →
Obama the inventor..and RCUK’s call on public engagement
Saw this on the Research!Amercia blog today and thought it was worth posting. It is a summary (taken from Lillyblog) of the Invent Act that President Obama signed into US law yesterday . There is more than a hint of some recent-ish UK initiatives such as the Office of Life Sciences blueprint in the US... Continue Reading →
Science should take heed of the need to make the public its partners if it wishes to avoid calls for its liberation
At the end of last month the Canadian Government announced that it would be going ahead with clinical trials of a controversial new treatment for MS sufferers called 'liberation therapy.' The decision has gone almost unreported outside Canadian shores and yet for those interested in the relationship between science and its public it is a... Continue Reading →
Public attitudes to science survey 2011
Welcome back to those of you who left the rest of us to run the country for two weeks. I must say that I spent the Bank Holiday weekend in a verily good mood having had a quick peek at the results of our annual member survey. This showed that 98% of our members say... Continue Reading →
Looking for a bit of drama in your life?
Probably not, I know, particularly if you are Andrew Lansley I suspect. But this is good drama and good for your health. I am delighted that AMRC is going to be part of the following, exciting initiative in public engagement. Read on for the news release (apologies, I know that is a bit lazy of me)... Continue Reading →
It's time to seek out the real citizens in science
Alice Bell has written a good piece today with her reflections on this week's Science and Citizenship conference. Its worth a read and has certainly given me something to ponder over the Christmas holidays. Alice finishes her piece by saying that the public engagement 'industry' - if I can call it that - needs to take a... Continue Reading →
Dressing down the naysayers on public engagement
I have been rather disappointed not to have bumped into a bear or monkey on the tube today. But there is still time. Who knows what I shall do if I happen to bump into a panda. Will it be a real panda fleeing Chinese scientists? Or a Chinese scientist tracking down an errant panda? I'll let you... Continue Reading →
