Our vision for engaged research

The Engaged Research Programme will adopt three interconnected approaches:

• Consultation: we will ensure that the research conducted across our network is informed by relevant public views, concerns, perspectives and priorities.
• Collaboration: we will collaborate with a variety of different non-scientific/academic audiences to ensure the ethical involvement in our research of those directly affected or related to the underpinning research questions.
• Co-creation: we will embed non-academic stakeholders in our practice, to co-create and develop new ways of approaching our research questions, and also work on iterations that further adjust and shape our work so that it is better informed, more reliable and trustworthy. 

Read the ANTITHESES Engaged Research Strategy.

We refer to the Wellcome guidelines on engaged research in our practice and see them as an intrinsic requirement for our work:

Engaged research means embedding stakeholder perspectives across the research lifecycle — from agenda setting, funding, and research design through to implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. An engaged research approach can involve a variety of methodologies, frameworks, and skills to appropriately engage relevant stakeholders at key points. Wellcome Guide to Engaged Research

Engagement and involvement are an integral part of our research practice and culture. Through our Engaged Research Programme we seek to actively embed the public in our work and endeavour to remove known, or discover unknown, barriers to wider involvement. This will enhance the skills and inform the attitudes of all stakeholders and will ensure our work is socially conscious, transparent and relevant.

Working with external advisors and community organisations we intend to engage public groups and individuals from a variety of backgrounds and encourage diversity across all of our activities to enrich and better inform our work. This will ensure a broad discourse that will challenge and shape our research, and provide an inclusive platform for all voices and opinions to be heard.