Documentation and Resources

Building School – University Partnerships

This Guide Book is intended to both enable university staff to initiate partnerships working with local schools and to aid school staff in making contact with a university they wish to engage with.

Overview

Training For Researchers

Ideally, all researchers working with the schools involved in your engagement activity will have received some training, even if this is a brief session focusing specifically on the individual session they will be involved in. Some points to consider:

 

1. What training is needed?

 

• Communication – presenting, questioning etc.
• Knowing your audience, assessing knowledge (National Curriculum)
• Health and safety
• Evaluating
• Session specifically tailored to your particular activity
• Relevant internal procedures and software such as risk assessments, room bookings, EVOLVE, Agresso, invoicing etc.

 

2. Who needs the training?

 

The training that is offered will depend on the experience and level of those involved. For example, an undergraduate will have different training needs to a senior academic.

 

3. Is existing training available?

 

It is worth checking with the following to see if they offer the training you require:

• The HEI’s professional development team
• Public engagement networks
• Doctoral college or graduate networks
• National bodies such as NCCPE
• Other societies or funders such as UKRI
• National ambassador schemes (see Appendix 3) For contacts specific to the University of Southampton, see the Useful Links and Contacts section.

 

4. Who will deliver training?

 

Teachers are the most experienced in the curriculum and therefore often the best placed to deliver National Curriculum training, whereas a researcher’s Faculty or Department may offer specific equipment training. A third party may offer a range of more diverse training opportunities, for example, Equality and Diversity or Health and Safety training (such as that offered by the MSLC).

 

5. Is there funding available for training?

 

The suggested contacts listed under question 3 are a good place to start when looking for potential funding sources. It is also worth asking the researcher’s head of group or, for postgraduate students, their Faculty graduate school, or doctoral researchers development team (in the UoS Doctoral College), as there may already be funding set aside for them for training and development. Furthermore, subject specific societies and trusts such as the Royal Society of Chemistry or the Wellcome Trust often have funding calls for public engagement and outreach which can include researcher development and training. See also the Costs and Funding section.

 

6. Can the academics involved gain accreditation for the training either internally or from external bodies?

 

Many national bodies such as the NCCPE, the Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust offer courses in Public Engagement, Community Engagement, Science/Research Communication etc. which look good on a researcher’s CPD portfolio. Most universities now offer internal training in this area too, some of which may go towards a Masters or PG qualification, such as the Strathclyde Researcher Development Programme. Standalone Masters in Public or Community Engagement or Communication are now being offered by UK universities including Cambridge. Training may also count towards external schemes such as becoming a STEM Ambassador (see Appendix 3).