Many health researchers, especially those who are early in their careers, want to talk to the public and the media about their research and to interact with politicians who would be interested in hearing about it. Research institutes across Ireland are encouraging researchers to do these things. However most young researchers don’t know how to start doing this.
The Voice of Young Science (VoYS) Standing up for Science workshops are aimed at helping early career researchers start engaging with the media and politicians. They are free, day long events where attendees hear from panels of experienced researchers, leading journalists and policymakers, and participate in interactive discussion sessions with these experts. The young researchers get to put their questions and concerns directly to people who have ‘been there and done that’ and leave having learned practical tips and advice.
We plan to run a health research-focused workshop in Cork in September 2019. We have held workshops across the UK, in Brussels, Warsaw and Barcelona. In February 2018, we ran two workshops in Ireland – in Dublin and Belfast – which were oversubscribed (the Dublin workshop had 135 applicants for 45 places). Our aim is to harness the enthusiasm for public engagement among young researchers, equip them with the tools to do it, and ultimately increase the visibility of HRB-funded research. Standing up for Science workshops are a tried and tested method of motivating the next generation of health researchers in Ireland to include public engagement in their day to day work.
