Engaged Research Impact Prize (2024)
Professor Patricia Fitzpatrick led the research "Supporting cancer patients to quit smoking post diagnosis". This research was a collaborative effort, including multidisciplinary collaborations in addition to patient involvement. At the outset of the project, Professor Fitzpatrick participated in a Patient Voice in Cancer Research Dragon’s Den event to present the study plan and seek input. The research team then established a steering committee and invited people with lived experience, academics and practice experts to take part. A patient panel was involved in questionnaire design, study guidance, and were co-authors on published abstracts and articles.
The findings of this research were presented to Tobacco Free Ireland (TFI), the Irish Cancer Society and the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP). Findings were consequently adopted by the NCCP, supported by TFI, and smoking cessation for cancer patients was made an NCCP priority for 2024 with a team assigned to lead on it.
Engaged Research Impact Prize
(opens in a new window)Dr Mark Coen and (opens in a new window)Professor Katherine O’Donnell were awarded the first engaged research impact prize for their work "Correcting state narratives on the Magdalene Laundries". This work embodied the values of engaged research and arose from a near two decade relationship between researchers and survivors of Magdalene Laundries.
Since 2011, Prof O’Donnell has been working with survivors to collect oral histories related to the Magdalene laundries. This provided context, understanding and prompts as to which avenues to investigate via archival research. The research project for which they have been awarded the engaged research impact prize was guided by survivors of Magdalene Laundries from the offset.
This project focused on Donnybrook Magdalene Laundry. Survivors helped the researchers understand both this specific site, and the Magdalene system more generally. Researchers directly engaged with survivors during the research process. This included arranging site visits for survivors, where their insights guided the architectural researchers in the analysis and interpretation of research findings. Discussion and dialogue between researchers and survivors also helped piece together history of the Donnybrook Magdalene Laundry from a varied range of documentary sources. This was particularly important as the Religious Sisters of Charity, who owned and managed the laundry, refused to give the research team access to their archives. Finally, a key outcome of this project is that artefacts from the site will be transferred to the National Museum of Ireland. Discussions between the survivors and the curator from the National Museum informed what items are being acquisitioned into the national collection.
Knowledge Valorisation through Citizen Engagement
Iphigenia Pottaki, Policy Officer at the Valorisation Policies and IPR Unit of the European Commission DG Research and Innovation gave us an overview of the new European Code of Practice on Citizen Engagement for Knowledge Valorisation.
The (opens in a new window)code of practice provide guidance for researchers and innovators on how to actively engage with other players to jointly produce and valorise knowledge for the benefit of the economy and society.
Part of UCD Research's Engaged Research Seminar Series
Policy and the future of engaged research in Ireland
Changes in Irish and EU research policy are now actively encouraging greater participation of non-academic community stakeholders in research. This panel discussion held on 26 October 2023 explored how the transition to engaged research can be fostered to create embedded and sustainable culture of collaborating with non-traditional research stakeholders.
Panellists:
- Ciara Bates: Voluntary and Community Supports Unit, Department of Rural and Community Development
- David Chapman: Public Engagement Programme Lead, UK Research and Innovation
- Ivan Cooper: CEO of The Wheel, Ireland's national association of charities, community and voluntary organisations and social enterprises.
- Trudy Duffy: Evidence for policy unit, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Part of UCD Research's Engaged Research Seminar Series
Cloudy with a chance of pain
On 11 May 2023 Prof Will Dixon spoke about how public involvement and citizen science was embedded into the digital epidemiology research project Cloudy with a Chance of Pain.
Prof Dixon is a Professor of Digital Epidemiology and Director of the Centre for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis at the University of Manchester.
Part of UCD Research's Engaged Research Seminar Series.
Doing excellent research with citizen science
Prof Muki Haklay, University College London, joined UCD Research for the first Engaged Research Seminar Series. He discusses Doing excellent research with citizen science – opportunities and challenges.
Prof. Haklay is a Professor of Geographic Information Science in the Department of Geography at UCL. His research focuses on environment and society relationships, and he is the co-director of the UCL Extreme Citizen Science group. Prof. Haklay is renowned for the wider societal and economic impact of his work using citizen science approaches.