RSEConUK 2019

Research institutions are becoming increasingly aware of the need to share the benefits of their research with the public; a clear plan for disseminating information to and learning from the public (public engagement) is now a required element for all major UK research funding agencies.

RSEs are often viewed as external to the public engagement process, but their skills hold great potential to help researchers facilitate knowledge exchange with the public. For example, research results are often disseminated through RSE-developed dashboards and databases, citizen science projects often rely on technical platforms developed by RSEs and data visualisation skills can transform the way public understand complex topics.

In this talk, I will showcase a range of projects where RSE input has led to excellent public engagement (and discuss the strengths and limitations of each) with the aim of inspiring RSEs to consider their work in a public engagement context in the future. This will help empower the RSE to become more aware of the vital role they play in this process, and ultimately lead to the development of technical tools that are better designed from a public engagement viewpoint.