In this extra post, Elizabeth Stevenson and Donald Davidson describe the pilot of a PhD with Integrated Study in Medical Sciences with Engagement for Impact, as well as the outcomes of its evaluation. This programme design foregrounds experiential teaching and research-integrated engagement and impact.
Background
Since the mid-2000s, higher education and research funding councils in the UK and the Wellcome Trust have funded many initiatives to develop a culture of public engagement with research in higher education in the UK. The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) was established in 2008 and defines public engagement as, ‘the myriad of ways in which the activity and benefits of higher education and research can be shared with the public’. The Research Excellence Framework (REF 2029) now includes both Engagement and Impact.
The message is clear: it is important to funders that researchers engage with the stakeholders of their research.
Why does public engagement matter?
NCCPE believe that the work of universities can be enriched and animated by public engagement and make the case for public engagement with four arguments: accountability; social responsibility; relevance; and trustworthiness. We don’t need to look too far to see other countries whose academics have not demonstrated the value and benefits to wider society are now facing increased uncertainty with respect to future research funding.
The challenge
However, there are tensions between the aims of the NCCPE and the reality of life as a researcher. Issues arise such as researchers struggling to find the time, not developing sufficient expertise in public engagement and not being able to focus public engagement activities on their own research. The question of value to the researcher and the research is not always obvious. A PhD researcher may be influenced by the views of those around them regarding the value (or not) of public engagement and may experience variable levels of support.
While this may paint a gloomy picture, the University of Edinburgh has well-established support systems for researchers who wish to engage with wider society. Regardless, researchers often do not develop expertise in public engagement beyond the basics.
Question: How do you create the time, expertise and opportunities for PhD students to develop high quality public engagement activities specifically related to their own research?
Answer: A PhD with Integrated Study PhD in which taught and experiential, formal academic courses in science communication and public engagement are an integral component of the PhD programme.
PhD with Integrated Study
The concept of a PhD with Integrated Study is not unique to the University of Edinburgh. It is a four-year PhD programme consisting of three years (540 academic credits) of research and one year (180 credits of taught courses, usually at MSc level. It differs from the 1 + 3 model in that the taught courses are integrated throughout the PhD rather than being scheduled for the first year.
Our PhD programme: PhD in Medical Sciences with Engagement for Impact
My colleague, Donald Davidson – now retired (who had the initial idea) – and I developed a ‘PhD with Integrated Study: Medical Sciences with Engagement for Impact’ with the following structure:
- 540 credits (equivalent to three years) of medical sciences research
- 100 credits of taught courses drawn from existing MSc programmes: for example, in science communication, public engagement, social media, patient involvement, information visualisation.
- 80 credits of experiential courses (students have the opportunity to develop public engagement activity and resources directly related to the student’s own research).
Our aims
We wanted to train a cohort of students who would deliver key scientific outputs together with research-integrated engagement and impact as core components of their research from an early stage in their careers. We hoped that graduates from the PhD programme would:
- be primed to pursue internationally excellent research in a highly collaborative, cross-disciplinary manner;
- become innovative, creative thinkers;
- have the confidence and ability to engage with audiences beyond the research world, removing barriers to develop meaningful and longer-term relationships with stakeholders;
- be ideally placed to be the next generation of scientific leaders and policy makers.
We secured funding to pilot the programme for two cohorts of students.
Milestone
We are celebrating the first milestone of the pilot delivery: our first cohort has completed the programme! This provides a good opportunity to reflect on our PhD programme.
The evaluation
The PhD programme is being externally evaluated by The Social Innovation Partnership and the evaluation is funded by the Wellcome Trust. The evaluation also includes comparison data from another PhD with Integrated Study (whose integrated courses are directly related to the topics of research) and from standard 3-year PhD students. The evaluation extends to follow the careers of the students beyond graduation. Some key insights include:
- The first cohort of students were offered research positions in high (QS) ranked universities.
- Students were able to draw upon their learning from taught courses and delivered high quality engagement for impact.
- Students had the confidence and ability to develop extensive professional networks for both engagement and research, with the former clearly enabled by the programme in a manner that was less obvious for students on other programmes.
- Supervisors commented on the empathic connections of the students with the stakeholders of the research (particularly relevant for Medical Sciences Research).
- One of the keys to success was the mentoring offered to students by the Programme Directors and the need to address any misunderstandings about the structure of the programme early on.
The research of one the students who completes this year was featured in a Guardian article (research on the impact of diet on endometriosis).
Impactful public engagement work completed by students includes:
- The development of a colouring book for children with childhood cancer (see image 1).
- The Wandering Womb (directly related to the work featured in the Guardian) an interactive exhibit in which people have the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences of menstruation, and learn more about different menstrual health conditions (see image 2).
- A one-day conference for individual affected by and working in the area of neurodevelopmental disorders as a result of mutations of the eEF1A2 protein
The integrated nature of taught and experiential courses at SCQF level 11 raised the bar in terms of the quality, breadth and depth of public engagement work produced by the students.
Overall, we are satisfied that the concept of the programme delivers as intended and provides effective experiences for the students. However, the last word goes to one of our students who wrote to us following the publication of a paper on participatory research methods:
“[I] couldn’t have done it without the programme and the mentorship from you both!”
Elizabeth Stevenson is a Reader and Programme Director of two MSc Science Communication and Public Engagement programmes (full-time on-campus and part-time online). She is particularly interested in supporting students in their learning through developing their assessment literacy.
Prof. Donald J. Davidson MBChB PhD (retired) is an Emeritus Professor of Host Defence & Inflammation Biology, Centre for Inflammation Research / Institute for Regeneration and Repair, University of Edinburgh.
