The Vice-Chancellor's Engage Awards are back! We're looking to celebrate colleagues who engage people outside of the University with their research, and for the 2021 Engage Awards we've added a brand new category, the Local and Civic Engagement Award, which is open to staff from all job families.
The Vice-Chancellor's Engage Awards 2021
Established in 2013, the Vice-Chancellor's Engage Awards aims to recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements of colleagues who engage people beyond the University with their research. Four categories of the Engage Awards focus on public engagement with research and are open to all Education and Research staff and doctoral students. New for the 2021 Awards, and reflecting the renewed strategic focus for the University, we've added a new fifth award category - Local and Civic Engagement - which is open to staff from all job families and doctoral students.
Informing, Listening and Working Together Award categories
Public engagement with research can be broadly defined into three categorisations, activities that inform people about research, activities that listen and respond to people's concerns and needs and activities that involve working with people outside the University to engage others with research. For us at the University of Bath, public engagement must enhance and enrich your research and not be a core or essential part of the research itself. The Engage Awards are using the following definition of public engagement as a guide:
The ways in which the activity and benefits of research can be shared with the public. Engagement is by definition a two-way process, involving interaction and listening, with the goal of generating mutual benefit.
If your engagement work fits within this definition and meets our criteria for engagement then it's eligible for consideration for an Engage Award. Get applying! Examples of project that fit within these categories include (but are not limited to):
Informing - broadcasting, exhibitions, radio, blogs, social media activities, public lectures or research related outreach activities
Listening - roundtable discussions, citizen science or stakeholder panels
Working Together - carrying out research collaboratively with community partners, collaborating with local artists groups to run an exhibition based on your research or working with research stakeholders to create tools based on your research.
You can apply as an individual or as a team. Have a read of the guidance for these Engage Award categories and feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions.
Leadership Award category
This Engage Award category will recognise an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to the culture of public engagement within their research centre/ institute/ department/ broader research community. Here's the winner of the 2019 Leadership Engage Award Dr Janet Bultitude:
The person who will be awarded this Engage Award will show a strong commitment to public engagement and will have enabled and supported their colleagues to develop their skills and expertise in engaging public groups with their research. Have a read of the Leadership Award category guidance and free to drop us a line if you have any questions.
Local and Civic Engagement Award category
Through a variety of work covering the University’s operations, teaching and learning, and research, staff engage with local communities from the City and across the region. This award aims to recognise the outstanding contributions of staff who engage locally and make a civic contribution on behalf of the University. It's a new category for the Engage Awards and we're not being too prescriptive with our criteria, we encourage colleagues to read the Local and Civic Engagement Award category guidance and submit applications that you feel are relevant to this Award and encourage you to drop us a line if you have any questions. This Award is open to staff from across all job families at the University (Education and Research, Management Specialist and Administration, Technical and Experimental and Operational and Facilities Support).
Apply now
The deadline for all Engage Award categories is Friday 26 March 2021 at 5pm. Once received a judging panel made up of engagement experts from the University and beyond will assess the applications before announcing the shortlist. The winners will be revealed during a Public Engagement Showcase event on Thursday 20 May 2021. We're currently in finalising the details, but mark it in your calendar!
Dean Veall is Deputy Head of Public Engagement at the University of Bath
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