Get Involved

There are many ways you can get involved in EMRI:


EMRI Meetings

Membership of EMRI is open to those who share our aims and have freedom to act. Researchers are welcome to attend meetings to talk about their research projects and request advice or support from the group. We also report on progress against our work programme and receive updates from our Hub Leads about their work to engage with communities. 

The group meets every third Thursday from 3.00pm - 4.30pm via MSTeam:

Meeting Dates: April to September 2024

If you would like to attend an EMRI meeting, please get in touch using this form.

EMRI Language Associates

To support our languages work, we are looking for people with written and spoken language skills to translate written materials from English into other languages and provide voice overs for our videos.

All of our Language Associates receive an induction and training. We also recognise the contribution of our Language Associates through:

If you are interested and can speak or write any of the languages listed below, please get in touch.

Languages

Be a Mentor - Now Recruiting for our next Scheme - July to September 2024

It is vital that research reflects the population that the NHS serves so people taking part in health and care research should be representative of the diverse communities in our region. Therefore, researchers should have an understanding of the cultural perspectives of people from ethnically diverse backgrounds to design and deliver research that is inclusive for people living in all of our communities.

We would like to offer people from ethnic minority backgrounds the opportunity to mentor researchers through our Reverse Mentoring Scheme. Through mentors sharing their lived experiences, researchers will develop an better understanding of the structural barriers that people from ethnically diverse backgrounds face if they wish to take part in research which will influence their future research practice.

How does the Reverse Mentoring Scheme work?

We pair a mentor with a researcher who will be their mentee for the duration of the scheme. All scheme participants attend an in person induction session where they will be introduced to their scheme partner. At the induction session, each pair will complete the first of their 6 sessions. Prior to the induction, some pre-reading will be circulated to ensure attendees are prepared for their first meeting with their partner.


Each mentoring session has a topic and will last one hour. We provide a workbook with information, resources and suggested structure to support each meeting. All scheme participants will need to allow time to prepare for each session by looking at the resources provided in the workbook. Preparation activities include watching YouTube videos, listening to TedTalks and reading articles. 


After the induction session, each pair will meet another 5 times over a 3 month period. The dates, times and locations of these meetings will be agreed by each pair. To help us assess the effectiveness of the scheme, mentors are required to provide feedback using an online form following the third and final meetings with their scheme partners.

What are the benefits of taking part for Mentors?

The scheme aims to provide positive and meaningful rewards as determined by each individual mentor. EMRI will support the realisation of rewards that we can influence, for example, exposure to contacts/resources to support chosen career paths or other forms of development.


Mentors can share the health and care research priorities of their communities directly with researchers. Mentors may develop an increased understanding of research that they can share with their communities and networks.

Recognition for Mentors

All mentors are recognised for participating in the Reverse Mentoring Scheme. Recognition is provided in the forms of:


Who are we looking for?

We are looking for people from ethnic minority backgrounds with an interest in improving the inclusiveness of health and care research who are willing to share their lived experience with researchers. Through sharing lived experiences, it is hoped that mentees will change their research practice to be inclusive and accessible for people from ethnic minority communities. Prior knowledge of research is not required. If you have good communication skills and can commit to the requirements of the scheme, we’d love to hear from you.

We are looking for people from ethnic minority backgrounds with an interest in improving the inclusiveness of health and care research who are willing to share their lived experience with researchers. Previous research experience or knowledge is not required. If you have good communication skills and can commit the requirements outlined below, we'd love to hear from you.

What are Mentors required to do

Over the course of approximately 3 months, each mentor will spend 2.5 days in total on the following activities:

An interview with a mentor and mentee from our 2022/23 scheme is available on YouTube which describes their experiences of taking part in the scheme.

How to apply

Please complete this online application form by Friday 24th May if you are interested in becoming a mentor. 

If you have any queries or would like more information, please contact us.

Be a Friend of EMRI

If you share our interest in increasing participation in research from Ethnic Minority communities and making research as a whole more inclusive, we would like to invite you to become a 'Friend of EMRI'.

What does being a Friend of EMRI involve

If you would like to become a Friend of EMRI and be added to our distribution list, please get in touch using this form.