Events and learning

Seminar series

We will be hosting a seminar series, with further details to be posted here soon with details of how to register. Seminars will be online and in-person. Please reserve the following dates in your diary (please note the topic schedule listed here is indicative and subject to change - please check back for regular updates):

• Friday 13th March 2026, 1-2pm: Addressing equality, diversity, & inclusion in public involvement. REGISTER HERE

  • • Speakers: Emilie Smith (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Manager) and Yvonne Howard (Director of Student Racial Equality)

    • Venue: University Learning Centre, room 1.24 and online.

• Friday 12th June 2026, 1-2pm: Public involvement case studies (ageing and dementia). REGISTER HERE

  • • Speakers: Martha Pusey (Post-Graduate Research Student); Chris Maddocks (Public involvement partner); and Dr. Jenny Roddis (Associate Professor in Community Health)

    • Venue: University Learning Centre, room 1.24 and online.

• Friday 11th September 2026, 1-2pm: Ethics in public involvement 

  • • Speakers: Dr. Simon Kolstoe (Associate Professor of Bioethics & University Ethics Advisor) 

    • Venue: in-person venue to be confirmed and online. Registration details will be added here.

• Friday 11th December 2026, 1-2pm: Measuring and reporting impact in public involvement

• Friday 12th March 2027, 1-2pm: Trouble-shooting issues in public involvement

Embedding public partnerships in MRC funding applications (online webinar) - 24th March 2026, 2-3pm

This webinar is being delivered by the Medical Research Council. It will cover:

• Why public partnerships matter

• The difference public partners can make

• When and how to include public partnerships:

  • Considering opportunities throughout the research cycle

  • Guidance on integrating public partnerships into research applications

• Questions to the panel

When registering for the webinar you can submit advance questions for the panel and you can use Q&A functionality at the webinar.

Register in advance for this free webinar on 24 March using this link

Further information can be found on Our public partnerships strategy webpages, including examples of good practice for researchers. 

Panel meetings

We have a panel of six public collaborators who are helping to oversee this funding scheme. Successful applicants to this funding scheme will be invited to attend a panel meeting to update the panel on their progress and discuss any challenges/successes they maybe experiencing. The panel will be meeting on the following dates:

• Monday 9th March 2026, 10:30am - 1:30pm (panel members and scheme administrators only)

• Monday 11th May 2026, 10:30am - 1:30pm (panel members and scheme administrators only)

• Monday 10th August 2026, 12:30pm - 3:30pm (award holders by invitation)

• Monday 9th November 2026, 10:30am - 1:30pm (award holders by invitation)

• Monday 12th April 2027, 10:30am - 1:30pm (award holders by invitation)

Celebration Event - 10th May 2027, 12-3pm.

Save the date for our end of programme celebration event, happening on Monday 10th May 2027, 12pm - 3pm. Hear about the successes, share and reflect upon the learning from the programme, and celebrate with our impact awards.

Free external resources and training opportunities

Many resources and training opportunities exist on public involvement in research. The following external training opportunities and resources are examples that are freely available to all:

• Importance of public involvement in research - recorded seminar series. Webinars include: invisible labour of public involvement; emotions in public involvement; impact from public involvement.

• "Learning from PPI in action: a collection of webinars" is a new e-book providing an in-depth look at successful patient and public involvement (PPI) within health and social care research. 

• Public contributors make recommendations for involving underserved communities in research  - referring to this public contributor led review.

• The Principles of Partnership Working - online tutorial from the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement

• You can create an account for yourself on the NIHR Learn Identity Gateway. This is free to do and will provide you with access to lots of useful training resources around working with people and communities in research, diversity & inclusion, and more. 

• "Research Involvement and Engagement" is an open access journal focussing on patient and public involvement & engagement in health and social care research.

• "Varied voices: How to make research more inclusive and diverse through public involvement" is a 1-hour free online course. You will need to sign-up for a BMJ Learning account to access. 

• The "National Centre for Research Methods – Using Participatory Research Methods: Training Modules" offer video resources on inclusive research; whilst not specific to public involvement, the videos contain transferable learning on working with under-represented groups.

• UK Standards for Public Involvement is a website with essential reading

• Lessons learnt from developing an ethnically diverse patient and public involvement group for breast cancer research  - journal article.

• NIHR Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Toolkit

• UKRIO Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Resources 

• NIHR A practical guide to being inclusive in public involvement in health research - Lessons learnt from the Reaching Out programme

• NIHR Co-production resources 

• Briefing notes for researchers - public involvement in NHS, health and social care research 

• Researcher Revealed: Don’t use patient and public involvement like a petrol (gas) station! - Video podcast

• PEDRI Good Practice Standards for public involvement and engagement in data research 

• A collection of resources to support public involvement in research compiled by the Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Kent, Surrey and Sussex

• Public Involvement Front Door - website with practical tips and resources.