Changes to EPSRC’s public engagement agenda

As part of an ongoing review of how we allocate our resources, EPSRC will no longer be funding public engagement activities via the Partnerships for Public Engagement (PPE) Scheme. As a consequence, the PPE call planned for this autumn will not go ahead.

Public engagement is inherently linked with research, and it has always been our intention to integrate it within EPSRC’s portfolio. The prevailing economic climate has brought forward our thinking, however. To this end, from April 2011, we will no longer offer dedicated support for public engagement; rather it will be embedded through our research and training investments.

The new structure will enable us to build a high quality portfolio that is more closely linked to the research we fund, encompasses a greater section of the research community and ultimately will have the potential for much greater impact than the current dedicated funding scheme.

Public engagement activities will continue to be supported via research grants as part of the Pathways to Impact plan. Further information can be found can be found on the Research Councils UK Impacts site.

The importance EPSRC places on high quality public engagement has not diminished. Over the next few months we will be consulting with advisory groups on how to maximise the impact of our embedded public engagement portfolio. We also intend to hold workshops to help the research community adjust to our new way of working.

The acceleration of our public engagement agenda will be incorporated into EPSRC’s draft Delivery Plan to put forward into the Spending Review. Our aim is to make the best possible case for the importance of science and engineering research so that we are able to deliver the ambitious goals set out in our Strategic Plan.