Retrospective:
Summer Workshop 18th-19th June 2024

In June of 2024, we held our second summer workshop on the theme ‘Ambition: Theory, Application and Stakeholder Engagement’ in London, England.

Attendees comprised UKRI Future Leadership Fellows (FLF) and their research teams from a wide range of disciplines and research organisations. Research areas included, but were not limited to: crowds, emergency responses, cross-sector collaborations, animal communication, indigeneity, dementia & music, criminal justice, public engagement with archaeology, and psychedelics.

The aim of the workshop was to provide a second opportunity for discussion and collaboration between members on the network, this time focusing on the issues faced during research application, and how best to communicate one’s findings to stakeholders. Like our 2023 workshop, during the two day event there were opportunities for attendees to share their research, as well as hear guest talks from academics and practitioners. This year there was also an archaeological walk of the River Thames and a tour of the famous Painted Hall at the University of Greenwich.

This retrospective report provides an overview of those activities, as well as a summary of the Summer Workshop’s outputs.

Members of the Groups Network
Left side, front-back: Dr Sadie Watson (MOLA), Dr Giulia Palazzolo (University of Warwick), Mollie Ruler (University of Kent), Dr Lei Liu (University of Exeter), Sayaka Hinata (University of Edinburgh).
Right side, front to back: Dr Linus Peitz (Universities of Greenwich & Kent), Dr Martha Newson (Universities of Greenwich & Oxford), Dr Justin Christensen (University of Sheffield), Dr Sahil Nijhawan (Zoological Society of London).

Our Attendees

10

4

Attendees

Future Leader
Fellows

Universities and Organisations Represented

4

Post Doctoral
Researchers

2

PhD Students

Workshop Activities

Barriers to Application and Stakeholder Engagement

In small, interdisciplinary groups, we created mind maps as we explored the biggest challenges faced by academics when applying their research and communicating the findings to stakeholders. We then perused the mind maps of the other groups and engaged in a whole-group discussion about the issues raised. We also heard stories of successful research application from our attendees, focusing on what we could learn from them

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Other Collaborative Group Activities:

  • Introductory elevator pitches from all network members

  • Research presentations + Q&As from four of our attendees

  • Research/funding sandboxes - an open research discussion and space for collaborative opportunities to emerge

  • An archaeological walk of the River Thames

  • A tour of the famous Painted Hall at the University of Greenwich

Guest Speakers

  • Professor Brooke Rogers OBE

    ‘Reimagining the role of behavioural and social science in evidence-based policy and practice’
    18th June 2024

    Professor Brooke Rogers OBE is a Professor of Behavioural Science and Security in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London (KCL). She is a social psychologist specialising in risk communication, perceived risk, and responses to health and security risks and threats.

    Brooke chairs the Home Office Science Advisory Council (HOSAC) and the Cabinet Office Behavioural Science Expert Group (BSEG). She is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology (CST). Brooke was an independent participant in the UK’s Science Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and co-chaired the behavioural science subgroup (SPI-B) during COVID-19

  • Dr Michael Rivera King

    ‘Stakeholder Engagement: From Volunteers to Parliamentarians’

    19th June 2024

    Michael is chief executive of The Japan Society. Michael's strengths include fundraising, with over £6.5 million generated from partnerships for his previous charity, and impact assessment.

    Michael has five degrees including a doctorate from the University of Oxford. He was honoured by the Emperor and Empress of Japan for his work following the Great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of 2011, which was also featured on ITN Tonight and TEDxTokyo. Michael contributed to the 2016 revision of Japan's Child Welfare Act to promote family-based foster care and adoption, the subject of his book.

    Outside work Michael enjoys football, Filipino food, and walking his Labrador, Hobbes.