Engagement with your research

Engaging with people about research, why it matters and what it means for them is now an essential activity for your career and will help your research reach its full potential for health improvement. The Wellcome Trust expects all our major research groups to engage the public with their research.

This film, made for our 75th anniversary, introduces our approach.

Communicating clearly is one aspect of engagement; however, there are several approaches you can use to actively engage with different groups. Interacting with these audiences and stakeholders creates mutual benefit. For many researchers, the benefits of public engagement include developing new skills and enhancing their research.

Whether you are new to public engagement or already have experience, the Wellcome Trust can help. We can offer advice and help to develop your engagement at every stage of your career and support universities and research institutes to better foster public engagement. Through our training and engagement support, we can help you and your group or centre to engage with people in an effective and rewarding way.

Schools and young people Inspire the next generation of researchers.

Broadcast Reach large audiences through the use of audiovisual media.

News and media Become a spokesperson for your field and help set the news agenda.

Getting research into policy Interact with and influence decision makers.

Arts Stimulate new ways of thinking.

Festivals Showcase your work to new audiences.

Patient groups Interact with the people affected by your research.

Public events Engage with the public at local meetings.

Training and support

Free training and support is available to all Wellcome funded researchers who want to engage people with their research.

All researchers can benefit from the support that we provide to other organisations, such as the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement.

Public engagement funding

In addition to providing training and support, the Wellcome Trust funds public engagement projects. If you want to organise an event, develop an exhibition, run a workshop or engage the public in some other way, you can apply for a grant.