The Research Impact Management Office (RIMO) were invited to Liverpool John Moores University to deliver a workshop on why public engagement matters.

On the 16th October, Harry Jenkins and Ally Rayner from Imperial's Research Impact Management Office (RIMO) travelled to Liverpool to deliver a workshop on behalf of the PRESTIGE-AF research project. Supported by RIMO, PRESTIGE-AF is a 7-year project led by Imperial College London and funded under the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme.

RIMO supports PRESTIGE-AF on both project management and communication and dissemination activities. The team currently works across seven European-funded projects, with over 100 international partnerships, which total over 100m in project value.

As leaders on the communication and engagement activities for PRESTIGE-AF, Harry and Ally were invited to Liverpool John Moores University on behalf of the project to deliver a clustering workshop for PhD students and postdocs involved in the EU-funded project, TARGET.

The day kicked off with the group taking part in the PRESTIGE-AF 'Escape the Clinic' Escape Room, which has become the flagship engagement activity for the project. After successfully completing the activity (with four minutes to spare), the group transitioned into the ‘Creative Public Engagement’ workshop. 

The aim of the workshop was to explore what is meant by public engagement and it's importance, provide tools on how to begin developing a public engagement activity and get the group to brainstorm some ideas of their own. By the end of the session, the key takeaway the group shared was that their confidence in developing their own engagement activity had grown.

Stepping out of our usual environment to deliver this workshop was a lovely reminder on the excitement many researchers have about engaging the public with their research. Our team is thrilled to continue supporting Imperial academics in this journey, fostering collaboration and creativity that bridges the gap between research and community. Ally Rayner Project Communications Coordinator, RIMO

If you're interested in learning more about RIMO and the services they provide, do get in touch.