Scheme Aims and Objectives 
 

The scheme aims to further the NCCPE’s mission of building an inclusive higher education sector where communities can contribute to, and benefit from, knowledge, teaching and research, through:

• Providing development opportunities for public engagement professionals (broadly understood-see below).  
• Recognising and celebrating the critical role of public engagement professionals and their skillsets in developing an inclusive higher education sector. 
• Drawing on a diversity of people, knowledge and experience to identify challenges for public and community engagement within higher education.  
• Generating actionable evidence through exploring and addressing these challenges and ideas. 
• Informing and adding momentum to the public and community engagement agenda in the UK. 
• Supporting public engagement professionals who are committed to a culture of inclusive knowledge in the higher education sector, their own professional development as sectoral change makers and who are encouraging of others in the sector.  
• Positively informing the NCCPE’s culture, work, and practice. 
   

Application Process 
 

The Engage Fellowship application process has three stages: 

1- A short preliminary form in which we invite you to introduce yourself/your group and your idea for the fellowship and fellowship, and how this will contribute to you/your group’s personal development. Deadline 19 February 2024   

2- Successful candidates will be invited to continue through to a lengthier application in which we would like to hear more about you and your motivations, your idea and how you might like to organise your fellowship, and your professional development. Deadline 18 March 2024   

3- 30-minute online interviews in which we will explore your idea to a greater depth, how it might be developed and the potential for NCCPE to support this should your application be successful. Interviews 23 April 2024

Inclusion Statement  
 

As an organisation we are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and improving both the sector and our own practices around this. You can read more about this here NCCPE Statement of Inclusion | NCCPE (publicengagement.ac.uk). We are keen to diversify the people and groups that we connect with and believe that our organisation and the sector can only benefit from this. The NCCPE welcomes the whole person, recognising that each person brings their own unique perspectives to what we do.    
  
We understand that there are often hidden barriers for people applying for a fellowship. If you have any concerns, or would like some reassurance, as to how your skills and qualities might fit our fellowship model, we would be happy to have a conversation with you in advance of your application. If this would be helpful, please contact Hannah Moss at nccpe.operations@uwe.ac.uk
 

Also, please do contact us if there are simple changes that we could make to make the application process more accessible to you. This would be a welcome learning opportunity for us.  

 
Who is a Public Engagement Professional?  

Public Engagement Professional (PEP) roles are as varied as the types of engagement they support. Please see NCCPE’s web page here for an understanding of the types of roles that we associate with the term PEP.  

A beginner's guide to being a Public Engagement Professional (PEP) | NCCPE 

About You 

You might be working from within or outside of the higher education system. You might be an individual, partnership or a group from a range of organisations and roles. You might work as an academic, central services professional, engagement specialist, trainer, researcher, ethicist, artist, activist, community group or any relevant mix of identities and roles.  

We are looking forward to hearing from you whether you are someone we already know, or are someone we don't yet know; whether you are from an organisation that we work with currently, or an organisation that is new to us. 
 
Principal applicants need to be a member of the PEP network (This is free to join PEP Network application form 2022 | NCCPE (publicengagement.ac.uk)  

About Us 

The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) is a culture change agency which supports universities and research organisations to embed engaged ways of working into the heart of their work. We are passionate about the role that high-quality engagement can play in generating inclusive knowledge, research and teaching. We believe that this can be positively transformative for all those involved; university staff and students, partners, and public participants.   

We believe that engaged practice in the higher education sector is at a tipping point and are keen to see a sector wide commitment to capitalising on the opportunities and overcoming persistent barriers so that engaging people in the work of the university becomes embedded in the fabric of what Universities do.  

When it comes to inspiring and driving for cultures that are supportive of inclusive knowledge, we know that there is a wealth of thinking and experience within and allied to the higher education sector. We want to tap into this as well as provide the support and platform to propel thinking and activity to the next level.  

We know that change isn’t easy, and we are keen that these fellowships, whilst challenging the sector will also challenge us as an organisation, our assumptions and approaches. 
 

The Award 
 

Funding 

You can apply for a grant of between £10,000 and £25,000  
This must be paid into a UK business bank account.  
 

Payment Profile 
Fellowships will be paid as a grant with 10% as an up-front payment once contracted and we have received a project initiation document. We envisage three further payments of 30% to be made at agreed points. We may review this depending on the expenditure profile of the proposed project. 

These payments will be contingent on meeting agreed reporting milestones.  These might include:  

• A project initiation document 
• An interim and final budget report 
• Dissemination of outputs etc 
   

Any Questions

If you have any questions about the fellowships, please feel free to anonymously add these to this Padlet board NCCPE Engage Fellows (padlet.com). This will be open for your questions until 15 February 2024, and we will endeavour to respond to all questions within 2 working days of being posted.   
 

Preliminary Stage Assessment Criteria 

In the preliminary application form we ask you to provide high level detail about yourself or your group as well as a short description of the idea or challenge that you would like to work on (250 words) and how you might like to approach this (250 words). We also ask you about how you will work to ensure equality, diversity and inclusion are considered in your practice (200 words) and how you hope to develop professionally through the fellowship (100 or 200 words depending on if applying as an individual or a partnership/group). 

Eligibility Criteria  

• Applicant or group leads need to be based within the United Kingdom. 
• Whoever is receiving and administrating the funds needs to be set up with a UK bank account. This can be that of an individual or an organisation. * 
• Applicant or lead applicant if applying as a group must be a member of NCCPE’S PEP network.  
• Applicants will need to hold or be willing to secure public liability insurance of up to £10 million and professional indemnity insurance up to £5 million. If the work is to be principally online, then lower cover may be negotiated.  
   

*If you are a staff member of the University of the West of England you can apply. We will work with you to appropriately administer the funds. 

Essential Criteria 
In the preliminary application stage, we will be looking for the following qualities: 

• A clearly identified question or challenge that you would like to explore/address.   
• A demonstrated understanding of the relevance of this challenge or question for the UK higher education sector.  
• Clear consideration about the practical steps needed to move towards new understanding or action which us useful to the sector. 
• Demonstrate thoughtful consideration of how the fellowship will help you develop professionally.  
• An ability to reflect on the ethics of your approach and a commitment to issues pertaining to equality, diversity and inclusion.  
• An idea about the financial support that you would like to apply for (between £10,000 and £25,000 inclusive of VAT) 

Further Application Stages 

Applicants who are successful at preliminary stage will be asked to complete a full application form.  At this second stage we will invite potential fellows to: 

• Elaborate further on the challenge demonstrating a good understanding of some of the components and possible lines of exploration/activity.  
• Show a considered approach to influencing change throughout your project. 
• Describe yourself/selves in greater detail and share your professional aspirations.  
• Identify how you will develop through the programme.
• Outline how the NCCPE might be able to support you as well as benefit from your time as a fellow. 
• Outline a budget of between £10,000 and £25,000 that feels considered and proportionate. 
• Provide a rough timeline for the fellowship and an outline of you/ your group’s time commitment to this work.  
• Demonstrate the support of your current employer/s if necessary. 

Selections will be made by a panel of people representing both the NCCPE as well as external organisations.

Applicants that make it past the second application stage will be invited to interview where we will be exploring the potential of your ideas and our ability to support you in developing them.