The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE)'s Engage Competition was previously held in 2016 and 2014.
2016 Engage Competition
Eighteen public engagement with research projects were shortlisted in our 2016 Engage Competition. Finalists were selected from over 180 entries which demonstrated a broad range of high quality activities to inspire and involve public audiences. Their work ranged from digitally reconstructing city histories to protecting endangered species; from working with older people as researchers to delivering hyper-local science festivals; from young children conducting their own research to influence the United Nations, to using theatre to improve oral health outcomes.
Our winners were announced at the Engage Awards Ceremony which was held as part of the NCCPE's Engage Conference on 29th November in Bristol. There were six competition categories, and the winner of each category received a prize of £1,500 to go towards further public engagement work.
The competition winners, by category, were as follows:
- Arts, humanities and social sciences: Around The Toilet, Sheffield Hallam University
- Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM): SMASHfestUK, Middlesex University, University of Greenwich
- Health and wellbeing: None in Three, University of Huddersfield
- Engaging with young people: COHESION Pilot, University of Leeds
- Working in partnership: Older People as Co-Researchers, University of Manchester
- Individually led projects: Eating for Eye Health, University College London
You can find our more by watching the 2016 Engage Competition finalist films or reading the 2016 finalist brochure.
2014 Engage Competition
We received a fantastic 230 entries to the 2014 competition. It was a real treat to find out about so many exceptional engagement projects happening across the UK through our first competition of this kind.
Entries were assessed by a panel of judges and the shortlisted projects in eight categories were invited to an event at the Natural History Museum in London during Universities Week, on Wednesday 11th June 2014, where the overall winner and category winners were announced. The overall winner, CAER Heritage Project, was awarded £2,500 to develop or share their engagement work with others.
The competition winners, by category, were as follows:
- Overall winner: CAER Heritage Project, Cardiff University
- Established projects: danceroom Spectroscopy, UWE / University of Bristol
- Individually led projects: Celestial Sirens, Laurie Stras / University of Southampton
- Health and wellbeing: Service User and Carer Group Advising on Research (SUGAR), City University London
- History and heritage: CAER Heritage Project, Cardiff University
- Art, design and culture: Prison Reading Groups, University of Roehampton
- Science, technology, engineering and maths: The Enlightenment Café Deadinburgh, University of Edinburgh
- Engaging with young people: What if?, Durham University
- Collaboration: Focus on the Positive, University College London
You can find our more by watching the 2014 Engage Competition finalist films or reading the 2014 finalist brochure.