Give your feedback on our ideas

Welcome to the UKRI Engagement Hub.

Open Activities

  • MRC Board and Panel Associates Feedback Survey

    This Medical Research Council (MRC) survey for board and panel associates will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Following on from the MRC Board and Panel Associates Induction session, We would like to learn more about your experience as a MRC board or panel associate so...

    Closes today

  • Condition of the Estate Survey

    Condition of the Estate (COTE) Survey At Research England, we are undertaking a piece of work to better understand the current state of research infrastructure (buildings and capital equipment) across the English higher education sector. This work, termed the Condition of the Estate (COTE),...

    Closes today

  • AHRC Connected Communities Impact Survey

    We are coming out to the people we supported through the Connected Communities programme to make sure we're aware of all the amazing impacts they have achieved. Five years on from the official end of the programme and as we pick up our engagement with the new government, we're aware that new...

    Closes today

  • NQTP Programme Board Effectiveness Review - IA

    In keeping with best practice, governance boards should undertake reviews of their effectiveness periodically. As the National Quantum Technologies Programme transitions into its next phase, this survey offers an important opportunity to reflect on the effectiveness and future direction of the...

    Closes today

  • NQTP Programme Board Effectiveness Review - BM

    In keeping with best practice, governance boards should undertake reviews of their effectiveness periodically. As the National Quantum Technologies Programme transitions into its next phase, this survey offers an important opportunity to reflect on the effectiveness and future direction of the...

    Closes today

  • LMB Postdoc Symposium

    We are pleased to announce the LMB Postdoc Symposium, taking place on November 22nd, 2024. This full-day event is designed for LMB postdoctoral researchers and offers a valuable opportunity to engage with the research community in and around the LMB. The symposium will feature inspiring...

    Closes today

  • ESRC Responsive Mode Round 1 Survey - Case Officers

    This survey gives you the opportunity to share your views with us about your experiences working on Round 1 of Responsive Mode.

    Closes 1 November 2024

  • Expression of Interest for Celebrating 30 years of CEDA: help us imagine our future event

    On Monday 25th November 2024, we are hosting our 'Celebrating 30 years of the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis: help us imagine our future' event at our home institution in Oxfordshire. As the venue has limited capacity, we will be reviewing all registrations through this expression of...

    Closes 1 November 2024

  • International Away Day 28 November 2024 Registration

    The event will be held at STEAM . Expected timings are 9:30am - 4:30pm. The address of the venue is: STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway Fire Fly Avenue Swindon SN2 2EY If you are driving, the main and closest parking is located at the Swindon Designer Outlet North...

    Closes 4 November 2024

Closed Activities

  • EPSRC- Engineering ECF meeting - 4th December 2024

    This survey is about requirements for the Engineering ECF Meeting on 4th December 2024. EPSRC complies with the General Data Protection Regulations 2016/679 (EU) GDPR). We process and handle personal information according to these regulations. The personal information that you provide on this...

    Closed 25 October 2024

  • UKRI TMF Engineering Biology Programme Convening Event - Feedback

    Please provide feedback on the recent UKRI TMF Engineering Biology Programme Convening Event, and help shape future programme engagement activites.

    Closed 25 October 2024

  • Highlight Topic evaluation

    The Highlight Topics (HT) fund was set up in 2013 by UKRI NERC as a rapid mechanism to identify and then fund strategically important gaps in the research portfolio. UKRI NERC is seeking to understand how well the HT mechanism has met its ambitions and would like to invite you to take part in a...

    Closed 24 October 2024

  • BBSRC Strategy Advisory Panel Member 2024

    BBSRC Strategy Advisory Panel Member 2024 Thank you for your interest in applying to join BBSRC’s Strategy Advisory Panels. Please read the role profiles and expertise requirements for the positions and provide evidence of how your expertise and experience address these criteria....

    Closed 24 October 2024

  • Opening ceremony of the NQCC's new facility -21.10

    The NQCC facility, whose ground breaking happened in September 2021 is now complete. The landmark building will provide a world-class research centre that attracts visitors and industry interest from across the UK and internationally. The vision for the facility is to provide a vibrant work...

    Closed 23 October 2024

We Asked, You Said, We Did

See what we've consulted on. See all outcomes

We asked

In January 2024, we asked for feedback on the Medical Research Council’s (MRC's) draft public partnerships strategy. The strategy was drafted following a process of co-development and sets out MRC’s ambition and priorities for effective collaboration and genuine partnerships between the research community and wider society.

You said

We received 354 responses to the consultation. These responses came from a variety of individuals, groups, and organisations from the research community, the voluntary sector and wider society. The consultation responses were overwhelmingly positive. 87% agreed with the strategy overall, and 81% said that the strategy was written in clear language.

Respondents welcomed specific aspects of the strategy, including its inclusiveness, the focus on non-clinical research and the ambition to build long-term sustainable partnerships between the research community and wider society. Respondents highlighted specific initiatives which they considered vital to the success of the strategy such as, having a clear payment policy, appointing a new MRC programme director for public partnerships, and setting up a public advisory group at MRC.

Respondents recommended that MRC publish the new strategy in a variety of formats, alongside clear delivery (action) and evaluation plans.

We did

We used findings from the consultation to inform the final MRC public partnerships strategy. Key changes included:

  • Clearly stating that this strategy is an initial three-year commitment to our long-term ambition
  • Clarifying that the strategy has been co-developed
  • Specifically mentioning the involvement of international researchers, public partners, and public involvement and engagement professionals
  • Making clear that the consultation informed the final strategy
  • Emphasising that this strategy is intended to be inclusive, and will be aligned with MRC’s Embedding Diversity in Research Design policy
  • Acknowledging the importance of sharing power
  • Making clear that we will implement our new payment policy for public partners, and that other rewards and recognition are additional to payment
  • Emphasising that we will support public partners to take on leadership roles and responsibilities, such as chairing groups or co-leading projects
  • Committing to publish our action and evaluation plans

The consultation findings have been summarised in an infographic and are detailed in full in our consultation report. 

Next steps:

The final MRC public partnerships strategy will be published on the MRC website in summer 2024.

We asked

For opinions on the definition and scope of a categorisatino of UKRI funding as either 'Investigator-led' or 'Directed'.

You said

Only 8 responses were received, and there was no clear consensus on many questions. Most respondents were from universities.

We did

In the absence of opinion to the contrary we will continue to develop and apply the indicator to all UKRI funding. It will be applied as a binary indicator.

We asked

In April 2022, we asked for feedback on the new MRC expectations on the inclusion of sex in experimental design of studies involving animals, tissues, and cells. We also asked what MRC could do to aid researchers in implementing these requirements.

You said

We received 91 responses from researchers and research staff, with many constructive and detailed suggestions. We also received a written submission from the Academy of Medical Science, on behalf of their fellows.

We were pleased that many were already using both sexes in their experiments or were ready to begin doing so (32% and 5% of respondents, respectively). We recognise that many (57%), even though they were very often supportive in principle, felt barriers existed to implementing this in their research.

One of the most commonly mentioned concerns was a likely increase in grant costs. Respondents sought clarity from MRC as to how this would be handled. Ensuring animal welfare standards and the logistics of single housing male animals were also mentioned as barriers.

Roughly a third of respondents had questions about the changes, particularly around:

  • When the new expectation would begin to apply and how compliance would be ensured
  • How and when MRC would grant exceptions for single sex studies
  • How MRC would handle grants where costs were significantly increased due to using both sexes of animal

The support from MRC that was identified as being most helpful was:

  • Advice from MRC Head Office about applications
  • Training in statistical design and analysis
  • Written guidance
  • Case studies or worked examples

We did

As a result of this feedback, we have been working to make more information available about the upcoming change and to ensure the research community receives the necessary support. We have:

  • Updated our Guidance for Applicants with details about how to comply with these new expectations
  • Made it clear that there is no retrospective application of this requirement for grants that have already been awarded
  • Clarified that the requirement of including both sexes does not mean ‘balancing’ or using equal numbers of both sexes, as for many experiments this would result in unnecessary use of animals, but including both sexes as appropriate for the experimental design 
  • Made the cases where MRC will consider single sex studies clearer both on our website and in our Guidance for Applicants
  • Planned a webinar for applicants together with NC3Rs to be held on 21 July 2022, in which animal handling and statistical design will be discussed, and applicants can ask questions
  • Made it clearer on our website that there is no cap on MRC awards, and researchers should submit grant costings based on the cost of performing the work, and justified by the importance and potential of the work

In the coming months, we will:

  • Update our guidance to Peer Reviewers to ensure proposals submitted to the deadlines starting from September 2022 are reviewed in accordance with the new requirements
  • Develop case studies to show the level of information that would be required in applications, including examples of where single sex studies would be appropriate
  • Ensure that MRC Programme Managers are available to support applicants that have further questions
  • Look into what other support we can provide