My passion for research comes from always asking "why?"

Posted by Pascal Landindome Navelle, FRSPH, Public Health Research Operations Officer and Doctor of Public Health Student at Teesside University.

In today's Fuse blog, Pascal gives his top tips for anyone starting out in research, and shares his own experience which began working with Fuse and Teesside University.

His advice? A passion for the "why?" question and accessing the right mentorship.

As part of the NIHR ‘Your Path In Research’ campaign.

 

After working as a clinician for several years, I felt that my impact on service users was limited. So, upon a thorough reflection, I was inspired to progress into public health research, where I felt I would have a broader impact on society.

Research work is fascinating as it provides a clear pathway to contributing to advancing the knowledge of the disciplinary sector to which I am dedicated. The importance of research should go beyond conceiving theoretical works that would only find a physical location in a library. Research should be "living", circulating, interacting, multidisciplinary, and impacting the environment.

What I enjoy about research is that it allows me to pursue my interests, learn something new, hone my problem-solving skills and challenge myself in several unique ways. Working on a faculty-initiated research project enables me to work closely with a mentor–a faculty member, and other experienced researchers. With a self-initiated public health research project, I can leave the community with a service that represents the distillation of my interests and studies and, possibly, a real contribution to knowledge.

There are many training and support systems that I have found valuable during my career. Researchers usually embark on increasingly diverse careers, where collaboration, networking and interdisciplinarity have become more important. Critical reading, academic writing and critical analysis are valuable training and support required of a researcher. Transferable skills, such as effective communication and problem-solving abilities, have helped me operate more effectively in different work environments.

Starting a research career can be daunting but exciting! The challenge of getting the support needed to achieve my dream came true when I enrolled at Teesside University for a research degree. This began by getting involved with AskFuse (Fuse’s responsive research and evaluation service) and with Associate Professor Dr Peter van der Graaf, working on an enquiry to evaluate Northumbria NHS Foundation Trust’s staff health and wellbeing resources during the pandemic, as part of my PhD research. This then led to working on the South Tees Arts Project (STAR) with Peter, a pilot study to co-produce wellbeing measures with primary school children, their parents, teachers, and artists for a school-based dance intervention. I supported the data collection, analysis and report writing for the STAR project as a Research Assistant and even wrote a song for the engagement activities with children in the research!

I had the opportunity of getting mentorship and some academic resources to enhance my knowledge. I connected and contacted very experienced researchers in the field of public health who supported my interest in growing as a research professional. Through the people I’ve met, I have had the opportunity to work on exciting but substantial research projects that have had a massive impact on the public health community.

My top three tips for somebody starting out in research are:

1. First and foremost, you should be motivated, passionate, and curious about your research topic – do it for science, not tenure! No one ever became a successful scientist with the sole premise of being awarded the Nobel Prize. And remember that plans rarely work out the way you thought they would.
2. Be prepared for a challenging career. Research is ever-changing. Be prepared for the change that research comes with strengthening your problem-solving skills to enhance the fun aspect of research. Problem-solving skills refer to handling difficult situations and overcoming complex challenges. They involve breaking a problem down into its parts, thinking critically about each element, analysing the information you find and using that information to form an effective solution. Having strong problem-solving skills will help make you an asset in your research practice and help you advance your research career.
3. Finally, be proactive, network and connect more with like-minded professionals. Sometimes, the key to getting to places is not what you know but who you know. We can learn a lot from talking to peers and senior colleagues. Attending symposiums, seminars and conferences is a great way to meet people who share common interests with you but have different experiences.

The NIHR has supported my career development through the provision of training, access to leadership development opportunities, networking events, mentoring and guidance on research funding.

The NIHR launched the Your Path In Research campaign this week. Better research leads to better services for the public. That’s why the NIHR want to encourage organisations and social care and public health professionals to play an active role in research, as a way to deliver even better services.

The Your Path in Research campaign highlights how people can make research part of their careers. Some amazing researchers have shared their experiences, how they started in research and what advice they can give to researchers that are considering adding research to their careers.

Take your first step in research today.

Igniting my future career with a SPARC

Guest post by Naoimh McMahon, Postgraduate student, University of Central Lancashire

Naoimh recently passed her viva and won Research Student of the Year at the North West Coast Research and Innovation Awards 2019.

Around about now the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) will be letting early career researchers know if their applications to Round 5 of the Short Placement Awards for Research Collaboration (SPARC) scheme have been successful.

These awards provide funding to allow trainees within the NIHR infrastructure to spend time in other parts of the NIHR to network, acquire new skills and expertise, and establish collaborations with experts in their field. To be eligible for this round of the SPARC scheme, applicants have to be undertaking a formal research training programme, such as a PhD, and be funded by an NIHR award. Additionally, applicants needed to be based in part of the NIHR infrastructure that has a specific remit to build research capacity, such as the NIHR Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs). In 2017 I applied for Round 4 and while I met both of these criteria, I was also facing the final year of my PhD with a lot of writing still left to do! However, this would be my last chance to apply for the SPARC award and so it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up.

For my PhD, I was based at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, and my research was funded through an NIHR CLAHRC North West Coast doctoral studentship. This work was looking at how people negotiate different discourses within the field of health inequalities and how such discourses work to shape thinking and action. With this interest, and a new-found penchant for the North of England, I knew exactly where I wanted to spend my time during a SPARC placement – it had to be in the North East with Fuse! And so towards the end of October, I emailed Professor Clare Bambra (@ProfBambra) to make my case and see if she might be happy to act as my host and supervisor for a placement. After what I can only assume was a glowing reference from one of my PhD supervisors, Clare was on board and we booked in a call to discuss plans for the SPARC proposal.

The requirements for a SPARC award are that you provide a training programme for the placement and you justify the proposed benefit of the programme for your own research and the potential impact for your future career development. After talking through different ideas and options, and considering the short time frame of the placement, Clare and I settled on a training programme oriented around evidence synthesis on the topic of gambling and health inequalities. At the time, gambling was becoming increasingly topical but there was little written about the effects of interventions on social and health inequalities. This focus for the placement was seen as a good fit as Clare had a strong interest in this topic and it would allow me to apply insights from my PhD research to a new body of literature. A co-authored peer-reviewed publication was to be the main output from the placement and we stressed the opportunities provided by the wider Fuse infrastructure for networking during the placement. In March 2018, I found out that my application had been successful and in April I started my six-week stint at Newcastle University.

True to our word, we did exactly what we promised in the proposal! During our scoping searches of the gambling literature we identified a number of recent systematic reviews which synthesised evidence on different types of interventions for reducing gambling behaviour and gambling related harm, and so we felt it would be of value to collate the findings from across these reviews into a single umbrella review. The resulting paper has now been published in Addictive Behaviours. Reflective of the wider health inequalities literature this review has highlighted the lack of consideration of equity effects of intervention strategies in both primary research and evidence syntheses in the field of gambling. Additionally, it has illustrated that there is likely to exist an ‘inverse evidence law’ in this field where there is the least amount of research and evidence for interventions that are most likely to be effective. A big thank you to Katie Thomson (@katiehthomson) and Eileen Kaner (@EileenKaner) for all of their help and input with this review.

 Along with completing this work during my SPARC placement I had the chance to meet people from the Fuse health inequalities programme; get to know some lovely new office mates; attend Fuse’s 10th birthday event and meet people working in local authorities and third sector organisations; meet Fuse Director Ashley Adamson; and attend a Quarterly Research Meeting on eating and drinking patterns in young adults. Last, but certainly not least, I attended and presented my PhD research at the 4th International Fuse Conference which was held in Vancouver in May of last year (see here for a related post on the conference).

In October 2019, the NIHR will launch Round 6 of the scheme and for anybody who may be thinking of applying, here are some things to keep in mind when preparing an application:

• Be ambitious about where you want to spend your time – if you don’t ask you don’t get!
• Develop a training programme that works for both you and your host supervisor
• Try and co-ordinate dates to fit in training or conferences at your host institution
• Detail specific outputs in your application and allow yourself time to get these finished after the placement has finished.

Taking on this type of placement was going to be demanding at any point during a PhD but from my experience it is definitely worth the time and energy. Thank you especially to Clare and Katie, and to everyone at Fuse that made the placement such a positive and worthwhile experience.

Images:

1. Image by Pexels on Pixabay
2. Jeff Kubina from the milky way galaxy [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

Is it possible to have a research career without being a workaholic?

Posted by Peter van der Graaf, AskFuse Research Manager, Teesside University

This was one of the burning questions that NIHR trainees put to an esteemed panel of career advisers at their annual meeting in Leeds. Every year the National Institute for Health Research brings together their trainees at a two-day event to network, share experiences, take part in workshops and generally learn more about the largest national clinical research funder in Europe. This year’s theme: Future Training for Future Health.

With all these bright minds in the room and a dedicated session on successful fellowships and grant applications, you would think ‘top tips on surviving an interview’ and ‘what mistakes to avoid in an application’ would be on the top of their list. However, after several inspiring presentations from previous and current award holders who had climbed the academic ladder - including Fuse Director Ashley Adamson a NIHR Research Professor - participants were equally, if not more, concerned about maintaining a healthy life-work balance.


Follow the yellow brick road to academic success

While Brexit questions made a brave entrance (Q: How will Brexit affect future research? A: In the long term, not all all!), they could not knock questions about mental health and wellbeing from the top spot. When Ashley included pictures of her son in a musical-inspired animation of her academic pathway (follow the yellow-brick road!) to explain that she preferred part-time work to spend more time with her family, participants immediately asked “but how do you fit family in with an academic career?”.

New gadget SLI.DO was introduced by the NIHR at the meeting this year: participants could submit questions through a mobile app, which others could vote to be answered by the panel (Bush Tucker Trial for academics). Not having to stand up in front of an audience to say who you are, might have given some participants the confidence to ask uncomfortable questions. The honest and open stories from the presenters about their own struggles and failures in academia (“my new post oscillated between agony and despair”) might also have contributed to this confidence.


Paul McGee emphasises the importance of
 looking after your mental health in academia

Experiences of stress and concerns over mental health in academic careers were acknowledged throughout the conference in various presentations and workshops. This was perhaps most evident in the closing session by Paul McGee (aka The Sumo Guy) who emphasises the importance of looking after your mental health in academia. His four key messages (be kind to yourself; get perspective; hippo time - to wallow - is ok; and keep pushing) resonated with many participants and provoked a strong response on social media.

As public health researchers, we are familiar with these messages. In our studies, we underline the link between physical and mental health, express our deep concern over the lack of mental health services and highlight the importance of resilience training from an early age in schools. However, it appears that we are not very good at applying this evidence to our own life and work.

This was recently confirmed by a systematic review of published work on researchers' well-being featured in the Times Higher Education. The review, commissioned by the Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust, found that academics face higher mental health risk than many other professions. Lack of job security, limited support from management and weight of work-related demands on time were listed as factors affecting the mental health of those who work in higher education.

Given this evidence, is it possible to have an academic career and stay healthy? Despite the questions raised at the annual event, the NIHR trainees were keen to acknowledge positive mental health messages: you can have a life and family outside academia (no need to be workaholic, although being a data geek is acceptable*); it’s ok to be different and carve your own path to develop your intellectual independence; and most of all: the key to success is self-care and not funding.

* An after-dinner presentation by @StatsJen taught us that there is a perfect correlation between eating cheese and death by entanglement in bedsheets. Will midnight cheese feasts be the next public health scare?

What do I really get from a conference?

Posted by Christina Cooper, Fuse Postgraduate Researcher, Faculty of Health & Life sciences, Northumbria University

As a PhD student there comes a point in your research when you are ready to start disseminating your work and opening it up to feedback from your peers. This is not only important for your personal development as a researcher, but also in demonstrating your contribution to knowledge, a vital step, the importance of which is reinforced throughout the PhD process. Conferences provide an accessible and valuable way for students to present their work, as either a poster or short oral presentation. Attending a conference can feel daunting at first, but regardless of whether you are presenting or not, the benefits of attending and participating cannot be highlighted enough. Conferences can be regional, national or international, but they all share in common the opportunity to learn from, and network with peers and experts with some shared common interest.

Far from being 'just a poster' - an opportunity to discuss my work

I am a public health PhD student at the beginning of my third, and final, year investigating what works, for whom, and in what circumstances in the prevention of risky behaviour by young people, using realist methodologies. For me, my second year felt like the ideal time to begin disseminating my work, through publishing in peer reviewed journals and attending conferences. I have participated in a number of conferences over the last year, from small university based and local regional conferences, to larger national and international conferences. Submissions so far have been in poster format, detailing various aspects of my research covering the research protocol, methodology, and early findings. Far from being ‘just a poster’ these presentations have provided me with an opportunity to discuss my work with other students, and professionals in the field, helping me to develop my ideas, make connections with those investigating similar subjects, and perhaps most importantly, to build up a support network with those in a similar position to myself. The expert advice and guidance gained from a conference is of course invaluable, but often there is nothing more reassuring, when you are struggling with a difficult concept, than hearing the words ‘me too’. Knowing you are not alone can be just the motivation you need to keep reading, keep talking, and keep going until you find a way through.

Most recently I attended the 2nd International Conference on Realist Evaluation and Synthesis held by the Centre for Advancement of Realist Evaluation and Synthesis (CARES), in London. The focus of which was Advancing Principles and Strengthening Practice. Aside from the benefits of presenting

as discussed above, attendance at this three day conference allowed me to attend talks and presentations by a wide range of researchers, including some of the biggest names in realist research. Covering subjects addressing complexity in public health research, attaining funding for realist projects, and knowledge building and translation. The breadth and depth of the material presented provided insight into the realist methodology that would be hard to gain elsewhere. In addition to these thought provoking sessions, time was given to discussion of the myriad of ways in which the realist methodology is employed in research, and how these may be developed to advance knowledge, not just within our specific fields, but also within the methodology itself. These ‘open mic’ sessions, in which disagreement was not only welcome, but encouraged, provided an opportunity to think through new ideas, allowing us to present, debate, challenge and defend our use of the realist methodology regardless of level of expertise. For me, being present for and involved in these discussions was a unique opportunity which allowed me to engage with my chosen methodology at a deeper level.

"...disagreement was not only welcome, but encouraged..."

As a student, relatively new to realism, two key themes emerged repeatedly over the course of the conference. Firstly, how do I know what I am doing is really realist? Secondly, the difficulty of grappling with the complexity of realist research as a lone working student. Both issues I have experienced myself in the last two years, and were indeed part of the reason I wanted to attend the conference; it was greatly reassuring to discover I was not the only one. Not only were there other students there feeling exactly the same way, many of the other delegates, including some of the ‘big names’ such as Professor Ray Pawson, Dr Gill Westhorp, and Professor David Byrne were able to identify with us, and provide support and encouragement. There is still a great deal of work to be done in taking the realist methodology forwards and I am excited about being a part of that, both in the work towards my PhD, and as a researcher in the future.


Photo attribution: “Academic fact fight - debate” by Frits Ahlefeldt FA-L.com via Flickr.com, copyright © 2015: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hikingartist/17163831686

"What should I wear?!" - My first conference as a PhD student

Guest post by Roxanne Armstrong, PhD student at Sunderland University

First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Roxanne and I am currently doing a PhD at the University of Sunderland and I am part of the Fuse partnership. On the 18 – 20 November I attended my first ever conference, the UKCRC public health conference that took place in Edinburgh. I am going to use this blog to guide you through my experience, not to include the academic research that was presented. Hopefully providing an insight into what the “First Conference” feels like for a PhD student.

I am writing this blog, because despite being surrounded by a really supportive supervisory team, there are some things you just wouldn’t ask. A few examples; “do you think a four inch wedge is too formal for the day events? How about with jeans? Do I wear a dress for the conference dinner? Are flat shoes okay?”. This list goes on… This “fashion anxiety” led me to take a suitcase that could clothe a small town, four pairs of shoes and an array of eye shadow shades that a stylist from London fashion week would be proud of.

I started my journey on the train. A busy, smelly, full train. I had reserved a seat, sure, but due to me being (possibly overly) kind, I let someone take it. I glanced around and saw some other Fuse members that I recognised; I braved going over and introducing myself and ended up having a really nice, chatty trip to Edinburgh. Hurdle one – accomplished!

Professor John Frank, Director of  SCPHRP, got into the Scottish spirit at the conference dinner

Second hurdle, accommodation. Would I have a bed? Would I be sharing with a stranger that was prone to sleepwalking? How about free toiletries? I had no idea what to expect and have heard some fairly scathing reviews about conference accommodation. When I walked into my room I practically had to call someone to pick my jaw up off the floor. My accommodation was bigger than my own house! Bed? Check. Free toiletries? Check. Oh and two double beds, two plasma TVs and a kitchen area. I felt like Kate Middleton; surely this means I have made it in the world….

The third hurdle I faced was being in a sociable environment with people I’d only ever seen in a professional light. This was the most rewarding aspect for me; making connections, talking about normal things with lovely, like minded people. We shared mealtime and a couple of drinks and I finished the first evening with people I now class as friends.

Making connections with lovely like minded people

The conference itself was another challenge; I was full of nerves thinking about all of the other academics that would be there and how I’d act around them, but in truth it was so easy going. I was engaging with lots of approachable individuals with a lot of knowledge to share and exchange. I left the conference sessions feeling excited for my own future and how I was so grateful that I have such a diverse and welcoming community around me for at least the next three years and hopefully many more after that.

If I had to give some advice to someone who had never been to a conference before it would be the following: be open minded – every conference is different and you will find yourself being a social chameleon, adapting to whoever you meet, this is a great skill to develop. Secondly, enjoy it! I enjoyed every minute and really made the most of it. Finally, take as many free pens as your pocket will allow… That’s what they’re there for!

Oh, and I couldn’t end this blog without telling you – I opted for three inch wedge boots, jeans and a neutral shade of eye shadow. You’re welcome.

Did you enjoy reading this post? If so, please vote for Fuse in the UK Blog Awards 2016 by clicking here

Back to the Future: health and housing working together

Guest post by Patrick Vernon, Health Lead, National Housing Federation

The launch of the Due North report in September 2014 was a rallying cry for greater priority around tackling health inequalities with a manifesto in how all stakeholders and system players can recycle effectively the £136 billion in public spend for transforming services. Since May 2015 we have a new Government with a clear agenda on austerity, public sector reform and the revitalisation of the devolution agenda with the mantra of the "Northern Powerhouse". In the middle of this maelstrom has been the Government's approach to tackling the housing crisis with the immediate reduction of 1 per cent in rents over the next four years, the extension of the Right to Buy and the ongoing impact of welfare reforms. These changes have become a major turning point in the history of the social housing sector along with the changes in supported housing.

Although there is an emotional, political, moral and (increasing) evidence base for the links between poor housing and health, the gap between fact and reality still feels light years away. There is a clear role for the social housing sector to work with the NHS, social care and employers in transforming services and care pathways to meet demographic, lifestyle and morbidity changes in the population. A step in the right direction is the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support joint action on improving health through the home which was signed by all stakeholders in the health and housing sector in Autumn 2014. The document highlights at a strategic and national level the key principles and actions around a collective approach around delivery. However, what is currently missing is a regional approach that is embedded in the devolution agenda. This is already happening in Greater Manchester as part of DevoManc (giving greater powers to the combined authority working in partnership with a directly-elected Mayor). In the North East we need to ensure that housing and health are part of the devolution plans.

Thus the Fuse Quarterly Research Meeting (QRM) ‘Creating Healthy Places in the North East: the Role of Housing’ on Tuesday (20 October) in Darlington is the start of another important chapter in the health and housing trilogy (or may be pre-sequel) on how health, social care and housing can work together in meeting the needs of local communities in a period of austerity. All the speakers at the event had - in essence - the same message: a need for strengthening partnerships and system leadership along with collating, translating and communicating the evidence for cost-effective interventions.

The event not only had international examples from the Netherlands and New Zealand but also local case studies from a number of housing associations such as Thirteen Group (Middlesbrough Recovering Together project), Gentoo Housing (Boilers on Prescription), Home Group (social prescribing), Tyne Housing (working with homeless people in the community) and South Tyne side Homes (sheltered accommodation for residents with dementia). The case studies illustrated how better commissioning and service integration can make a difference to the lives of people.

The challenge in a period of reduced budgets and further potential cuts in the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review is how we make the business case and get the right people in the room to transform services, building on the spirit and vision of the Due North report in tackling health inequalities and achieving greater health equity.

I think one of the key outcomes of the QRM is for Fuse to act as broker between service providers, commissioners and service users in creating a strong North East dialogue between the health, social care and the housing sector. This can be achieved by networking, sharing good practice, supporting development of the evidence and, finally, an advocacy role in influencing the devolution agenda.

Thus, if Marty McFly and Doc Brown pop out of their DeLorean DMC-12 again in the future, we can share with them the successful journey that we have undertaken in ensuring that the housing sector is a valued, respected and key partner in delivering better health and social care services and an integral agent in tackling the public health agenda.

For more information visit the National Housing Federation website or read the Fuse research brief accompanying this event: Creating healthy places in the North East - the role of housing.


Photograph 'Back to the Future DeLorean Time Machine' by AdamL212 via Flickr.com © 2007: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lautenbach/1393032429

Did you enjoy reading this post? If so, please vote for Fuse in the UK Blog Awards 2016 by clicking here

52 weeks in public health research, part 40

Posted by Greg Rubin, Amelia Lake, Mark Welford

From Greg Rubin: Seen in a Luxembourg motorway service area. Vive le free market in smoking related diseases (not).

From Amelia Lake: Scotland is not renowned for its healthy cuisine however today I enjoyed a vegetarian haggis at a well established vegetarian restaurant in Edinburgh - and it was very, very lovely!

From Amelia Lake: A whole new meaning to farm fresh... Enjoying beautiful free range eggs laid by very happy hens on a farm we are staying at. Plenty of food for thought regarding sustainability and food miles!

From Mark Welford: CEDAR's Dr Esther van Sluijs and Fuse's Liane Azevedo pose for the obligatory (cheesy) photo with the Fuse banner at the Third Physical Activity Workshop. Esther kindly travelled from Cambridge to give her keynote address. These events bring together professionals with an interest in physical activity and are open to delegates from academia, private, public and the voluntary sector. In keeping with the theme there was an optional lunchtime 'network walk' through Middlesbrough's Albert Park; unfortunately I forgot to take a photo as I was jointly leading the line.

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A reminder from the Fuse blog group:

Each Thursday of 2014 we’ll try and post around four pictures on the Fuse blog that capture our weeks in public health research, from the awe-inspiring to the everyday and mundane. Given that more of the latter than the former exists in most of our lives, we foresee problems compiling 208 images worth posting on our own. So this is going to have to be a group project. Send an image (or images) with a sentence or two describing what aspect of your week in public health research they sum up and we’ll post them as soon as we can. You don’t have to send four together – we can mix and match images from different people in the same week.

Normal rules apply: images you made yourself are best; if you use someone else’s image please check you’re allowed to first; if anyone’s identifiable in an image, make sure they’re happy for it to be posted; nothing rude; nothing that breaks research confidentiality etc.

Email your posts to m.welford@tees.ac.uk or contact any member of the Fuse blog group.

A second slice of the cake

Posted by Annette Payne and Emma Giles

As Emma mentioned in her blog post last week, we have endeavoured to write two joint posts and I guess that these are in fact testament of the Fuse Sandpit event for early career researchers that we both were lucky enough to attend in February 2013 at Linden Hall.

Previous to this sandpit, Emma and I did not know each other and the fact we got along, had a lot of research interests in common and the same pragmatic perspective led us to keep in touch, have coffee (no cake though….oh has Emma already mentioned that??!!) and to write these posts.

It's all about the cake

So was this part of the Sandpit process? Well Emma and I were not members of the winning team but maybe there was more than one prize and we did win in our own way?

We might have received some strong criticism about our bid of blood, sweat and almost tears (I know there were loud whispers that the feedback was disproportionate to the task in hand and in reality all the teams would have spent more than a few hours writing a bid for submission), we still may not have seen what a successful bid does actually look like and what it would have taken for our bids to make it through to successful funding. Yet both Emma and I fully acknowledge that it was still worth attending and that this was the first event of this type, and that lessons will be learnt, and processes improved upon, but we are both very proud to have been selected to attend and to just have been a part of the sandpit process!

Over our coffee (and NO cake) we discussed the sandpit as a whole process and although we came away without the financial prize we did come away with little personal prizes of our own. We both realised that we were able to work with a research team where there were at times challenging dynamics but that both Emma and myself possessed a degree of self-awareness to manage and blend where required into that team dynamic, enough to allow the process to move forward. I personally came away reassured that I do have academic, research and clinical knowledge that I often don’t give myself enough credit for. I know Emma surprised herself at times how she stepped up and took the lead and was able to get her point across despite a couple of resistant audience members. We both witnessed how the different philosophies of universities both old and new don’t have to clash and compete, but can complement and enhance outcomes.

I think the best prize however is that we have made contact with someone who we would work with, have coffee (and cake??) with to discuss work and any professional issues, and perhaps a fledgling friendship within the research world.

Networking

Posted by Emma Giles and Annette Payne

So, firstly we should maybe point out that this blog post was inspired by the Fuse conference on the 25-27^th February 2013 at Linden Hall. This sandpit event aimed to inspire post-docs and post-grads (like our good selves) to write an inspiring, appropriate and sure-to-be funded research bid. Whilst this conference was held a few weeks ago, what we really found useful – and which inspired this post – was the opportunity to network. Being researchers in different North East Universities (Emma is based in the Institute for Health & Society at Newcastle University, and Annette works full time for the NHS Health Improvement while studying part time at Sunderland University) we don’t often get the opportunity to meet for a prolonged period of time with researchers from other universities. 

Cookies by Paolo Marco - an important ingredient of effective networking

On arriving at the Fuse event, both myself and Annette were placed in the same group, in which we were to spend many waking hours together working on a hypothetical (but a potentially very real) research bid. Together with an additional four researchers, Annette and I set to thinking about how we would write a research bid that would shed some light on how reticent Hep C carriers would come forward for testing. Whilst admittedly Annette and I were ‘forced’ to network in the first instance, in that we were allocated to the same working group, we soon realised over coffee (and dare we say it biscuits and other sweet goodies) that we got on rather well and that we were both interested in very similar research fields. Annette is currently starting her 3^rd year of her part-time PhD (and aiming to finish in 12 months!) looking into the views and patterns of alcohol use in older adults living in sheltered housing, whilst I completed a PhD (in 2010) into the food, alcohol and physical activity behaviours of young adults, together with a first post-doc which looked at the dietary behaviours of older people.  Sharing similar research interests and skills (such as a firm interest in the value of qualitative research) was an interesting finding from meeting each other.

Since meeting up for coffee recently (minus the cake unfortunately!), we decided that we should thank Fuse for giving us the opportunity to network. The Fuse conference allowed us to meet with researchers from all of the five North East Universities (Newcastle University, Sunderland University, Teeside University, Durham University and Northumbria University). It gave us the opportunity to identify potential collaborations with other researchers and universities, to establish new friendships with people who share similar personal and professional interests, but crucially, by listening to other people’s research interests and skills, it helped us to fully appreciate what we have to offer as junior/early career research and the skills that we could bring to any budding cross-university collaborations. 

Whilst usually the dreaded ‘N’ word brings a tear to the eye, and a lump to the throat akin to that of ice breakers; the networking opportunity provided by Fuse was (fairly) enjoyable. The informal atmosphere, the always-ready-to-help mentors, and the open-attitude of all those involved, meant that we learned quite a bit about ourselves, but also about others who attended the event. In future, should we ever have to network again, we can tell ourselves that not always do we need to break into a cold sweat when made to network, that it can be fun (okay maybe a stretch too far), useful, and also result in a new friendship/collaboration being made. In this instance the networking between Annette and I paid off…shame it couldn’t have helped us write the winning bid though!

Working effectively with patients and public in research

Posted by Dorothy Newbury-Birch

I’m chair of the Engagement Strategy Group in my research institute. I’m not sure, like most things, how that came about, but I’m here and I’m on a steep learning curve. You see, like most of us, for a long time I thought that patient and public involvement meant that we should have a couple of lay people on our steering groups. And I was wrong, so wrong. It is so much more than that and if done properly can make your research much better in so many ways. I can only talk for myself but I’ve really started thinking about this differently, in particular, in relation to one of the trials I am the Principal Investigator (PI) for.

How not to do patient and public involvement in research

SIPS JR-HIGH is a pilot feasibility trial of alcohol screening and brief interventions in schools with 14-15 year olds. On the program management group we have a representative from the education department at the local council. He has expertise in alcohol and drug education in schools and we’ve met with him a number of times both at the project management group and separately to discuss the intricacies of the work. He’s a co-PI on the project and his input was invaluable to its success in being funded. He was also our link to getting the schools on board.

We have the Young Mayor (yes, North Tyneside has a Young Cabinet) on our Trial Steering Group, who we have met and spoken to a number of times. The Young Cabinet also looked over all our paperwork prior to submitting our application for university ethics approval. We also have a young person and their mum on the steering group. They were interested in the research, trialled our intervention and gave us valuable feedback. We've been to a couple of the schools a few times to trial the questionnaires and to ask them what they think of the information leaflets we’re using.

So what are my tips from my new found knowledge? Firstly, don’t just expect people to rock up to a meeting after sending them piles of paperwork and expect them to engage. Meet with them prior to the meeting; explain what is going to happen at the meeting. Talk through some of the issues and the paperwork and get their views. Explain to them that their input is important. Check to see if they need any help in coming to the meeting i.e car parking or childcare. Make sure you have spoken to them about financial reimbursement for their time. A great resource is available from INVOLVE which can help.

Secondly, have someone in the group meet with the person a few minutes before a meeting and have a coffee and introduce people as they turn up for the meeting. Have this person sit next to the lay member and explain things if necessary and encourage them to have their say if they want to. Don’t rush them away after the meeting; ask them what they thought and if they have any questions. Make arrangements to give them a call in a couple of weeks to chat through things if necessary. Work at their pace, don’t assume they can or can’t do things.

If you take these things on board, your research, I promise you, will be better and more fulfilling for yourself and the people we are doing the research with and for.

Venice

Posted by Dorothy Newbury-Birch

I’m at a conference in Venice and I think it's the most beautiful place I've ever been to. But, with a bit of time on my hands (there’s no English TV in the apartment I’m staying in), I'm wondering why we come to conferences. I've probably been to about 50 conferences, heard around 300 speakers and seen hundreds of posters. I can only remember a handful of any of them.

We’re told that its important for us to attend conferences and disseminate our work. But as I stood in front of my carefully crafted poster today for an hour and a half in the baking heat and spoke to a grand total of three people I wondered just how much dissemination was happening. I once gave an oral presentation in America to three members of my research team and someone who I think was in the wrong room but felt too bad to leave. I have, of course, also given presentations in front of hundreds of people.

So why is it so important and why do I keep coming to conferences? Well the reason is that by coming to these conferences I ‘connect’ with other like-minded people from around the world. I chat with people about their research and my research and we talk about how we can perhaps collaborate on future work.

I sat on the boat to the conference venue today (yes in Venice it's a boat not a bus!) and talked with an academic from Kansas about research in schools - a really useful conversation for a project I'm currently working on. During lunch, I chatted with some colleagues from Barcelona about a European project we are involved in. Over coffee yesterday I talked with someone from Cardiff about complex methodologies and had a chat with a member of the steering group for a recent UK trial we worked on. On the boat back from the venue, I chatted with a researcher from the USA about the differences in obtaining ethical approval in America and the UK.

These are just a few of the many conversations I have had in the last two days. I have also been introduced to some important people in the field who I didn't know before.

I know others find this whole networking thing really difficult. Anyone who knows me will know that my two greatest loves are talking and biscuits, so for me it's fantastic. But it's more than just chatting. These events give me time to think about past, present and future research and to explore ideas with others who are giving themselves the time to do the same.

They give me time to ponder and that's a good thing and that's why I come to conferences.