Nottingham Catalyst Partnership Fund Case Studies
The Nottingham Catalyst Partnership Fund was set up to provide charitable and community organisations with the opportunity to share the benefits of University of Nottingham’s research and to participate in research activity. Unfortunately this fund is now closed.
Partnership Fund Grants
The Nottingham Catalyst Partnership Fund has now successfully completed five rounds of funding. Applications have been reviewed quarterly by a review panel of internal University staff and external community representatives, and during this time we have awarded a total of £32,500 to 65 approved projects. The following case studies represent an overview of just some of the Public Engagement activities that these grants have supported.
Keith Bound, PhD researcher
Department of Culture, Film and Media, School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies
What was your Public Engagement activity?
My research study is a film experiment where participants watch 32 short horror film clips which depict different types of conflict between protagonist and antagonist.
How did you engage the public in this activity?
I invited them to take part in a film experiment study at the University. Upon completion of this they received a certificate in acknowledgement of their participation in University research, and were also provided with a £5.00 contribution to travel expenses.
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To gain public engagement in my research study I contacted BBC radio Nottingham who responded by interviewing me twice on the morning show, and have invited me back to give them a summary of the results from the study. This public relations activity created interest from the general public to take part in the study. I also staged a one-day staff event at the Orchard Hotel which is located on the University Park campus, and also worked with Broadway Cinema in Nottingham to recruit participants through their Mayhem Film Festival Facebook page.
Participants in the study had their skin conductance recorded while watching the film clips. They provided feedback after each film clip, as well as giving a short interview at the end of the experiment to describe their experience of suspense in horror films. However, the main focus of the study was to identify participants' anticipatory stress patterns to three different narrative structures from eight horror films, and use the findings to develop a biometric model of suspense and propose a physiological approach to film studies.
Can you sum up your Public Engagement experience using three words?
Rewarding. Novel. Enthusiastic.
Professor Catherine Davies, Professor of Hispanic and Latin American Studies
Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies
What was your Public Engagement activity?
My research on Latin America and independence gave rise to a documentary photographic exhibition by Pablo and Roxanna Allison. This was shown at City Hall London under the auspices of the Mayor of London, and at the Cervantes Institute Manchester.
How did you engage the public in this activity?
We were able to demonstrate the existence of a diverse Latin American community in the UK, and for Latin Americans living in the UK it helped to create a sense of common identity.
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The launch reception at City Hall on 16th June was organised to coincide with the opening of the World Cup in Brazil. About 200 invited guests attended, including ambassadors, local government officials and the deputy Mayor, who gave a welcome speech. The exhibition was politically important as it drew attention to the existence of a minority which is lobbying for official recognition in local councils in London (and has achieved this in Southwark and Lambeth). Both councils were represented at the launch, as were the various Latin American community organisations.
The exhibition also incorporated cutting edge digital technology created by Laura Carletti in the Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute. Laura followed this up with two focus groups in City Hall in July. The exhibition came to an end on July 4th and will be shown at the Brazilian embassy, among other venues, in 2015, before moving to Lakeside in 2016.
Can you sum up your Public Engagement experience using three words?
Different. Exciting. Hard work!
Dr Rebecca Dewey, Research Fellow
Division of Clinical Neuroscience, School of Medicine
What was your Public Engagement activity?
The Nottingham Hearing Biomedical Research Unit organised a research showcase with the Nottinghamshire Deaf Society in May 2014. The event lasted half a day, and was modelled on a scientific conference format, with researchers presenting research posters and short talks, followed by an opportunity to ask questions.
How did you engage the public in this activity?
All talks and discussions were facilitated by British Sign Language interpreters. The Deaf community gained a unique benefit of finding out about how research is planned, conducted and disseminated, and also which areas we are researching and the many ways it is possible to get involved with the research process.
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There was a good attendance and the audience was highly engaged with the concept and the event was received very well. Members of the Deaf community were able to engage in discussions with researchers and find out about the aspects of research that interested them, while researchers benefited from the rare experience of presenting to an audience through a sign language interpreter. The feedback we received was positive and we hope to make the research showcase an annual event.
Can you sum up your Public Engagement experience using three words?
Engaging. Showcasing. Presenting.
Dr Linda East, Lecturer
Nursing, School of Health Sciences
What was your Public Engagement activity?
We hosted a dissemination event in May 2014, where community members heard about an interesting piece of student-led research.
How did you engage the public in this activity?
Catalyst funding allowed us to host an evening meeting with refreshments, to which we invited local community members with an interest in sanitation, development, and sustainability.
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In August 2013 a team of six students undertook an evaluation of an eco-sanitation initiative run by a non-governmental organisation, Dream Big Ghana, in rural Ghana. The students surveyed over 50 members of the village communities who have benefited from compost toilets, as well as interviewing key stakeholders. The students - three nurses and three engineers - built a compost toilet themselves as well as producing an evaluation report documenting the findings of the survey.
During the public engagement event, the students showed a 20 minute video documenting their experiences as part of the "No Flush!" project, and formally presented their report to the Director of Dream Big Ghana. The Director was delighted to receive the report, which will add valuable evidence to a future business case aiming to expand the Dream Bid Ghana eco-sanitation initiative. The students also wrote a blog about their experiences.
How would you sum up your Public Engagement experience?
Our event gave a great sense of closure to an excellent project.
Dr Mattia Fornasa, Research Fellow
Centre for Astronomy and Particle Theory, School of Physics and Astronomy
What was your Public Engagement activity?
I was one of the organisers of the "A Matter of Beauty" event, which consisted of a week-long exhibition from 15th-19th October 2013.
How did you engage the public in this activity?
The exhibition was open from 16.00-22.00 for a week, and visitors were not charged an entrance fee. The public was encouraged to enter, visit the exhibition and interact with the artist and the organisers. During the evening, Science-based activities were presented to strengthen the connection between Art and Science, as well as to boost engagement.
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This exhibition by Angeles Munoz (in collaboration with members of the School of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Nottingham) guides the audience through the most recent and exciting discoveries in Physics. Can Science be beautiful? Where does Beauty reside? Angeles proposes an alternative and fascinating way of looking at the most important discoveries in Particle Physics and Astronomy, playing with connections, tensions and differences between these disciplines and the Visual Arts.
An artist's touch can offer a refreshing take on reality, whether that can be measurable or not, and allows us to channel a human hunger for knowledge as well as our emotional identities, into a creative interpretation of that reality. In the same way, scientific graphs and equations hide in their symbols and lines the secrets of the Cosmos, while addressing questions fundamental for the humankind. During the days, the public were able to interact with the artist, postgraduate students and researchers from the School. In the evenings, small music performances and readings accompanied the exhibition. Finally, outreach talks given by members of the School of Physics and Astronomy, introduced the displayed pieces of Art in their scientific context.
Can you sum up your Public Engagement experience using three words?
Refreshing. Alternative. Fun.
Licheng Zhang, PhD Student
Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering
What was your Public Engagement activity?
I have organised two Public Engagement events on museum design in Wollaton Hall. Each session lasted for around two hours and involved 10 members of the public.
How did you engage the public in this activity?
I invited the public to these focus group sessions so that they could provide input and feedback. This helped them to learn about and gain a greater understanding of building museum design. They made comments and suggestions about the designs.
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In my research, I try to compare a new method of collecting public opinions on museum design versus a traditional voting method. This new method is assumed to be more suitable for expressing and judging opinions. To test the method, I organised an exhibition of dinosaurs in Wollaton Hall, in which the participants can see four exhibition schemes of dinosaurs. The participants listened to the introduction of each scheme and then filled in the consultation forms to state their preference and comments. Based on the completed forms , it is very obvious to see that the new method can collect more opinions than the traditional voting method. What's more, is that the judgements made in the new method are more specific than that of traditional voting. Following on from this, I am planning to run a one-day public workshop to see how they can transfer these ideas into the consensus.
How would you sum up your Public Engagement experience?
The activity has helped us to gain public opinions and assess conflict and consensus. We have seen great benefits from this and will continue with ongoing events in the future.