Investing in Engagement

You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.
- David Lloyd George

Conclusion

Our experience of the last eight years as a Wellcome Centre has led us to make the case that secure, long-term funding for engagement leads to high-level, high quality and sustained engagement and that this is an essential ingredient for research that has a significant impact on society. We argue that impactful engagement depends on institutional knowledge and expertise, the ability to build and maintain lasting relationships with partners and audiences, and an adaptability and flexibility to work with audiences in ways that are beneficial to each stakeholder (researchers, audiences, partners).

The Wellcome centre grant provided a monumental opportunity for a step-change in engagement skills, opportunities, materials, and culture at WIN. Most of it would not have been possible if relying solely on pieced-together small grants.

Sustained funding for us meant we have acquired a huge amount of expertise and knowledge and are able to efficiently and highly effectively support our researchers to do what is required to make their research truly engaged and more impactful.

We are grateful to Wellcome for the difference that their funding has made. As we look to the future of the Centre, we are optimistic that the case for the benefits of engaged research is clear. We look to funders of all kinds to support not just the science, but also the environment that allows impactful research to flourish.

Carinne Piekema, Stuart Clare, Hanna Smyth (with assistance from Claude, Anthropic for summarisation and harmonising voice across sections).

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