NERC Engage Academy Insights Report

The NCCPE was commissioned to develop and deliver the Natural Environment Research Centre (NERC) Researcher Engage Academy: a 2-year public engagement capacity building programme of professional development with experiential learning for up to 200 NERC-funded researchers that builds on the work of the NERC Impact Development programme.

To inform the development of this programme, I undertook desk research and interviews with potential participants in the programme to better understand how it could best fulfil their needs and interests. I looked at both the content of the programme, methods of delivery and overall programme design.

The research consisted of several key elements:

Desk research: Examining existing literature to better understand the key features of current professional development programmes that are working well, especially those targeted at the NERC research community.

Survey: An online survey (mix of quantitative and qualitative questions) was distributed through the NERC research community. The survey received 91 complete responses.

Interviews: We undertook 11 semi-structured interviews with NERC researchers who fit within the cohort criteria.

The final report provides a synthesis of the key learning from the research and recommendations for the direction and delivery of the programme.