Engagement Excellence Scheme Fellows
Two cohorts of Engagement Excellence Scheme (EES) Fellows have been celebrating their graduation.
Some of the EES 2019/20 cohort and mentors (from left) Professor Sue Pavitt, Dr Alexa Ruppertsberg, Dr Nicole Watt, Rachael Jablonski, Dr Anne Velenturf, Dr Viktor Doychinov, Shauni Sanderson and Delia Muir
The classes of 2019/20 and 2020/21 were honoured during a special ceremony on campus last week.
The EES programme aims to build researchers’ skills, knowledge and confidence to undertake public and/or patient involvement activities, as well as create a network of engagement champions across the university.
Shauni Sanderson, Public Engagement Officer and EES mentor, said: “The 12 graduating EES Fellows have shown their ability to adapt and adopt often innovative approaches to successfully engage members of the public, patients and communities during a pandemic. In so doing, they’ve built strong foundations for future engagement activity.”
Among the many achievements of the graduates is a successful Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious Award for Dr Viktor Doychinov and partners at Leeds Libraries and Leeds Museums. They were honoured for a project in which young people are encouraged to explore the natural world through engineering and technology.
Dr Briony Thomas has worked with teachers and students to develop a seven-week art-science programme, which culminated in an online exhibition – The Imaginarium – winning one of this year’s Public Engagement with Research Awards.
Dr Thomas has recently been appointed Chair of Leeds Cultural Education Partnership where, working with Leeds 2023, she will ensure engaging children and young people is at the core of plans for the city’s upcoming year of culture.
Fellows have attended a mix of nine project planning events and training sessions across the academic year, receiving support from their peers and individualised guidance from EES mentors Dr Alexa Ruppertsberg and Shauni Sanderson (from the PE Team), Professor Sue Pavitt (Dentistry), Delia Muir (Medicine) and Dr Leila Jancovich (Performance and Cultural Studies).
Some of the EES 2020/21 cohort and mentors (from left) Professor Sue Pavitt, Dr Andrew Lee, Dr Alexa Ruppertsberg, Elizabeth Lavender, Dr Briony Thomas, Liam Bishop, Dr Morgan Campbell, Shauni Sanderson and Delia Muir
Graduating cohorts were:
Class of 2019/20 – Dr Viktor Doychinov (Electronic and Electrical Engineering), Rachael Jablonski (Dentistry), Kara-Louise Royle (Medicine), Dr Anne Velenturf (Civil Engineering), Dr Nicole Watt (Medicine) and Dr Emily Williams (Psychology).
Class of 2020/21 – Dr Salma Al Arefi (Electronic and Electrical Engineering), Liam Bishop (Medicine), Dr Morgan Campbell (Earth and Environment/Law), Elizabeth Lavender (Healthcare), Dr Andrew Lee (Bragg Centre for Materials Research) and Dr Briony Thomas (Mechanical Engineering/Design).
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