Engagement and impact training

Skills for successful engagement

These engagement/knowledge exchange and impact training sessions and resources are primarily aimed at researchers of any level. They will also be useful to professional services staff in research, communication and knowledge exchange management and support roles.

View upcoming sessions in Winter Term, catch up with past training, and browse our catalogue of online resources. Additional training is available for PhD students through the PhD Academy

If you have specific training requests or would like to suggest a training topic, please contact research.kei@lse.ac.uk. If you have an engagement and impact success story to share, we can also help you develop training for others based on your experience.

Upcoming sessions - Winter Term 2025 

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An introduction to research engagement at impact at LSE

Wednesday 22 January, 12-1pm, Shaw Library (in person, lunch provided)

At this networking session new and existing faculty, research and policy staff can meet with colleagues from the Communications and Research and Innovation Divisions who support all aspects of research engagement and impact, from policy and media engagement to consulting and innovation.

Email research.kei@lse.ac.uk to register for a place.

 

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Unlocking Knowledge: Introducing LSE’s New Open Access Policy

Thursday 23 January, 12-1pm (on Zoom)

Join us for the unveiling of LSE’s new Open Access Policy, designed to empower researchers to retain the rights to their research publications and make their research freely accessible to all. Discover how this initiative will enhance the visibility and impact of your research, comply with funder mandates, and support the global movement towards open science. This is an opportunity to ask questions and learn how you can benefit from this transformative approach to scholarly publishing.

Organised by LSE Library. Booking link to follow.

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Academic blogging: how to write an engaging blog

Wednesday 29 January, 11am-12.30pm, Graham Wallas Room (in person)

This workshop will provide a comprehensive introduction to academic blogging and teach how to write an engaging post. The session will focus on the importance of writing consciously for your audience, and how this drives the format, tone and structure.

Academic blogging: writing book reviews

Wednesday 5 March, 11am-12noon, Graham Wallas Room (in person)

This workshop will teach participants how to write engaging and insightful academic book reviews by focusing on critical analysis, clear structure and effective writing techniques. Attendees will learn how to balance summary with critique, engage their audience and develop a professional yet approachable tone in their reviews. 

Email research.kei@lse.ac.uk to register for a place for either session.

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Writing Impactful Knowledge Exchange in Funding Proposals

Wednesday 5 February, 1-2pm, Graham Wallas Room (in person)

Increasingly, many funding opportunities ask applicants to consider the contribution of their proposed research to the economy and society. To be successful in winning such grants, the possible impacts of your research and the ways in which you plan to achieve them need to be apparent throughout your grant applications. This session will look at how to integrate knowledge exchange into your plans and applications and how to articulate expected outcomes and desired impacts.

Register for a place

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Using digital storytelling in participatory research

Wednesday 12 February, 12.30pm to 2.00pm, CKK 2.13 (in person, lunch provided)

This session continues the Participatory Research workshop series by looking at undertaking digital storytelling as part of a participatory research project. You will hear from researchers who will share insights from their experience of using digital storytelling as a participatory methodology.

 Email research.kei@lse.ac.uk to register for a place.

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Uncovering Impact: Strategies to Identify and Evidence Policy Influence of Your Work

Tuesday 11 March, 10-11am (online)

Understand the societal impact of your research and evaluate how it is being used and cited in policy written by governments, think tanks, and IGOs across the world. Learn how to navigate Overton, the world’s largest searchable policy database, with millions of language-agnostic policy documents from all over the world. Overton allows you to understand where, when, and who has cited your work in a policy document and study the dynamics of real-world policy making.

Organised by LSE Library. Booking link to follow.

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An introduction to research impact

Thursday 13 March, 11am-12noon (online)

This session will cover definitions of impact; various types of impact, particularly those relevant to social sciences research; pathways to impact; and how a researcher might demonstrate their impact, including types of evidence. This session will also cover the Research Excellence Framework and other relevant funding and assessment contexts.

Booking link to follow.

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Using social media to promote research

Wednesday 19 March, 12-1pm, MAR.2.08 (in person, lunch provided)

Join this session for an overview of the current social media landscape and how you can best make use of it to promote your research.

Email research.kei@lse.ac.uk to register for a place.

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Broadcast Media Training

Are you an academic who wants to learn how to do commanding broadcast media interviews about your research?

Our one-to-one sessions with a professional trainer will continue in Winter Term 2025. Each session will run for approximately one and a half hours. The training will take place at a time agreed between you and the trainer.

If you are interested in signing up, or would like to discuss further, please contact Sue Windebank in the Media Relations Office on s.windebank@lse.ac.uk

 

Catch up with recent sessions

Getting published

Session One: Spotlight on trade publishing

Our new training series on the publishing process began with a spotlight on trade publishing, featuring Matthew Marland from RCW Literary Agency as well as Dr Tom Curran reflecting on his experience of trade publishing. The session includes a review of the current non-fiction market, an assessment of the difference between trade and academic publishers, a description about the role and value of an agent, and some tips for getting published. Read the notes from the session.

Session Two: Spotlight on open-access publishing

What's different about open-access books? How do you cover the costs of open-access? Does open-access mean online-only books? How does copyright work? LSE Press and academic colleagues with experience of open-access publishing reflect on what it might mean for you. Watch the recording, view the slides.

Session Three: How to promote your publications

Have you recently published a book or book chapter? Do you have a new publication due to be released soon? Our training series on the publishing process continues with a focus on promoting your publications. Hear from Anna D’Alton, Managing Editor of LSE Review of Books, Elinor Potts, Communications Coordinator for LSE Press, and academics with experience of book marketing to explore effective ways of promoting new books and book chapters, including advice on securing book reviews and other coverage. Watch the recording, view the slides.

 

Engaging with the new government

Now is an exciting time to think about how your research might shape the policies of the new UK government. Learn more about the best ways to get your research in front of the right people at the right time, and how LSE can support you. 

View the slides.

Participatory Research network and workshop series

The Winter Term Participatory Research workshop series has come to an end. You can catch up with resources from the sessions below.  A new Participatory Research Network channel has been launched on Teams to connect members of the LSE community who are doing and/or interested in participatory research. You can join the channel by following this link: LSE-Participatory-Research-Network (Team) | General | Microsoft Teams.


Session One: Navigating ethical issues in participatory research

Dr Sharmila Parmanand (LSE Department of Gender Studies) introduces ethical and methodological issues in Participatory Action Research across various stages of the research process, from developing and designing the research until after the research formally ends. 
Watch the recording (LSE only)
Download slides

Session Two: Working with young people in participatory research, from recruitment to mapping methodologies

Dr Julia King and Olivia Theocharides-Feldman (LSE Cities) draw on their experience of running the ‘‘Young Researcher-in-Residence’’ and the ‘‘Making Space for Girls’’ projects to reflect on doing participatory research with young people. 

Session Three: Using film in participatory research 

Dr Baljit Kaur (LSE Department of Sociology) and Dr Sonja Marzi (University of Glasgow/Radboud University Nijmegen) give insights into using film as a creative method in participatory research. They draw on their experience of using film in participatory research projects to reflect on the opportunities and challenges it presents.
Watch the recording (LSE only)

Session Four: Doing effective participatory research in international contexts

Professor Danny Burns (Institute of Development Studies) and Professor Sandra Jovchelovitch (Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science) reflect on the process of doing effective participatory research in international contexts, including insights into navigating the challenges it can present. 
Watch the recording (LSE only)

Session Six: Sense of an ending: bringing participatory research projects to a close

A panel discussion reflecting on the challenges of ‘‘ending’’ a participatory project in ways that are compatible with the commitments of participatory research, featuring speakers Hannah Cowan (KCL), Sharmila Parmanand (Department of Gender Studies, LSE), Kate Summers (Department of Methodology, LSE) and Anjali Sarker (AFSEE Senior Fellow), and chaired by Flora Cornish (Department of Methodology, LSE).
Listen to a recording of the session (LSE only)

Session Seven: Why are things this way? Using artistic practice in participatory research

Dr Eileen Alexander (LSE Department of Methodology) and Andy Sewell (artist and photographer) reflect on a creative participatory research project they have facilitated in Hackney, East London. Why are things this way? is a collaborative artwork created with six Hackney residents to explore the cost-of-living crisis and is on display in LSE’s Atrium Gallery from 4 March to 12 April 2024.

Navigating public responses to research

One of the challenges in communicating or engaging non-academic stakeholders with research in many areas, from climate change to taxation or immigration, can be the unpredictable and sometimes hostile response of those non-academic groups. In this session we will build the skills and confidence you need to navigate those responses, in the media, on social media, at public events and in policy engagement. Watch a recording (LSE only).

 

Additional training resources

What is impact?

Watch online: Writing impactful knowledge exchange in grants 

Lots of funding has a focus on the contribution of research to the economy and society, and to be successful in winning grant applications the possible impacts of your research and the ways in which you plan to achieve them need to be apparent throughout your grant applications. How do you go about building-in knowledge exchange into your plans and applications? How do you articulate your expected outcomes and desired impacts?

Watch the recording (LSE only) / download the slides from the Michaelmas Term 2021 session.

Watch online: Spending for impact

What kinds of small, but meaningful engagements can you make to increase the chances of your research having an impact? Join this session for some inspiration on effective but low cost knowledge exchange and impact activities, as well as advice on how to keep track of your engagement and impact.

Watch the recording (LSE only) / download the slides from the Michaelmas Term 2021 session.

 

Open research

So, you've published a book/book chapter, what next?

Congratulations! Take a look at these top tips on how to approach promoting your publication. 

Read more and download the checklist

Building a research project website

How to build a project website within the CMS. What makes for good content? How should it be presented to be most engaging with the tools available? And how can you measure whether it is meeting your objectives?

Resources from this session

 

Communication for Engagement

What’s in a tweet? Social media engagement with research

Download slides
How can you best use social media (including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram) to engage audiences with your research? 

Visualising research

Download slides - AbdeyBurn-Murdoch

How can you present your research, particularly your data, visually in a way that best engages a non-academic audience?

Dr James Abdey, Assistant Professorial Lecturer in the Department of Statistics John Burn-Murdoch, Senior Data-Visualisation Journalist at the Financial Times and Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the LSE Data Science Institute.

PowerPoint design

In this age of Zoom, PowerPoints have never seemed so important! Learn the visual design skills (and PowerPoint design secrets) to make eye-catching presentations. The focus is on Microsoft PowerPoint but the theoretical lessons can be applied to other softwares. 

Presentation considerations
Using a grid systempresentation grid examples (email research.kei@lse.ac.uk to request a PowerPoint file with grid)
Working with images
Typography
Tips for presenting

Please take note of LSE style guidelines and make use of the branded PowerPoint template which has 28 adaptable slides in LSE colours to choose from, guiding you through optimal placement of the LSE logo, titles, sections, text, quotes, images and partner logos. Use the font Arial for your presentations.

Community engagement

How to engage with local communities around research projects, and how you might link to policy engagement at a local level.

Resources from this session

 

Partnerships, Innovation and Consulting

Academic consultancy

Private sector companies, public organisations, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are looking for independent, unbiased, quality-driven solutions to the challenges they face. Consulting within an academic institution offers a way for researchers to apply their expertise to address these issues, generating real-world impact and at the same time an additional income beyond their salary. Download session slides to learn more about what “consultancy” involves, the opportunities available, and the support provided by LSE for it.