This action plan supports the Medical Research Council (MRC) Public Partnerships Strategy and outlines the key actions for year one, from July 2024 to June 2025. Action plans for years two and three will be co-developed with a new public advisory group.
Priority 1: make sure public partnerships are a key aspect of research culture throughout the MRC research community
We will:
- publish and promote the MRC public partnerships strategy and supporting resources
- work with public involvement and engagement professionals, who support MRC-funded researchers, to raise their awareness and understanding of the public partnerships strategy
- make sure applicant and reviewer guidance clarifies expectations for public partnerships in research, what good looks like and how to include this in MRC funding applications
- contribute to UKRI funding discussions to ensure UKRI funding mechanisms integrate public partnerships
- develop a pilot where public partners contribute as MRC research funding application assessors (pilot to start in year two)
- develop, publish and promote MRC guidance on payment for public partners
- agree with the MRC prize committee how to integrate public partnerships into the MRC prize portfolio for the next round of prizes
- consult MRC community and external partners to develop a pilot to fund public partnerships to inform research design at the pre-application stage (pilot to start in year two)
Priority 2: integrate public partnerships into leadership throughout the MRC research community
We will:
- appoint a director for public partnerships to provide expertise, support implementation of strategy and lead establishment of an MRC public advisory group
- appoint a public partnerships programme support manager to support implementation
- establish a public advisory group at MRC
- develop training and support for public advisory group members
Priority 3: improve understanding of the differences that public partnerships make to non-clinical research
We will:
- deliver two webinars to share good practice in public partnerships
- share and evaluate case studies of good practice in public partnerships across different research areas
- co-develop an MRC public partnerships event to determine support and development needs for public partnerships, particularly in non-clinical research, (event to be held in year two)
Priority 4: diversify the range of people the MRC research community partners with
We will:
- work with the MRC public advisory group to reach out and build relationships with a diverse range of community groups and researchers
Priority 5: make health and biomedical research accessible to all and engage the next generation
We will:
- co-develop an MRC public partnerships community of practice event to bring together MRC researchers, public involvement and engagement professionals and public partners (event to be held in year two)
- ensure public partners are involved in the development of the next MRC science strategic delivery plan
Priority 6: support and develop everyone working in public partnerships to promote continuous learning and sustainability
We will:
- contribute to, and pilot, UKRI culture change staff development training for public engagement
- co-develop with relevant stakeholders, such as MRC research institutes, ways to embed meaningful public partnerships into non-clinical research practice
- set up a buddying scheme for MRC public advisory group members and MRC staff
Evaluation
We will:
- work with our newly appointed public advisory group to co-develop success measures and a strategic evaluation plan