NCCPE Engage 2015 Conference

Date 03-Dec-2015 to 03-Dec-2015

Location Bristol, UK

Format International

Dr Rajesh Tandon attended the NCCPE Engage 2015 Conference at Bristol, UK. On 3 December 2015 he opened the plenary session by challenging the participants with his perspectives on responsible research from the point of view of a leader of an NGO in India. Providing a critical framing of how those working outside universities can inspire, inform and collaborate with universities and why this is important, Dr Tandon drew on his experiences of community engaged research that addresses social challenges. Other plenary speakers on the occasion were Richard Owen from University of Exeter; Keri Facer, AHRC Leadership Fellow for Connected Communities, University of Bristol and Henk Mulder, co-founder of the International Science Shop Network, from University of Groningen.

Animated by stories from table hosts, plenary contributors shared critical perspectives to frame the discussion centred around the challenges of developing responsible research in emerging areas of science and technology or working dynamically with communities to co-create research. What is responsible research across the research disciplines? Where are there distinctive differences? And where are the frontiers of our understanding of socially-engaged research? Opening up the dynamics of public engagement with research, the session was an opportunity to find out what the plenary speakers have learnt from their experiences and consider how we can make sense of the ethics and practices in different disciplinary spheres.