Evaluating public engagement

This half-day online workshop will guide you through the best evaluation processes showing you When, Why and crucially How to use evaluation to give you reliable and clear data. This course is for Royal Society grant recipients with some public engagement experience who want to implement effective evaluation methods for their public engagement activities. Future dates will be posted here. Please contact us if you have any questions.

About the course

Successful public engagement can benefit research, researchers and the public – but how do you go about demonstrating this change? Evaluation of engagement doesn’t just help us demonstrate the value of our public engagement initiatives but can help bring us closer to our audiences by giving the non-specialists a strong clear voice.

This workshop will guide you through the best evaluation processes showing you When, Why and crucially How to use evaluation to give you reliable and clear data. Demonstrate success to funders; learn how to improve your processes and have a better understanding of the people you are connecting with. 

Who is it for?

This course is designed for holders of University Research Fellowships, Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowships, Sir Henry Dale Fellowships, Newton International Fellowships, and Industry Fellowships. You must be a Royal Society grant recipient to be eligible to attend this course.

Attendees should have a public engagement activity in mind, for which they would like to develop an evaluation plan.

What will you learn?

Following this workshop, you should be able to:

  • understand the purposes, uses and limitations of evaluation
  • apply event-appropriate evaluation methods in multiple scenarios
  • prepare useful, answerable and relevant evaluation questions
  • devise and deliver your own evaluation plan
  • interpret and report evaluation data

Who is the tutor?

This course is delivered by Dr Jamie Gallagher, an award-winning engagement professional specialising in impact narratives and evaluation. Jamie has over 10 years of public engagement experience including as the central lead for Public Engagement at the University of Glasgow and an evaluation consultant on REF 2021 impact case studies. He has worked on improving the reach, profile and impact of research in almost every academic discipline.

"It was practical rather than just listening to theory. I was involved in all the activities."

"Great session, huge fun and transformative of my understanding"

"Great course, great presenter. I've attended some other presentation courses, so was afraid that it would be very standard advice, but Jamie really made me think about presenting in new ways" 

How much does it cost?

The course fee and travel expenses are covered for Royal Society grant recipients, including the University Research Fellowship, Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, Sir Henry Dale Fellowship, Newton International Fellowship and Industry Fellowship.

Upcoming dates

Future dates will be advertised here. 

Further training

If you’re looking for an introductory public engagement course, we recommend attending our Public Engagement for Independent Researchers course before attending this one.

You can see a full list of training opportunities offered by the Royal Society. 

Please contact us with any questions.