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Who is the user?
26 January 2010

Who is the user?

Who is a research user? There is no simple answer. The workshop will explore  the perspectives of leading academics, a research council and research users drawn from the voluntary and public sectors. 

Hosted by: Loughborough University

Sponsored by: KT-EQUAL

Event organisers:

Professor Leela Damodaran, Co-investigator, KT-EQUAL
Heather Williams, Project Officer, KT-EQUAL

 

Date: 26 January 2010

Venue:

Sir Dennis Rooke Building
Holywell Park
Loughborough University
Loughborough
Leicestershire
LE11 3TU

Since the 1993 government white paper on science and technology, Realising Our Potential, the UK research councils have placed increasing emphasis on user engagement. Moreover for many years the research councils have encouraged researchers to involve research users before, during and after the research process (for example, ESRC Strategic Plan 2009-14).  Research users are therefore diverse, and there are costs of engagement (in terms of time as well as resources) associated with individuals and organisations engaging in the research process.

Who actually qualifies as a research user, however, is not a simple question. This workshop will explore some of its parameters in depth and from the perspectives of leading academics, a research council and research users drawn from the voluntary and public sectors.    

The workshop will be of interest to a wide range of professionals and policy makers, health and social care practitioners, employers, charitable and government bodies concerned with the needs of older and disabled people, all those involved in the provision of services and, of course, researchers and academics from engineering, biological, social science, medical and health care disciplines. Older people, who have the biggest stake in ageing research, are especially welcome.

There is no charge for attendance just an enthusiasm and interest in extending the quality of life through informed user-focused research and its application.

Register now to book your place on this free workshop by going to the registration page. Registration is essential.

KT-EQUAL was established in 2009 to extend the remit of SPARC which ended in late 2008. It is funded by EPSRC and will run for four years. KT-EQUAL is designed specifically to provide a platform, publicity and policy representation for researchers involved with developing better design practice and technologies to support older people and disabled people. A key aspect of its activities is working in partnership with the users and beneficiaries of research.

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Welcome to SPARC and KT-EQUAL: Knowledge Transfer for Extending Quality Life

SPARC brings together researchers, practitioners and policy makers in ageing. It specialises in communicating the latest design, engineering and biological ageing-related research to all stakeholders, making the case about the benefits for an ageing population of scientific research, and it encourages new blood into ageing research. Although funding for SPARC ended in December 2008, SPARC is continuing to function from the University of Reading within a new initiative - KT-EQUAL which commenced in January 2009. Soon KT-EQUAL will have its own website but for the time being news and information about SPARC and KT-EQUAL events are being handled by the SPARC website.

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SPARC Mission Statement

Supporting Older People by
Putting Research into Practice and
Actively Promoting Needs and Solutions through
Research Leadership and
Commitment

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BBSRC - Biotechnological and Biological Sciences Research Council EPSRC - Engineering and Phsyical Sciences Research Council