Did you know the University has its own research roadshow, which tours the South and gives our researchers the opportunity to present their work to the general public?

Since 2009, Steve Dorney (Principal Public Engagement Fellow) and Tony Curran (Public Engagement Fellow) have led the roadshow, working with different research teams each year to engage the general public with the University’s work. Here, Steve explains what he enjoys most about his role and what events the roadshow has planned for the summer.

Q: Can you describe what the roadshow involves, and the range of activities you do?

A: ‘Bringing Research to Life’ is the name and the aim of the roadshow. It’s a high-quality way for Southampton researchers to demonstrate the impact of their work to public audiences, both locally and across the region.

Q: How do you bring research to life for your audience?

A: People tend to be curious at heart, so it’s about tapping into that curiosity in the best way for a particular piece of research. We work with researchers from all disciplines to find showcases for their research – this can be challenging but it’s always a creative process.

The key is to make each exhibit accessible to audiences of all ages, and with varying levels of background knowledge. Getting the content right at the start means that the roadshow works for a wide range of public events, from music festivals and science festivals to country shows. This year we’ve even been asked to run the roadshow at the inaugural BBC Countryfile Live event in August, which has an expected audience of 80,000 people over the four days.

Q: How do you measure the impact of your work?

A: Last year, we had more than 23,000 engaged conversations with visitors of all ages about research at Southampton. We focus on quality interactions and it’s this dialogue that counts. We work with individual research teams to record quantitative impact data for their area, and we look to visitor comments for qualitative data about the roadshow in general.

Q: What reactions do you get from people who come and see the roadshow?

A: When we first started going to festivals, sometimes people were surprised to find us, but now we’ve become a feature they look out for. We’ve even had people tell us that they go to a certain event every year just to visit the Southampton stand! From the researcher’s side, we often hear that these encounters with the public are a powerful reminder that their research matters. A side-effect of being so visible at these events is that we meet many Southampton alumni and prospective students, who are then motivated to consider attending one of our Open Days.

Q: What have been your highlights so far this year?

A: We were at Brighton Science Festival in February for the first time. Despite the freezing weather it was packed out, and worth the early start to the 2016 tour. Weather always tends to stand out for us – we collaborate with other universities on a research tent at Glastonbury each year, and I think we’ll be discovering mud from June 2016 for months to come! Another recent highlight was from Cheltenham Science Festival, watching Southampton researchers and visiting school children in a live link with Tim Peake from the International Space Station.

Q: What inspired you to get involved with public engagement, and what do you enjoy most about it?

A: At its core, the roadshow is driven by the needs of the researchers. The concept came about after we recognised their need to engage with large audiences despite having limited time and resources to do so. Research councils and other funders increasingly expect public engagement with research to be embedded in a research career and the roadshow is one way to support this.

Q: What are the main challenges in your work, and how do you overcome them?

A: We constantly have to say ‘no’ to amazing invitations to appear at new events, which can be really frustrating. There are serious logistics to being live and on the road for 40 days a year, sometimes with an on-site team of 50 Southampton staff over a period of a few days, so we aim to try just one new event per year.

Q: What are you most proud of in the work that you do?

A: Our feedback book of comments from both researchers and the public tells us that we’re getting something right for everyone involved. We get to work with a brilliant set of researchers, volunteers, partner organisations and stakeholders each year, and we often get to see what they do next too.

The roadshow definitely helps people to become more ambitious and confident about engagement, and in turn they challenge us to look for new opportunities. The annual Roadshow Awards, which we hold for everyone involved to celebrate each year’s hard work, are always hotly anticipated!

Q: How can other staff at the University get involved in your work?

A: Typically, each activity is funded by a research grant and so content is driven by a particular research area, but we need many volunteer ‘explainers’ to support the research teams. We run training courses open to all members of the University, and we have an ever-increasing pool of volunteers who have got the roadshow bug. If you think it could be for you, then please email roadshow@southampton.ac.uk

To find out where the research roadshow team will be this summer, visit www.southampton.ac.uk/roadshow