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Grant award to support public engagement initiatives of leading neuroscientists

28 March 2019

The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging is set to benefit from an extra £266,000 in funding to go towards supporting the Centre’s public engagement activities for 2019.

Wellcome Trust workshop

This funding, known as Wellcome’s Research Enrichment fund, helps Wellcome grant-holders engage the public with their research in order to inspire learning, enhance research and help to improve health.

The Centre’s Public Engagement Manager, Cassandra Hugill said: “As leaders in neuroimaging, we aim to be at the forefront of the field’s public engagement activity – with researchers who are both engaged by, and engage, public groups.

“Developing a culture of engagement within our centre will not only strengthen our research but promote the value of public engagement further afield in neuroscience. This new funding will allow us to support the growing and varied public engagement programme we have set for 2019.”

The funding will supportpublic engagement activities including: the annual UCL World Stroke Day Forum, which invites stroke survivors to engage and contribute to research through open, informal discussions and workshops; and the Dear World Project, a collaboration between the Rutledge Lab and artists, engaging East London community groups to explore the complexities around mental health diagnosis and treatment.

In addition to the Centre’s key projects, there are a number of on-going collaborative programs, including a two-week summer internship with In2Science, and a training programme that feeds into a researcher-specific public engagement grant scheme.

The funding will also support the launch of the annual Public Engagement Awards, which aim to celebrate staff and their achievements throughout the year, with the ceremony to be held on 12th April.

“These valuable inputs mean that Wellcome Centre’s 2019 Public Engagement programme will be the most extensive yet, with our activity gathering momentum within the Centre, and more widely in UCL,” said Hugill.

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