PPI workshop attendees to get career points and improve their employability
9 October 2018
Researchers can now get career points for attending one of UCLH Biomedical Research Centre's award-winning workshops on public and patient involvement in research.
The change, which marks institutional recognition by UCL of the importance of PPI in research, comes with the inclusion of the workshops in UCL's Doctoral Skills Development Programme.
Career points help researchers demonstrate their commitment to professional development, and improve researchers' employability.
UCL encourages postgraduate researchers to aim for 20 points a year, and each PPI workshop will be worth 1 point. 1 point is equal to half a day's worth of training.
The PPI workshops, run by the BRC in partnership with UCLPartners and supported by the Wellcome Trust, are open to all UCLH/UCL researchers as well as all those working at UCLPartners partner organisations.
Head of PPI and communications at the BRC Dr Rosamund Yu said: "This is fantastic news. We are very proud of our workshops which build up researchers' skills in effectively involving patients and the public in their research, and we have always wanted the training to be recognised as an essential part of researchers' career development. We're delighted that workshop attendees will now be eligible for career points. It's a testament to the course tutors who run the sessions, and to the importance of PPI in research."
The BRC hopes that the workshops will also become part of UCL research staff career development.
Researchers who are interested in taking part in a session can see upcoming dates on the BRC's PPI training page.