LSW Colloquium highlights need for researchers to engage with Wales’ communities and policy priorities

The LSW’s fourth annual Early Career Researcher’s Colloquium will show why university research is one of the best tools the government has for developing economic growth and social progress in Wales.

The Colloquium takes place at Aberystwyth University on 29-30 June and features career development and research culture workshops, a panel discussion on researchers engaging outside academia, as well as six flash talk sessions and a poster competition that will highlight the fascinating and important research being done across Wales.

The pan-Welsh event is inter-disciplinary in nature. It includes a strong training focus on researchers developing the skills needed to communicate their work to a non-specialist audience beyond academic silos.

The keynote speech from Professor Helen Roberts will explore how a research career can follow diverse and unexpected routes, often outside academia. Her talk complements a panel discussion on engaging with non-academic audiences, partners, and stakeholders. This will highlight the opportunities, challenges, and lessons that researchers should consider as they try to broaden the impact of their work.

The focus on external engagement is evident in how the range of flash talks and research posters are aligned with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the seven well-being goals of the Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. In addition, a research culture workshop will consider how to embed the Future Generation Act’s ‘ways of working’ in everyday research.

“The Colloquium has been designed with a firm belief that research must engage with the communities and policy priorities of Wales,” said Dr Barbara Ibinarriaga Soltero, the LSW’s Programme Manager for Researcher Development.

“The focus on engaging with the world outside academia is quite deliberate.

“The ECRs themselves recognise the importance of this. They shaped the content of the programme through their involvement in our Colloquium committee and will develop valuable leadership skills by chairing many of the sessions we’re running.”

The event is subsidised so that attendance is free for ECRs, and travel and accommodation bursaries are provided to reduce barriers to engagement.

In addition, it will also include the presentation of the inaugural Hywel Thomas Prize. This is awarded to recognise those early career researchers who support their peers and contribute to a more inclusive, supportive, and sustainable research environment.

“We are determined to create a research environment that reflects Wales’ diversity,” said Barbara. “We are working to create a research culture that is inclusive in deed, not just in word.”