The last PrOPEL Hub event, in June 2024, saw us drawing on the project’s long-standing commitment to knowledge exchange and on the experience our first Knowledge Exchange Bootcamp for Early Career Researchers in the Social Sciences from January this year, to encourage PhD students from various Scottish universities to make their research count. Here, course designer and facilitator Dr Helen Fitzhugh (alongside Dr Keira O’Kane and Dr Nicola Murray) offers reflections on the two-day intensive workshop.
At the start of the bootcamp, we do two key things to orient the participants and get them ready for an intensive learning experience: we ask them to introduce themselves and their work to the group and we ask them what questions they have about knowledge exchange so we can make sure the course deals with the things that matter to them.
The introduction section for this session blew me away – there were so many passionate, articulate, committed students who wanted to do high quality research but also have a real world impact. The questions they wanted answered ranged from fairly basic (what is it?) through to more complex questions of ethics and encouraging fair involvement in research. With this first session, we knew we were in for a treat: an engaged and thoughtful group joining us for the ride. By the end of the two days, we all knew each other considerably better and had made progress on or resolved all the questions.
Our emphasis within the bootcamp is on the importance of dialogue, of understanding knowledge exchange as a reflective, socially-situated act of sharing and mutual negotiation which respects all parties’ expertise and worldview. So, getting to know the students and helping them to get to know themselves, their personal research identity and impact intentions is a big part of the two -day experience.
I was struck in this session by how refreshing it seems to be for PhD students to hear that their work and their opinions matter to society. It can sometimes be a hard and lonely road to final thesis, full of technical difficulties and niche critiques, so our emphasis on the broad value of engaged scholarship, on the importance of sharing with, and drawing on, the support of others can be a tonic to tired brains! Surely this reminder of societal responsibility and value should be part of all PhD programmes? We would love to take the bootcamp out to more universities, to more PHD students and early career researchers, to rekindle that sense of wonder that research can make a meaningful difference.
As ever, I’d like to end my reflections with a few quotes from our cohort. When we go forward with our plans to help more early career researchers explore knowledge exchange, we will be bolstered by these pieces of feedback:
- One of the most relevant events / workshops to attend if you care about impacting society with your research.
- Coming to the course – it’s about how your research can come to life, from paper to actions that impact the real world. Theory to practice.
- Great milestone for early career researchers.
- An excellent opportunity for those working “how can I make my research useful!” Highly recommend!
