Engaging with Participants and Stakeholders across the Research Process

UPDATE (05/11/25): Please note that this event has now been cancelled due to localised industrial action. We hope to rearrange this event, and announce the new date, as soon as possible.

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This training will introduce PGR students to the challenges, rewards and considerations needed when working with participants and stakeholders across the research journey. To create data and have impact the relationships we as researchers create and maintain with the people we work with, participants, gatekeepers and stakeholders, are vital and often the key to a project’s success. This training will cover:

• Stakeholder engagement and relationship building and maintaining;
• Participants recruitment and relationships;
• Negotiating organisational access;
• Delivering difficult messages;
• Impact work;
• Ethics and power in working with participants, stakeholders and communities.

Outcomes:

Through this training, participants will:

• Identify the key relationships they need to build and maintain for a research project and the timeline associated with this;
• Understand the possible challenges of working with people and how to plan for these;
• Establish an understanding of the ethical implications of the decisions we make in how we work with and include others in our research (participants and stakeholders);
• Evaluate and plan effective recruitment strategies;
• Have knowledge of engagement and relationship building techniques, including gaining access to organisations;
• Understand strategies for working with stakeholders to develop impact and build relationships for future research;
• Learn techniques for delivering difficult messages to stakeholders and organisations we work with.

Important:

• This is an in-person event at ICOSS, University of Sheffield (lunch and refreshments will be provided).
• You should bring your own laptop to this event.
• Spaces at this event are limited. We therefore ask that you only book a place if you are sure that you will be able to attend.
• Bookings will close at 9.00am on Tuesday 2nd December.
• When booking, we ask that you use your institutional (.ac.uk) email address and complete all fields of the booking form. Thank you for your understanding.

Please note: The WRDTP is committed to sustainability and to reducing the waste from excess catering at events. A key challenge here is non-attendance at events. From October 1st 2025, the WRDTP will be changing the way we manage the non-attendance of PGR students who have booked place/s at WRDTP Training events. Any PGR student who does not inform the WRDTP (via dHJhaW5pbmcgfCB3cmR0cCAhIGFjICEgdWs=) that they will not be able to attend a WRDTP event at least 3 working days before the event takes place will have the cost of their place deducted from their RTSG (if a WRDTP-funded student), or have this charged to their department (if not funded by the WRDTP). This will allow us to better plan for events and to avoid catering waste. Thank you in advance for your cooperation on this matter.

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