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How to Integrate PER in Your Funding Proposals

Public Engagement with Research (PER) can strengthen your proposal by addressing the ‘Impact’ and ‘Ethical and Responsible Research and Innovation’ criteria or many funders.

Different funders have distinct criteria, so always refer to the specific opportunity guidelines and assessment criteria to ensure your engagement plans align well with the funder's priorities. 

Key Points 

  1. Tailor PER to the Research Project: Engagement activities should be specific to the research within the grant, feature the researchers, and be feasible within the grant’s lifetime. Generic STEM outreach, while valuable, may not meet funders’ requirements if it is unrelated to the research. Ask: why are we engaging, and why is our team best suited for this engagement? 

  1. Consider the long-term horizon of impact: on average, research impacts may take over a decade to be fully realised. Ensure that while you demonstrate an awareness of potential long-term impact, your PER activities are achievable within the project duration. 

Where PER relates to specific funding criteria 

Quality/Impact 

Responsible Innovation 

EPSRC’s National Importance Criterion 

Structuring PER in Your Proposal 

There are a variety of ways of including PER in your proposal: 

  1. Including a Dedicated PER Section or Paragraph 

  2. Integrating PER Throughout Your Case for Support 

  3. PER as a Work Package

  4. Alignment with RRI Statements 

Click here to read more detail about these points and see it applied to a fictional example