91Ö±²¥

---

91Ö±²¥ us

The Participatory Research Network at the University of 91Ö±²¥ (PRN@TUoS) is an established cross-faculty network that supports participatory research and researchers.

It's a space for all people, from any discipline or practice, to come together to:

• enjoy and celebrate participatory research
• learn from each other, and discuss the challenges and barriers to doing participatory research in academia
• change and re-shape some of the University structures in which participatory research is embedded

PRN is currently co-led by a vibrant committee of 16 academics, early and mid-career researchers, postgraduate colleagues, and professional services staff from 12 different departments.

Our broader PRN membership has grown to 160 members across all 5 faculties - find out how to get involved.

Watch our short video explaining who we are.

Our key principles

We aim to shape and support University research cultures by:

1. Ensuring academics, students, researchers and professional services colleagues at all levels across the University benefit from cross-faculty spaces and connections created through PRN.
2. Ensuring everything we do remains committed to the - we have a strong postgraduate (PGR) and early career (ECR) presence in PRN, both in the Committee and in the wider PRN community, and want to nurture and support research careers.
3. Supporting developments towards more inclusive research principles which centre equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in how we think about and carry out research with others, both inside and outside of the University. 

Learn more about how PRN was established

---

Our committee members

Sarah Howson Faculty Impact Manager Faculty of Health

Ankita Mishra PhD researcher, Department of Psychology Research Associate, SMI and PRN-iHuman

Josephine Reynolds Academic Clinical Fellow of General Practice Division of Population Health

Christina E Stimson PhD Researcher Department of Computer Science

Louis Stokes Research Associate School of Medicine and Population Health, The Neuroscience Institute

---

Our research projects and outputs

We support Research England institutional Participatory Research calls. 

PGR experiences of participatory research 

We've led two funded research projects which have creatively explored PGR experiences of participatory research in University research cultures. 

The politics and practicalities of payment in participatory research

 In July 2023 we hosted an event on the politics of renumeration in participatory research. 

---

Events and activities

Click on the events below to find out more.

Participatory Research Network Mentoring Programme for PGRs 2024/2025

The Participatory Research Network is launching its inaugural mentoring programme for postgraduate researchers (PGRs) undertaking participatory research. Our induction training workshop below is for prospective mentors and mentees. Please come along to our induction workshop if you're interested in having a participatory research mentor or being a mentor.

When: Monday 4th November 2024, 12.30 - 14.30

Where: The Wave, Workroom 1 () and online () (Hybrid event)

Who: Our induction workshop below is a mandatory training for prospective mentors and mentees in all schools and faculties. Come along if you are interested!

Please use the form below to let us know if you’ll be joining the session in-person or online. If you can’t make it to the induction but you’re interested in becoming a mentor/mentee, please also use the form to register your interest, and we’ll be in touch.

91Ö±²¥ the Mentoring induction:

The PRN mentoring programme is inspired by anti-colonial, anti-racist, anti-ableist and Black and global feminist ideas, exploring the radical potential of what equitable mentoring can be within higher education. The programme runs from January to July 2025. We are running the mandatory mentoring induction training in November and mentors/mentees will be matched in early December. 

In this induction training we'll explore the key skills and qualities, challenges and blessings of becoming a mentor as well as what to expect as a mentee and how you can make the most of your experience. We are thrilled to say our induction has been designed by, and will be facilitated, by Inspired by bell hooks’ work, we believe that mentoring can be a form of radical love-in-action, a space to explore the here and now as well as visioning future possibilities. 

As a mentee, you'll have the opportunity to learn from a mentor who is further along the PR path, build solidarity and community, develop your confidence and knowledge and much more. Both mentors and mentees will be part of a mentoring program that seeks to contribute to long-term systemic change with PR and HE. It's not unusual for mentoring relationships to become long-term academic connections and/or friendships.

As a mentor on the programme, you'll gain valuable experience and skills (and good vibes!) by nurturing a fellow academic's growth. We'll be encouraging everyone to be themselves and reflect on their existing archive of knowledge, skills and experience in participatory research which they can share. Being a mentor develops skills in building constructive relationships, attending to intersectionality and issues of power, deep and active listening, the ability to ask great questions, and an opportunity to share your knowledges and ideas, encouraging and supporting your mentees PR journey. 

Mentoring is a reciprocal relationship. Whilst the focus is on nurturing your mentee, mentors have much to learn from their mentees. This is one of the blessings of becoming a mentor. Mentoring is a sought after skill in employment. We'll encourage you to reflect on how much time you have to give to your mentee and helpful boundaries. 

Our mentoring scheme aims to foster a sense of solidarity and community within the participatory research community at the University of 91Ö±²¥. 

If you have any questions, please email PRN@sheffield.ac.uk

---

Useful resources and blogs

Reading list

Our committee members have created a collaborative, inter-disciplinary reading list outlining key texts related to participatory research. This is a living resource that we'll continue to update. 

Fika blog post

Dr Esbjörn Wettermark, one of our committee members, has written a blog explaining the background to our monthly 'fika' get-togethers, open to anyone interested in participatory research.

"Fika anyone?" - Building a community for participatory research through the power of coffee and biscuits

---

Get involved

Join the mailing list

Join our mailing list to learn more about PRN, associated events, training and resources - contact us at PRN@sheffield.ac.uk. 

Join the network

We're very keen to welcome new members, either as part of the PRN committee or the wider research network.

The committee is non-hierarchical, inclusive and co-led. Catch up meetings are held monthly online, but committee members can contribute as and when they can. The non-hierarchical and relaxed approach to meetings is central to our belief that the network is beneficial, rather than additional labour, to its members. 

Members of the wider network are encouraged to submit ideas of events or issues they'd like to discuss.

Overall, PRN is a space that brings together researchers from all disciplines with similar interests in ensuring research is participatory, ethical and meaningfully engaged with different kinds of communities.

If you'd like to get involved, please email Kirsty Liddiard, PRN Lead: k.liddiard@sheffield.ac.uk.

Contact us 

Please also get in touch at PRN@sheffield.ac.uk if you have:

• a participatory research project that you'd like to be showcased or promoted through PRN
• any ideas for participatory research-related events that we could support
• any other questions

---