THE podcast: how to do public engagement

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In the lead-up to the Times Higher Education Awards 2023, for this episode, we talk to two winners from last year, both of whom share their advice, insights and best practice for communicating science and engaging the public in research.

Tanya Wood is deputy director of communications at King’s College London. King’s and health science company ZOE won the award for Outstanding Marketing/Communications Team for the Covid Symptom Study app. Tanya talks to us about how being creative and agile with outreach allowed the team to communicate changes in virus symptoms and spread in real time as the pandemic unfolded. Their campaign saw millions sign up for the app, and their data led to anosmia being added to the UK government’s list of symptoms.

Hugo Bowles is an honorary professorial research fellow at the University of Buckingham, author of Dickens and the Stenographic Mind (2018) and co-founder of the Dickens Code project, with principal investigator Claire Wood of the University of Leicester. Hugo and Claire won the award for Research Project of the Year in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The Dickens Code, an ongoing collaboration between Leicester and the University of Foggia in Italy, where Hugo was then working, enlisted codebreakers and puzzle fans around the world to transcribe Dickens’ shorthand.

Academics and university leaders from across the UK and Ireland will come together on 6-7 December at THE Campus Live UK&IE to discuss institutional strategies, teaching and learning, the student experience and more. Join us for this two-day event in Liverpool. #THEAwards

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