Projects
From supporting community engagement grant applicants and evaluating citizen science programmes to development and delivery of impact fellowship schemes, we have worked with many different clients on a diverse range of initiatives. See below for a small selection of previous and current projects.
Impact Case Studies
Development and support of RAE2026 Impact Case Studies
City University of Hong Kong
2023 – 2025:
We are providing expert guidance and support to the School of Energy and Environment for their submission to Hong Kong’s Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2026. This includes working closely with academics and the beneficiaries to identify and articulate the impact that has arisen from the research, gathering corroborating evidence and crafting the Impact Case Studies.
Community Engagement Grants
Capacity Building for Community Engagement Grant Applicants
Wellcome Trust
2021:
Our consultancy led an engagement capacity-building initiative for Wellcome grant awardees in low and middle-income countries that had been funded to develop their COVID-19 genomics surveillance capabilities. By providing tailored online workshops, one-to-one support, and bespoke tools and resources, we empowered participants to develop and craft compelling community engagement proposals for submission to Wellcome. A significant majority of the applicants that submitted a proposal were successful.
“The Public Engagement support worked wonderfully. It was very well thought about and planned.”
Professional Development & Building Capacity
Impact Fellowship Scheme
Faculty of Arts & Humanities, King’s College London
2023 – 2025:
Our innovative Fellowship scheme focuses on capacity building in research impact for arts and humanities academics. By nurturing critical thinking and providing tailored support through seminars, workshops, and one-on-one sessions, we empower the Fellows to make a step-change in their thinking and approach to fostering high-quality meaningful research impact.
“The sessions have been invaluable in helping me to understand how to approach impact and in planning for future activities.”
Citizen Science Evaluation
Darwin Tree of Life Public Engagement Evaluation
Wellcome Sanger Institute & Partners
2021 – 2023:
We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of a complex, multi-faceted and multi-partner citizen science and engagement programme that was part of the Darwin Tree of Life (DToL) genomics research initiative.
By co-developing a strategic evaluation framework, production of an evaluation toolkit, delivering evaluation capacity-building workshops for the project team, and providing invaluable analysis, we uncovered meaningful insights and fostered collaborative learning.
“Lesley is a colossus of engagement evaluation. I hired her as external evaluation consultant on a large and highly complex brief and she completely exceeded expectations, at every turn, and always with a friendly smile and the spirit of collaborative problem solving. I cannot recommend her highly enough.”
Organisational Culture Change
Engagement & Impact Culture Change
University of Oxford
2016 – 2021:
As Oxford’s inaugural Head of Public Engagement with Research (PER), Lesley spearheaded a transformative cultural shift across the institution. From co-leading Oxford’s inaugural PER Strategy and fostering senior-leadership buy-in, to setting up processes for reward and recognition, Lesley played a pivotal role in driving tangible culture change and securing vital funding support. A key enabler that resulted in this success was working with and facilitating collaboration across the University’s faculties, departments, museums, gardens and libraries.
“Lesley has been a wonderful catalyst for change, and has transformed the very fabric of public engagement with research across Oxford by bringing people together and injecting energy and passion into the mix.”
Research & Insight
Concordats & Agreements Review – Impact on Research Culture
Universities UK, UKRI & Wellcome Trust
2021 – 2022:
Our collaboration with Basis Social explored and mapped the collective role that the various research concordats and agreements have had in shaping research culture and environments across the UK. The report was published in March 2022.
“The report represents an important and significant step forward for sector-wide collaboration and understanding on an important aspect of research culture in the UK.”
Our clients include:
