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University Life
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About University of Galway
About University of Galway
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Business & Industry
Guiding Breakthrough Research at University of Galway
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Community Engagement
Community Engagement
At University of Galway, we believe that the best learning takes place when you apply what you learn in a real world context. That's why many of our courses include work placements or community projects.
Accessibility & LanguagePublic and Patient Involvement in Research (PPI)
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Welcome to the PPI Ignite Network @ University of Galway
The PPI Ignite Network @ University of Galway team works with researchers and the public and patients to ensure that the voice of the patient shapes and influences our health and social care research, enhancing the quality, relevance and impact of the research. We aim to achieve this by working in collaboration with our Public Advisory Panel, steering committee, research and public communities.
The PPI Ignite Network @ University Of Galway is funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) and the Irish Research Council (IRC), with co-funding from the University of Galway.
A Message From Our Site Co-Leads Dr. Ruth McMenamin and Dr. Natalie Walsh
It's our pleasure to welcome you to the PPI Ignite Network @ University of Galway. Established in 2018, and now on our second phase of funding by the HRB and Irish Research Council, the PPI Ignite Network @ University of Galway works with researchers and the public and patients to ensure that the voice of lived experience influences health and social care research in our University
Situated in the Institute for Lifecourse and Society, we offer support to meaningfully involve members of the public by delivering training, education and advisory clinics to all looking to begin their PPI journey. We also help to build connections between researchers and members of the public to foster PPI relationships and exchange knowledge and expertise. A key component of our work is our seed-funding initiatives. These initiatives provide funds to cultivate and strengthen relationships with public and patient groups, helping to better incorporate PPI into their research activities.
Excellence & Innovation
We are a part of the PPI Ignite Network, a national network of University researchers, charities, community organisations and individual patients and members of the public that seek to empower the public and patient voice to be a strong and equal partner in health and social care research.
The PPI Ignite Network promotes excellence and inspires innovation in public and patient involvement (PPI) in health and social care research in Ireland. Within the Network, the PPI Ignite Network @ University of Galway works alongside DCU and the HRCI, as co-leads on Work Package 1, to build PPI capacity nationally across communities. Learn more about the PPI Ignite Network at ppinetwork.ie and sign-up to our newsletter.
Community Engaged Scholars Programme
The Community Engaged Scholars Programme (CES-P) is an education and training initiative funded by the Health Research Board in University of Galway. The aim of the CES-P is to support the development of partnerships between researchers and community organisations interested in conducting research together that aims to improve the health of their community and that is driven by public and patient involvement (PPI) principles. The purpose of the Community Engaged Scholars Programme is to increase the capacity of community-academic partnership to conduct research to improve the health of our communities. The CES programme provides formal training and pilot study seed funds for partnerships comprised of a Community Partner and an Academic Partner interested in embedding PPI in their collaborative research.
Call now open for the CES-P 2024 awards! Closing date the 12th July 5pm.
What is Public and Patient Involvement (PPI)?
Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) means doing research 'with' or 'by' the public instead of 'to,' 'about,' or 'for' them. PPI allows people to help in the research process. For example, they can identify important research topics, ensure study materials are clear and understandable, or help analyze data and be part of a study's oversight group. PPI can also include designing and improving the research plan, helping to find participants, and promoting the results. People can give input at any stage of the research, but it is most effective when they get involved early on.
National PPI Festival
The National PPI Festival is a unique event organised by the PPI Ignite Network to celebrate innovation and progress in Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) in Ireland. The festival sees PPI contributors, higher education institutions, research groups, charity and community organisations, and PPI Ignite Network members come together to host events highlighting PPI excellence and training. Last year's festival featured over 60 events hosted across Ireland attended by nearly three thousand individuals.
Building PPI Capacity Across Communities
We are committed to building capacity for involvement across stakeholder groups (disciplines, sectors, communities, public, patients, researchers) through collaborative partnerships and delivery of co-created training. Co-lead by DCU, Health Research Charities Ireland and University of Galway, the primary objectives are to build capacity for meaningful involvement across all stakeholders and to create participatory spaces for co-learning from diverse perspectives.
Seed Funding
In October 2024 the PPI Ignite Network @ University of Galway launched their PPI Seed Funding Call 2023/24, a new initiative providing funds to members of the University of Galway research community to cultivate and strengthen relationships with public and patient groups, to begin to better incorporate PPI into their research activities.
Our seed funding initiatives are open to University of Galway researchers, from postgraduate-level students to full-time academic researchers, who may not already have access to PPI funding and who are seeking to initiate and or build relationships to better incorporate PPI into their research. While not mandatory, co-applicants from outside traditional research community settings, e.g. members of the public/patients, community partners or charities are welcomed.
