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Location

Medical Sciences Divisional Office
University of Oxford
Level 3, John Radcliffe Hospital
Oxford OX3 9DU

Naomi Gibson

Public and Policy Engagement Facilitator

I am responsible for a number of Divisional and University-wide activities that enable academics across the Medical Sciences’ Division to engage non-academic audiences with their research. This includes:

Policy Engagement

  • I work closely with colleagues in the central Policy Engagement team to support and deliver a number of activities to enable researchers to build relationships with public policymakers, with the ultimate aim of improving the use of evidence in policy-making and developing research activities that respond to current policy challenges. Support includes a number of funding opportunities and Fellowships
  • I also support the Oxford Policy Engagement Network (OPEN) which connects researchers interested in policy engagement for mutual exchange and learning, as well as with broader policy engagement opportunities 

Public and Community Engagement, and Public Patient Involvement (PPI)

  • I work closely with colleagues in the other academic divisions and the Gardens, Libraries and Museums (GLAM) to build capacity for public and community engagement activities through a range of activities including training and a seed fund
  • I support the development of the public/policy engagement sections within major funding proposals. I am able to provide some limited support to individual researchers with their public engagement activities
  • Managing a number of major programmes to support public engagement with research activities, including Enriching Engagement, PER lab and Science Together.

Since joining the Division in December 2015 I have also been on an 18-month secondment as Senior Research Impact Facilitator in the Social Sciences Division, where I oversaw the Division’s submission of 76 impact case studies to REF 2021 and the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account. I also spent six months on secondment as the Interim Head of Public Engagement for the University, based in Research Services.  

Prior to joining the University I was Head of Public Events at the British Academy, the UK’s National Academy for Humanities and Social Sciences where I also worked on several national public engagement projects, including the 2015 survey of Factors Affecting Researchers Engagement with the Public. I started my career working at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, planning and delivering activities and events to engage families and adults with a wide range of science topics.