Recently, research colleagues came together to host a Research Coffee Afternoon at Buckinghamshire New University in Aylesbury.
The aim of the event was to engage the university’s students, staff and visiting members of the public in health care research, informally over a cup of coffee and cake.
Visitors were able to speak to researchers and Patient and Public Involvement staff about different types of studies, how they can get involved as well as a range of student placements and research career pathways.
Sally Wells, Carers Lead Bucks Mental Health Team and Research Assistant in the Memory & Cognition Research Delivery Team (MCRDT) said: “This is the first coffee afternoon I have been involved with since I started my role in the MCRDT.
“I had some interesting conversations, including with someone who was interested in gaining experience as a researcher and another woman who was currently a participant in some studies. It was nice to see colleagues that I used to work with who had come along to support the event and find out more about the importance of research.”
The event was jointly organised by the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (OH BRC), Oxford Health Clinical Research Facility (CRF), the Trust’s Research and Development (R&D) team, the Oxford Brain Health Centre and the NIHR Regional Research Delivery Network (formerly the NIHR Clinical Research Network).