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Public Engagement
  1. Queen Mary University of London
  2. Public Engagement
  3. Funding
  4. Small Grants
  5. Past Small Grant Projects

Past Small Grant Projects

Read on to find a list of the projects which have previously received Small Grant funding.

The Centre for Public Engagement Small Grants funding programme provides grants of up to £1,000 to enable Queen Mary staff and students to deliver small-scale projects that engage the public with university research, teaching, or core business. 

The programme has three categories of award (Public Engagement, Community Engagement and Patient and Public Involvement (PPI)) available which are designed to help support a variety of different engagement projects, including things like events, workshops, focus groups, activities at festivals and more. 

Over 250 projects have been supported since the Small Grants were introduced in 2012.

Small Grants 2025/26: Round 3 Funded Projects

Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

‘Mood States: Art, Brains and Mental Health at Barts Pathology Museum’ led by Carla Valentine (Institute of Health Sciences Education)

  • An evening exhibition of sculptural artworks exploring mental health, set within Barts Pathology Museum, combining art, research talks, and discussion to open up conversations about mental illness and stigma.

‘CHILL Study Young Person’s Advisory Group (YPAG) Clean Air Exhibition’ led by Jessica Mitchell and Noorul Fathima Abdul Kafoor (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • A youth-led exhibition using art, film, and interactive activities to share research on air pollution and child health, designed to amplify young people’s voices and engage communities and policymakers.

‘From advisory group to citizens’ assembly: co-producing deliberation in trials methodology research’ led by Judit Kovacs (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • A co-design workshop with East London residents to shape a future citizens’ assembly on informed consent in clinical trials, ensuring the research process reflects community perspectives. 

‘Parents’ Voices in Neonatal Research: Shaping Regional Priorities Through Lived Experience’ led by Mildred Iro (The Blizard Institute)

  • Workshops with parents and carers of newborns to identify barriers to research participation and shape future neonatal sepsis research priorities based on lived experience.

‘Dance-able - An exhibition of dance drawings and dance sessions for children and young people with Neurodisability’ led by Ricarda Tillmann (William Harvey Research Institute)

  • A one-day exhibition and participatory dance sessions sharing research insights and creative outputs from adaptive dance projects, while gathering feedback to inform future work.

‘Rhyme and Reality: Youthwork in the Booth - Knowledge Exchange Event’ led by Richard Roach (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • A knowledge exchange workshop bringing together youth workers, researchers, and practitioners to explore youth music spaces, violence, and the criminalisation of lyrics, and to build a community of practice.

‘Strong Voices: Developing Research Recommendations for Better Primary Care Follow Up After Gestational Diabetes with Bangladeshi Women’ led by Shoba Poduval (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • A participatory workshop with Bangladeshi women in Tower Hamlets to co-develop culturally appropriate approaches to postnatal diabetes prevention and inform a future research proposal.

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

‘Sustainable Market Strategies for Women Informal Entrepreneurs in Resource-Constrained Contexts’ led by Gloria Appiah (School of Business and Management)

  • Two workshops in Accra supporting women entrepreneurs to develop sustainable packaging and digital marketing strategies that strengthen business resilience and income generation.

‘South Asian History Month Heritage Film Season’ led by Ru Dannreuther (School of the Arts)

  • A programme of film screenings, Q&As, and live events engaging local Bengali communities and using cinema to explore heritage, identity, and community cohesion.

 

Small Grants 2025/26: Round 2 Funded Projects

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

‘Prophecies of Britain: A Pilot Project’ led by Jaclyn Rajsic (School of the Arts)

  • A creative writing workshop for Year 10 students in Nottingham, —centred on medieval prophecies of Merlin, in partnership with Nottingham Poet Laureate, Cara Thompson.

‘Taking our successful politics/history podcast to the next level’, led by Richard Johnson (School of Society and Environment)

  • In person live podcast events for the 'Since Attlee & Churchill' podcast

 

Faculty of Science and Engineering

‘AI for Clean Air, Active Travel, and Healthy Society (AI-CATALYSE)’ led by Mona Jaber (School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science) and Sarah Gifford

  • Engagement workshops to help design strategies for the AI-CATALYSE bid looking at air pollution in Tower Hamlets. Working with Tower Hamlets Council for Voluntary Service and Citizens UK.

‘Co-producing a pharmacology training programme to reduce drug-related harms in Tower Hamlets’, led by Alexander James Martin (School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences)

  • Co-designed pharmacology training and education toolkit, in collaboration with Release - the UK's centre of expertise on drugs and drug laws.

‘From London to the White Continent: Youth, Science and Climate Action’, led by Tanya Klymenko (School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences)

  • Climate action and awareness activities for East London Scouts groups, leading into QM Climate Action Week 2026

 

Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

‘Black Health Legacy’, led by Veline L’Esperance and Bernice Appiah (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • Two Genetic Health Information Evenings designed to improve public understanding of genetic research and how our understanding of genomics can impact conditions that disproportionately affect Black, Black African and Black Caribbean communities

‘Co-Designing Simulation-Based Educational Scenarios in Trans Health Communication’, led by Megan Docksey and Sarah Aldelemi (Institute of Health Sciences Education)

  • Focus groups looking at Transgender discrimination in healthcare

‘Exploring care-experienced individuals’ ideas and perspectives about health and social care careers’, led by Vanessa Muirhead (Institute of Dentistry)

  • Three focus groups with care-experienced young people, exploring perspectives on health and social care careers. Working with the National Network for the Education of Care Leavers (NNECL).

‘First Aid Awareness in a Pod’ led by Richard Davies and Shi Wen Lee (Centre of the Cell)

  • Focus groups to design a new Centre of the Cell science-based workshop designed for young people to explore First Aid Awareness

‘Reflecting on inclusion: A SHARE Collaborative workshop on equitable engagement in Sexual health research’ led by Vian Rajabzadeh (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • A workshop on equitable engagement and community reflections in sexual health research, to create a new resource, in collaboration with Sophia Forum.

‘Talking flu vaccination online: How people with chronic respiratory conditions make sense of health information in digital spaces’ led by Yangzihan Wang (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • PPIE workshops looking at analysis of online vaccination discussions to co-produce public-facing communications and outputs, in collaboration with the CARRII PPI group.

‘The future of ethnic disparities in bipolar disorder research: Developing research priorities and building partnerships’ led by Georgina Hosang (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • Two co-production workshops exploring ethnic disparities in bipolar disorder research, working with Bipolar UK and the East London NHS Foundation Trust Early Intervention mental health team

‘The role of AI in healthcare – surveying the landscape’ led by Jack Biddle (William Harvey Research Institute)

  • Two in-person workshops designed to engage with and better understand the views of both the public and patients focusing on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare.

‘Understanding the concept of ‘carer burden’ – perspectives from family carers supporting people living with dementia’ led by Sevim Hodge (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • A workshop at the Beeston Memory Cafe in Nottingham exploring the meaning of "carer burden" with family and carers of those with dementia

Small Grants 2025/26: Round 1 Funded Projects

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

'Bangla Beats: An Intimate Musical Gathering’ led by Alastair Owens (School of Society and Environment)

  • A musical concert celebrating 25 years of the Swadhinata Trust

‘Future Fossils’ led by Louise Eldridge (School of Society and Environment)

  • Activities at the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival sharing research about the historic landfill eroding onto the world heritage coastline

‘Histories of Socially Engaged Practice in the Art Gallery: a Workshop’ led by Emily Fuggle (School of the Arts)

  • A workshop for artists and freelancers exploring socially engaged gallery practices and its role in enhancing social inclusion, mental health and community engagement

‘Know Your Rights: Supporting Parents with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF)’ led by Rachel Humphris (School of Society and Environment)

  • A four-week workshop series in local primary schools for parents with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF)

‘Obligations Without Oversight? A Citizens’ Assembly on the Scrutiny of UK International Treaties’ led by Jasem Tarawneh (School of Law)

  • A Citizens’ Assembly on the scrutiny of UK international treaties

 

Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

‘Enhancing Hypertension Care Through Cardiovascular Imaging: A Patient Co-Design Workshop’ led by Hafiz Naderi (William Harvey Research Institute)

  • A co-design workshop with patients with hypertension exploring patient perspectives on the role of cardiovascular imaging in hypertension care

‘Focus group exploring communication strategies for retrospective genetic testing in womb cancer’ led by Priyanka Deshmukh (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • Two focus groups on developing patient facing materials to approach endometrial cancer survivors.

‘Interpreting services for pregnant women with limited language proficiency in UK antenatal care: Experiences and service delivery’ led by Judith Yargawa (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • Focus groups exploring experiences and delivery of interpreting services within antenatal care

‘Involving patients in designing a study on digital versus conventional dental treatments’ led by Noor Al-Helou (Institute of Dentistry)

  • Patient focus groups on recent advances in digital dentistry

‘Picturing the Air: how people see the impact of air pollution in their lives’ led by Helen Wood (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • Photography workshops for families living in Tower Hamlets, visualising experiences and perceptions of air pollution

‘Universal Play’ led by Myfanwy-Cerys Williams (Centre of the Cell)

  • A series of fortnightly sessions delivering hands-on activities to encourage families to engage with science, in collaboration with Tower Hamlets Council

‘What I Wish I’d Known: A Parent-to-Parent Reflection on the Bracing Journey’ led by Jessica Rees (Wolfson Institute of Population Health)

  • Two workshops facilitating reflection on caregiver experiences of bracing treatment for developmental hip dysplasia

 

Faculty of Science and Engineering

‘Materials Detectives: Co-Creating AI Understanding with East London Students’ led by Yiwei Sun (School of Engineering and Materials Science)

  • A school’s workshop for local Year 12 students exploring AI in materials science
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