It’s almost two years since the first Coventry University Research Café was run in October 2019. An inspiration for establishing this type of event was seeing a presentation by library staff from Liverpool John Moores University at the 2019 UKSG Conference, the content of which is largely laid out in this earlier article from 2018. One of the key motivations for establishing these events was to help provide and foster a sense of research community within the University, where researchers from different disciplines could feel comfortable sharing ideas and practice with one another.
Since the first Research Café in 2019, we have had dozens of Post Graduate Researchers and academic staff present their research and over one hundred different students and staff members have registered to attend at least one session. We have also had to adapt to the Covid-19 pandemic. Whereas the original Research Café events were held on ‘The Grass’ on the third floor of the Lanchester Library, since May 2020 they have been hosted online.
The Summer felt like a good opportunity to take stock of how these events have been viewed by the research community at the University, with a view to identifying how they can evolve in the future. To this end, a survey was launched across June and July to elicit feedback.
Nineteen responses to the Survey were received, the majority of the responses, 14, were from PhD candidates, with 4 responses from academic staff. Responses were received from Post Graduate Researchers and academic staff from across the University’s Research Centres and Faculties, though the highest response rates came from the Centre for Global Learning (GLEA) with 5 responses, with 4 apiece from the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences and the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations.
One of the purposes of the Survey was to assess how suitable the current Research Café format has been since we were forced to move them online.
Respondents were asked a series of questions about the platform being used and the timings of the event.
Since moving to online delivery, the majority of sessions have been run over the Big Blue Button platform. Respondents how suitable this platform had been for the running of these events. Of the 14 respondents who answered this question, 10 indicated that it was ‘very’ or ‘quite’ suitable. The accompanying comments though did indicate a certain degree of nervousness about utilising an unfamiliar system, with one respondent commenting that there are ‘too many different [online] platforms used by the University’. It’s appreciated that during the past 18 months there has been a sense of ‘digital overload’, which we don't want the choice of online Research Café platform to add to.
The survey then welcomed suggestions for alternative platforms we might consider using. Twelve responses were received to this, with over half of the responses arguing for Zoom. A smaller number advocated for Teams, with one particularly impassioned dissenter arguing against!
In terms of session length, Research Cafés, assuming a full cohort of three presenters, last up to two hours. Respondents were asked about timings, with 16 out of 19 feeling the current timings are about right, and 2 feeling the events last too long. None felt that two hours was not long enough - from a hosting perspective I'm inclined to agree!
Seven respondents indicated that they had previously presented at a Research Café. These respondents were asked a supplementary question to check how beneficial they had found the experience to be; six of the seven indicated they found presenting at a Research Café to be either a very or somewhat positive experience, with one neutral response. All seven respondents also indicated that they would recommend presenting at a Research Café to anybody else who may be interested.
Now that we have confirmed that Research Cafés can run effectively online, one of the big questions is whether we continue with an online format or whether we revert back to in-person events.
Respondents were given three options to choose from: whether to opt for exclusively in-person events (as was the case pre-March 2020), exclusively online events or whether to alternate between online and in-person events. Results were as follows:
Preference | Number of responses |
---|---|
Run Research cafés exclusively as 'in person' events | 3 |
Run Research cafés exclusively as online events | 8 |
Alternate between 'in person' and online event formats | 8 |
There appears to be a clear majority in favour of continuing with online events, either exclusively or in conjunction with ‘in person’ events. Taking this on board, post-pandemic we will continue to offer some Research Cafés as online events, as we acknowledge the particular benefits of doing so in terms of user accessibility etc.
One of the big overarching purposes of the Research Café events are to help build a sense of Researcher community at Coventry. Initially this effort was focussed specifically on the PGR community, but since moving online the remit of these events have expanded to also include academic staff.
The survey asked how useful Research Cafés have been in ‘developing a sense of researcher community’. Responses were as follows:
Statement | Number of responses |
Very helpful | 6 |
Somewhat helpful | 9 |
Neutral | 4 |
Not particularly helpful | 0 |
The feedback indicates that a clear majority of respondents felt the Research Cafés are helpful for developing a sense of researcher community, but it would appear there is still more value which can be added in this area.
Survey respondents were also asked an optional question about what they found most valuable from attending Research Café events. Thirteen responses were received which can be grouped into three themes:
Benefits linked to presenting to a generalist researcher audience - '[a non-specialist audience] helps to find gaps in any context that should be in the presentation'; 'it's not what you think but how you think that's important, and a research audience can question the facets of your thinking'
Gaining inspiration from peers - 'seeing others work motivated me to do better'; 'learning about different methods and approaches'
Providing a wider perspective on research across the University - 'I really enjoy seeing the different research going on at the Uni and the different presentation styles used'; 'the chance to hear what other research is happening and how others are approaching their research'
Respondents were asked a further optional question around any suggestions they may have for further developing Research Cafés with a view to better engendering a sense of researcher community. Ten responses were received to this covering suggestions across a range of areas, these included:-
The last of these has proved a particular challenge. Currently events are advertised via Twitter, the Doctoral College weekly newsletter, Yammer and by relying on Operations Managers in Research Centres forwarding on messages about upcoming events.
If there are any additional marketing avenues we should explore that we aren't currently then please let us know!
Following feedback from the Survey we have introduced, or are considering introducing, the following:-
Change of online platform – whilst the majority of survey respondents indicated that Big Blue Button was either ‘very’ or ‘quite’ suitable to hosting Research Cafés, it is recognised to be a platform which users lack familiarity with and is one of a number of online platforms with which users have been forced to engage during the pandemic. For our August 2021 Research Café we made use of Zoom for the first time, this is a platform more commonly used across the University and which potentially allows for a greater degree of user interaction.
Introduction of focussed ‘themed’ events – our Research Café planned for Wednesday 27th October will be the first with a specific focus in mind. The event will be focussed around Open Access and Open Science practices to coincide with it being International Open Access Week. We are then interested in organising additional Research Café events in the New Year with specific ‘themes’ in mind.
Preserving past events online and continuing the conversation. We’re currently exploring the feasibility of setting up a Coventry Domains site to archive past events, and to invite updates from past presenters on how their research has progressed since they presented at a Research Café. Hopefully more news to follow on this in the near future!
Although the survey has now closed the perspective of the Research community still matters to us. For any constructive thoughts or ideas on the future of Research Cafés, please contact us at: oa.lib@coventry.ac.uk.
Thanks for reading!
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