Personal and Public Involvement for Researchers

Building Research Partnerships (NI) Training

HSC R&D Division in partnership with the Northern Ireland Cancer Trials Centre deliver 'Building Research Partnerships (NI)' training. The training is designed for:

1. patients, carers and members of the public who are involved in or are interested in becoming involved as public partners in research, and;
2. researchers who want to learn more about how to implement Personal and Public Involvement (PPI) through-out the research cycle, and build more effective PPI partnership.

• The training has been delivered in partnership by HSC R&D Division and the Northern Ireland Cancer Trials Network since 2012*. Since then, it has been completed by over 400 participants, including researchers, health and social care professionals, patients, carers and the public. The content is relevant to all types of research and previous evaluations have been overwhelmingly positive with 97% or participants rating the training as excellent or good. In recent years, the training has moved from face-to-face to online delivery. 

* The NI version has evolved from the original Building Research Partnerships training: further information can be found here

How do I access the training?

• The training has recently been restructured and now consists of two sections:

- Section 1: A series of pre-recorded presentations that provide an ‘Introduction to Personal and Public Involvement (PPI) in research’. 

- Section 2: A ‘live follow-up PPI session’ delivered virtually which enables researchers and patients, carers and members of the public to come together and ask questions, seek support from their peers, and network. We aim to run these sessions at regular time-points throughout the year.

• The next virtual session will be held on Tuesday 19th Nov 2024 (10.30am-12pm). To register, please contact Cara.McClure@hscni.net

• To fully benefit from the training, we recommend that you complete both Section 1 and Section 2. It is advised that you view the series of pre-recorded presentations in Section 1 before you attend a live follow up PPI session.

To access the training, please click on this link.

What other support is available?

• We provide 1:1 advice to researchers on PPI; please contact: Janet Diffin (HSC R&D Division Programme Manager) for further information. Email: Janet.Diffin@hscni.net / phone: 07721163412​
• Further information and guidance is also available in our PPI Resource Library for Researchers.