What is public involvement?

We have a wide range of existing public involvement groups across the University and via our partner organisations. A summary of these groups is listed below. If you are interested in getting involved in any of these groups, please contact us on ppi@contacts.bham.ac.uk and we can put you in touch with the relevant public involvement group lead. Alternatively, if you are interested in hearing about a range of opportunities you can join our Birmingham Involvement List by completing this online form and we’ll keep you up to date as new items become available. 

• Blood disorders
• Cancer – a wide range of cancer research including head and neck, gynaecological, oesophageal, gastro-intestinal, and liver.
• Cardiovascular disease (A type of disease that affects the heart or blood vessels)
• Chronic lung disease
• Dry eye syndrome
• Gastro-intestinal conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and cancer
• Liver disease
• Muscle health (Researching into poor skeletal muscle health and frailty in patients with multiple long-term health conditions)
• Patient reported outcomes
• Public health (climate change, air quality and health)
• Rheumatology (chronic inflammatory conditions that affect your bones, joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments. Many are autoimmune disorders, like inflammatory arthritis. Examples include rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, lupus, psoriatic arthritis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis)
• Spinal pain - research into pain and associated impairments, disability, and movement stemming from issues such as trauma, post-surgery, whiplash, sciatica etc.
• Women’s health including pelvic organ prolapse, maternal health, pregnancy loss, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS); Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) in women; Premature adrenarche; Mild Autonomous Cortisol Secretion (MACS); Pregnancy complications of metabolic origin, surgical site infection, and perineal trauma.

We are dedicated to supporting and promoting public involvement and co-production research across the University. The Birmingham Public Involvement Hub will:

The Birmingham Public Involvement Hub at University of Birmingham recommends that all our researchers follow the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) guidelines for payment in public involvement. 

This means that, whenever possible, you should be offered payment for your involvement activities. You should also be reimbursed for any expenses incurred, such as travel costs, and in some cases, care cover costs. It's best to confirm what expenses will and won’t be covered before making any purchases. 

Payment rates vary by project, but each project should clearly outline the involvement type, the time commitment, payment amount, and covered expenses. The University Policy on Recognition Payment for Public Contributors outlines how public contributors should be compensated and ensures timely payments. 

In summary, you can expect:

• A brief claim form to request payment
• Assistance with the form, if needed
• Payment directly to your bank account by BACS transfer or through vouchers, based on preference
• Payment within three weeks of submitting your claim

Please be aware that receiving payment for public involvement may have tax and benefit implications, and it will be your responsibility to manage these. 

The University of Birmingham cannot offer financial advice on these matters. Full details are available in the University Policy on Recognition Payment for Public Contributors, and we will provide you with a copy when you join the Birmingham Involvement List.

The University of Birmingham upholds the highest standards in all research conducted in its name, on its premises, or using its facilities.

The Birmingham Public Involvement Hub is committed to working with public contributors in a way that is ethical, respectful, and mutually beneficial. We also support University of Birmingham researchers in adopting this approach.

Before engaging in research activities as a public contributor, we encourage you to carefully consider whether you feel safe and comfortable, especially in sensitive research areas. 

If you have any concerns, please reach out to us. When needed, we’ll work together to establish additional safeguarding measures.

The Birmingham Involvement List is an active record of members of the public who are interested in working with researchers at the University of Birmingham. 

We created this, following conversations with our public contributors, to make it easier for researchers at the University to find members of the public to work with, for members of the public to stay in touch with the University of Birmingham, and to be made aware of research involvement opportunities on an ongoing basis.

The Birmingham Involvement List helps us to:

• Support high quality public involvement in University of Birmingham research.
• Share opportunities with an active community of public contributors to get involved in different research projects and research-related activity.
• Build relationships between researchers and members of the public that are underpinned by trust and ambitions to work together to share power, resources, knowledge and decision making.
• Champion and celebrate public contributors to research, as well as the impact of meaningful public involvement in research and participatory research in all their forms.

We have an ever-growing number of public contributors on the Birmingham Involvement List. They are involved in various research projects and activities, using their lived experience to make a positive contribution to University of Birmingham research.

How to join

We want to make joining our Birmingham Involvement List as easy as possible. Simply register your interest via our online form to let us know you'd like to join - if you have any questions please get in touch at ppi@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

When you express an interest in joining the Birmingham Involvement List, we will send you:

• A copy of our welcome booklet 
• A copy of the University policy on recognition payment for public contributors

What to expect

Monthly communication on research involvement and engagement opportunities from within the University of Birmingham and our partners, and invitations to celebratory events hosted by the Birmingham Public Involvement Hub.

Want to leave?

You can leave the Birmingham Involvement List at any time and without any explanation, simply email ppi@contacts.bham.ac.uk at any time and your data will be deleted.

Rights to remove

The University reserves the right to remove anyone from the Birmingham Involvement List who is not acting in accordance with our Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct can be found linked below, and will also be emailed out to you in your welcome pack. This is in place to protect the group and ensure that work through the Birmingham Public Involvement Hub is as welcoming, inclusive and meaningful as possible.

Download our Code of Conduct (Word, 195KB)