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Research

Public and community engagement

Queen Mary is the sector leader in public engagement, and we are committed to engaging and collaborating with communities in East London and across the globe through our research, teaching and other core business.

The excellence of public engagement at Queen Mary was recognised by the award of the Platinum Engage Watermark for Public Engagement by the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement in 2021, the first award made at this level. 

Queen Mary’s Civic University Agreement (CUA), launched in 2022, formalises our commitment to maximising our place-based impact in East London.  

To get involved or find out more, you can contact the Centre for Public Engagement.

Art as a tool for gender-based violence awareness in Nepal

With more than one in four women in Nepal experiencing gender-based violence (GBV), visual mediums like street art play a crucial role in raising awareness, especially among illiterate women and girls.

Dr. Charlotta Salmi and Dr. Barbara Grossman-Thompson from Queen Mary explored how street art can effectively address GBV. Through workshops and interviews with local stakeholders, they found that community-driven, empowering imagery resonates more with audiences than victim-focused international campaigns.

Their research will guide international agencies and local NGOs in creating impactful, culturally relevant visual tools to combat GBV. 

Art as a tool for gender-based violence awareness in Nepal

Launching a nitrous oxide public health campaign

Medical students at Queen Mary launched a public health campaign to educate teenagers on the neurological risks of using nitrous oxide.

N2O: Know the Risks was launched after Alastair Noyce, Professor in Neurology and Neuroepidemiology at Queen Mary’s Wolfson Institute of Population Health and Consultant Neurologist at Barts NHS Trust, had seen a steep rise in spinal injuries among young people due to use of the drug.

The campaign educates teenagers through interactive sessions, social media and developing further research into the drug.

Launching a nitrous oxide public health campaign

Local engagement through Centre of the Cell’s STEMPod

Centre of the Cell is the first science education centre in the world to be located within working biomedical research laboratories. It has engaged with more than 250,000 visitors since 2009 including, in 2023-24, through 444 curriculum-linked science shows and workshops for more than 13,500 young people.

Using state-of-the-art computer and film technology in the STEM Pod and a range of shows, workshops and events hosted in our Neuron Pod, schools and communities can participate in a range of activities reflecting the latest in biomedical research at Queen Mary.

Centre of the Cell continues to inspire young people in East London and beyond. 

Local engagement through Centre of the Cell’s STEMPod

 

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