NHS Research Scotland (NRS) will proudly host a powerful Patient and Public Involvement showcase next year championing the essential role patients and the public play in the research that affects them – with ideas for presentations sought by 10 January.

Taking place on Tuesday 11 March 2025, the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) event is set to bring together public partners, professionals, researchers, and policy makers to share, shape, and celebrate PPI in research across Scotland.

It is the second consecutive year of the national conference providing an interactive, inclusive platform for showcasing activity, initiatives, and successes across the whole of Scotland.

Due to the overwhelming demand last year, expressions of interest now being welcomed with the full programme and registration opening early next year.

The event will take place at the Stirling Court Hotel, part of the University of Stirling Campus, and will coincide with the third anniversary of the launch of the Shared Commitment to Public Involvement in health and social care research.

NRS alongside the Chief Scientist Office (CSO), and other leading organisations and partner nations, believe that this Shared Commitment is helping drive up standards in health and social care research.

The event provides an opportunity to showcase activity across Scotland, with further opportunities to learn, network and collaborate.

To ensure the event captures the diversity of activity across Scotland, opportunities to submit ideas for oral, speed, poster and workshop sessions are now being encouraged.

Abstract submissions are welcomed for a poster display, speed presentation (5 minutes) or oral presentation (10-15 minutes).

Meanwhile workshop proposals for one hour more in-depth exploration of PPI topics are also sought. Designed to be more interactive sessions, the workshops aim to promote knowledge transfer, skills development and collaborative learning among all participants and workshop facilitators.

These should be delivered in collaboration with colleagues or potentially across different organisations, with involvement of public partners strongly encouraged.

The programme is expected to include speakers from NHS, academia and third sector, public contributors, and early career researchers — all united in ambitions to improve the quality of PPI in research.

Carol Porteous, Patient and Public Involvement Lead at NHS Research Scotland, chaired the event last year and said the event will bring together expertise and insights from patients and carers alongside researchers and healthcare professionals:

“High quality PPI is essential to the success of health and social care research recognised as an integral way to improve its impact.

“PPI is an opportunity for researchers, patients, carers, family and those with an interest in health research to come together and bring their experiences and share learning to deliver better quality research which meets the needs of patients and communities.

“With this 2025 gathering, we hope to build on the success of the 2024 event in Dundee which proved very popular.

“We believe the new location will help to maximise attendance, and responding to feedback from 2024, we hope the Stirling event will create more opportunities for learning, networking, and the sharing of activities and experiences and the connecting of PPI communities.”

The deadline for submissions is Friday 10 January. If you have any queries on the event, please contact communications@nrs.org.uk.

This article is written as part of a promotional agreement between NHS Research Scotland and Healthcare News Scotland.

More news from NRS: Cardiac innovation gets public showcase; The nurse helping GPs trial ‘tomorrow’s medicine’; Chief Scientist calls for more research volunteers; Funding boost for hepatology research