As the “real” world continues to collide with the field of bioscience research, it has become increasingly important to include societal actors when we approach these fields of study. Many of the wicked problems we are going to face in the future will be closely intertwined with the biosciences and will directly impact everyone. So creating a society where communities feel like they can connect with research will play a key role in how we deal with these problems in the future, together.

Recently, getting people from the community to actively take part in data collection and research has become an increasingly popular method of getting society to feel connected to research. This is known as Citizen Science, and although it is a distinct practice, it certainly has links to Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) approaches, especially when it comes to open science and public engagement.

To explore the interconnectivity of these two approaches, ResBios and StepChange would like to invite you to join us for an online discussion on 28 March at 14:00 CET, to talk about how RRI and citizen science can be used to enhance research, with a particular focus on open science and public engagement within the fields of bioscience research. By combining our shared experiences it is our hope to demonstrate the theory and the practice of employing these principles while discussing how they could be applied to future projects.