IRCC Events
The Embedded Social Research Team from Studio Susegad is hosting multiple meetings for the IRCC community to connect in 2025 and 2026: Regionals across the UK, and larger whole-cohort meet-ups at the midway and end points.
Regionals are day-long meetings facilitated by Studio Susegad, where IRCC members can gather to engage in a carefully facilitated programme and slow(er) networking.
Upcoming events
Wednesday 7th May: Regional 1 at Strange Brew in Bristol, 10am-4pm
Friday 16th May: Regional 2 at Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh, 10am-4pm
Tuesday 20th May: Online Regional, 9am-1pm. Click here to join the meeting.
Tuesday 8 July 2025: Midway Meeting at The Lowry in Manchester, 10am-4pm
All venues are wheelchair accessible.
RSVPs for the Bristol and Edinburgh Regionals are now closed. You can still RSVP for the 20th May Online Regional until 19 May 23:59pm.
A sign up form for the Midway Meeting has been sent directly to each IRCC team lead. If you have any questions regarding the Midway Meeting, please email Sonya from Wellcome.
Further down the line
We also have further meetings in the pipeline, which will be available to sign up for after we have evaluated our first round of gatherings:
Autumn 2025: Regional 3 in Belfast + Regional 4 in Norwich + Online Regional (likely in October/November, with exact dates TBC).
Spring 2026: Final meeting in London, for all IRCC members to attend (likely in March, with the exact date TBC).
Bursaries
We’re offering a series of bursaries to support you to attend IRCC Regional events, as part of our research into what reparations for rest might look like in institutional frameworks. RSVPs and bursaries applications for the Bristol, Edinburgh and first Online Regionals are closed. Applications for future events, including the Midway Meeting, will open in May 2025.
We welcome any feedback you have on the bursaries - email us your thoughts on hello@irccsusegad.com. We will gather data and feedback on our bursaries pilot and communicate transparently about the distribution of funds and learnings that arise.
What will happen at the Regionals
We know it can be hard to justify taking time out of very busy schedules and we want these events to be as aligned to your needs as possible. So, in the RSVP forms for Spring Regionals, we asked you what you'd like to gain, offer, do and feel during the events. Our expertise is in tailoring held spaces to participants’ needs, with a focus on care, rest and connection. We’ve gathered your ideas and have created an agenda in response to your requests.
Event aims
To platform teams’ successes, challenges, learnings, key findings, and best practices.
To support different teams to connect, network and find synergies.
To provide space for community-led discussions exploring impactful institutional research culture.
To be an insightful, inclusive, and collaborative gathering.
Check out the agendas below or click here for text-only versions.
Bristol and Edinburgh Regionals agenda
Online Regional agenda
What to bring and prepare
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Please bring an object, image, quote, or song that helps you tell us about one hope you have for Research Culture.
Please think of one quality you’d like us all to share in the space (e.g. active listening; respect for the Wellbeing Space; moments of joy).
We’ll also ask you to share your name, pronouns if you want to, role/institution.
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For presentations:
Please prepare a 5 minutes Team Presentation
Send us any slides by Thu 15 May at 12pm.
At least 11 teams will be represented at this event and presentations will help us all get a sense of what everyone’s up to and notice connections between projects. Presentations can be given by a nominated person or as a team. We recommend focusing on introducing your project’s themes, and sharing any learnings and questions you have. We’ll be diligent about timings to make sure we hear from everyone and may need to reduce speaking time if we get last minute sign-ups.
What will happen at the Midway Meeting?
Similarly to the Regionals, we will design an agenda based on your thoughts and desires for this gathering. The members of your team who were nominated to attend the event will be invited to share these with us soon.
Event aims
To reunite up to 42 teams, fostering a sense of community while sharing insights into research culture projects.
To support teams in sharing their findings and learnings so far.
To provide a proactive space to discuss challenges and opportunities for progress together.
To foster collaboration over competition or hierarchical distinction.
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If you have been nominated to attend the event, you will be asked to tell us how we can best facilitate your attendance (e.g. access requirements, support with funding for caring responsibility costs).
The following will be available in the venue as standard:
Step-free access to all floors in the building
• Men’s, women’s and accessible toilets
• Blue badge parking
• A fixed induction loop and portable induction loops you can pick up reception (to reserve one contact wellcometrust@zentiveagency.com)
• A quiet/chill out room
• A dedicated prayer room
• Vegetarian and vegan catering (other dietary needs and requests can be made in the registration form)
Attendees will be provided with the following:
Access to all written materials in advance where possible (if applicable)
• Recordings of any presentations, with the consent of presenters (if applicable)
• Notes from the sessions provided afterwards
Requests that would help attendees engage in the event are also welcome (e.g. reasonable costs to cover caring responsibilities , BSL interpreters , access to hardware, etc).
Dress code: This is a space for participants to join as their whole selves. We encourage you to dress how you feel most comfortable. There is no expectation of business/corporate attire.
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Studio Susegad, funded by Wellcome, is also delighted to offer Reparative Rest bursaries for this event. This pot is offered in acknowledgement that due to structural inequality not everyone experiences work in the same way. It is grown from Studio Susegad’s action research in Resourcing Racial Justice and reparative rest leave. More details will be shared with event participants about this bursary in due course.
Click here to find out more about our bursaries pilot.
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Wellcome will cover the cost of in-person attendees’ economy/standard class travel, and public transport transfers to and from the airport/station. Wellcome can support and book attendees’ travel arrangements.
Wellcome will book and cover the cost of attendees’ bed and breakfast accommodation for up to 2 nights from Monday 7th July, for those travelling from further afield. Accommodation will only be provided where essential and we will assess requests on a case-by-case basis.
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We will soon be inviting team members to participate in an online Midway Meeting. We are currently evaluating whether this online session will be held synchronously or asynchronously, contingent upon the finalised event agenda. Stay tuned!
