The Local Authority Short Placement Award for Research Collaboration (LA SPARC) offers the opportunity for placements between the NIHR and Local Authority settings, in either direction, to build collaborations and bridge the gap between academia and practice. In this blog, Catherine Jacobs writes about her experience applying for and completing a LA SPARC.
My background
Before my LA SPARC and currently, I work at South Gloucestershire Council as a Travel Planning Manager. As a team, we deliver a range of projects that support and encourage people to try active and sustainable travel modes, such as walking, cycling, wheeling or public transport, for their everyday journeys where they’re able. Our team doesn’t build any infrastructure such as cycle lanes, but we do deliver supportive services that help people to try different ways of making their journeys, such as, guided walks, cycle training, loan bike scheme, car club offers, bike maintenance (Dr Bikes) sessions, cycle maintenance training, journey sharing schemes, and local travel guides that include travel options and local amenities in their area.
What made me apply for the LA SPARC?
I’ve always enjoyed working with data and evidence, with a natural interest in the research side of things – how we monitor and evaluate our work, how we can improve our project delivery, and how we can demonstrate the impact of our work in a robust way. I’m interested in public health and the links with active travel, including physical and mental health. As well as the connection between active/sustainable travel and environmental benefits such as air quality improvements and reducing carbon emissions, when I saw the LA SPARC opportunity on the Council’s SharePoint site the chance to gain experience in academic research really appealed to me.
The work I did during my LA SPARC
I was based at the Centre for Public Health, University of Bristol, and supported two projects in the SPHR Healthy Places, Healthy Planet research programme. One project evaluated coastal rural communities active and sustainable travel. The other looked at the effects and mechanisms of traffic restriction schemes outside schools. My placement was for approximately two days per month for 11 months.
During this time, I learnt research methods such as systems mapping using KUMU. I supported workshops and saw how qualitative data was collected during these workshops. I produced a dissemination plan for both projects which identified local authority and community stakeholders the research team could approach to share their research findings. I provided a local authority practitioner perspective in their research discussions and was able to link the research teams with local authority work, projects and contacts. I presented on my role and experience to different organisations and teams, I also attended a research project advisory board for the first time, which gave me an insight into how research projects are managed and governed, and I found the discussions around the emerging research findings really interesting. The placement was also a brilliant opportunity to connect with people and build new networks and learn from others.
What skills I gained from my LA SPARC
I gained a wide range of knowledge and experience I met new people, expanded my professional networks, and shared my local authority perspective and practitioner knowledge. A key skill I gained that’s often less talked about is confidence. I gained a lot of confidence and understanding about what it means to be a practitioner researcher. It was also a unique opportunity to use the protected time to step back from my day-to-day work to experience a different work area and environment, meet new people and explore new opportunities.
Advice I would give someone thinking about applying for a LA SPARC
I would strongly encourage anyone thinking about applying to go for it! Don’t think you won’t have a chance, that’s what I thought!
Overall, my experience was very positive. It’s a relatively short period of time and, with your manager’s approval, can be managed within your day job, but I would recommend blocking out time in your diary so you can focus on your Placement.
I would also advise allowing enough time to develop your application. For me, having never submitted an application like this before, it took a bit of time to read and understand the guidance, so give yourself time to do this. It’s also not just about writing the application itself but also lots of conversations with people. For example, connecting with a University supervisor, and talking through which research projects you’ll be able to support and how – this all takes a little time. You’ll also need statements of support so allow time for people to write and send these to you’d also highly recommend getting involved in at least two projects if you can, I had very different experiences from my two research projects, which made the experience even more valuable.
Where I am now
I’ve since gone on to apply for and be awarded a Pre-doctoral fellowship. This enables me to continue in my current role while having protected time for academic training and to prepare a Doctoral Fellowship Award application. Without the LA SPARC, I wouldn’t have known about this opportunity and would not have had the connections and confidence to apply. The LA SPARC was pivotal for me to put together the pre-doctoral application. For me, it provided a really positive opportunity to take my career in a different direction and develop as a practitioner researcher.
Image credits: South Gloucestershire Council – Around Your Way Programme.
