Citizens in the Research Cycle: Why and How? February 5 2026
How can involving citizens enrich your research, sharpen your questions, strengthen your impact, or open entirely new avenues of collaboration?
Science belongs to everyone! project invites researchers from across disciplines to a half-day event exploring citizen involvement throughout the research cycle. The event builds on the experiences of the newly established University of Turku Citizen research panel.
The event starts with a joint opening session including a keynote and short talks introducing cross-disciplinary perspectives on citizen involvement. After the joint session and coffee break there are two parallel workshops, where participants can either develop their own involvement idea, or explore how citizen involvement can support strong funding proposals, including budgeting and addressing engagement and impact requirements.
The event is designed for researchers from all disciplines and with all levels of experience.
Tentative Program
Thursday, 5 February 2026
Venue: Medisiina D, Kiinamyllynkatu 10
9.00 – Opening Remarks Dean Pekka Hänninen
9.05 – Keynote Research Director Meri Kulmala, University of Helsinki
9.35 – Short Presentations on Citizen Involvement: Experiences, Examples and Possibilities
- Case example: Patient & care taker involvement in my research
- Experiences from University of Turku citizen research panel – researchers´ view
- Citizen participants´ view on citizen involvement & UTU citizen research panel
- Possibilities in Funding
10.30 – Coffee & Informational Screenshows
11.00 – Workshops: Demo workshop and Funding workshop
12.15 – Closing remarks
Registration: https://link.webropol.com/s/citizensevent
The joint session is held in English. In workshops both English and Finnish can be used.
Welcome to explore how citizen involvement can benefit your research!