Dr Nuno Nodin, Teaching Fellow in the Department of Psychology, has won BPS’s Psychology of Sexualities Community Engagement Award 2017 for his work at PACE.

There he managed the RaRE Research Project on sexual minorities mental health risk and resilience.

RaRE was designed and carried out using a Community Based Participatory Research approach, therefore involving the community on all levels of the scientific process. Dr Nodin was at the forefront of this process by actively engaging volunteers in various project activities. For example, he led the recruitment of a lay advisory panel from the community, which provided guidance and support to the research. Other volunteers provided essential extra capacity for the project, given the limited resources available. Dr Nodin managed and trained these volunteers in research and other transferable skills.

A key element to facilitate this was the RaRE Manuscript Writing Workshop, a step-by-step peer-reviewed writing programme that helped interns and volunteers in developing their scientific skills while writing manuscripts of publishable calibre. It was based on Dr Nodin’s experience of a similar workshop for early-career writers in an academic setting, which had enabled him to progress as an academic writer. The Workshop offered emerging LGBT+ researchers and activists the opportunity to be involved in the process of academic production, building their skillset and confidence, and establishing collaborative networks within the LGBT+ community.

This award recognises Dr Nodin’s skills in effectively engaging members of the community in academic-level research. The award will be formally presented at the Psychology of Sexualities conference in July 2018.