Knowledge Mobilisation in Research

The National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR), as well as other funders, are increasingly requiring Knowledge Mobilisation approaches to be incorporated into research grant applications to strengthen pathways to impact. Knowledge mobilisation is used to share knowledge between different communities, to create new knowledge and catalyse change.

Academics at the Applied Research Collaboration South West have been exploring and developing these approaches for the past decade and have worked with colleagues at the NIHR. This course will introduce the key concepts and definitions in the field and the latest developments. It will also take attendees through the process of designing a Knowledge Mobilisation plan for a research project.

Date 30 November 2026
Fee £250
Format Online
Audience Open to all applicants (prerequisites apply)
Organisers Dr Helen Baxter, Professor Sabi Redwood and Dr Clare Thomas

Course profile

This course aims to explain the use of knowledge mobilisation approaches and how they can strengthen the impact pathway within research studies. 

Please click on the sections below for more information. 

This course will be conducted over 1 day of live online sessions with interactive discussions. There will be a time commitment of a full day of 7 hours.

By the end of the course participants should be able to:

  1. explain what knowledge mobilisation is and what it is not, and describe its relationship with impact, dissemination and coproduction;
  2. understand how to integrate knowledge mobilisation approaches throughout the research cycle; and
  3. understand the key considerations when designing a knowledge mobilisation plan for a research topic area or project.

This course is suitable for researchers applying for funding (particularly from the National Institute of Health and Social Care).

This course will cover:

  1. an explanation of what knowledge mobilisation is, including a definition of terms and differences in terminology internationally;
  2. the evidence base for knowledge mobilisation and the role of knowledge mobilisation in facilitating impact;
  3. how to design a study to incorporate knowledge mobilisation, including knowledge mobilisation theories, stakeholder analysis and knowledge sharing approaches; and
  4. knowledge mobilisation approaches for different stakeholders, including practitioners, policy makers and public contributors. The use of different ‘co’ approaches will also be discussed.  

Dr Clare Thomas is the co-lead for Knowledge Mobilisation at the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit (HPRU) in Evaluation and Behavioural Science at the University of Bristol, as well as holding a leadership role in Knowledge Mobilisation in the cross-organisation HPRU Network. She has also previously held knowledge mobilisation roles at NIHR ARC West and in the University of Bristol Population Health Science Institute.

Professor Sabi Redwood, is Professor of Social Science Applied to Health and Care, and NIHR ARC South West deputy director, with extensive experience in advising on impact, knowledge mobilisation and implementation.

Dr Helen Baxter previously held an NIHR Knowledge Mobilisation Research Fellowship and was later employed by the NIHR as a Senior Research Fellow, to advise on knowledge mobilisation techniques, approaches and resources. She now advises and publishes on knowledge mobilisation approaches at NIHR ARC South West.

Ms Zoe Trinder-Widdess, is Senior Research Communications Manager at Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. Before this she was Head of Communications at NIHR ARC West and NIHR Bristol Biomedical Research Centre for over a decade, supporting dissemination and knowledge mobilisation across an array of studies. She also brings experience from a range of sectors, having led communications teams at the National Trust and the Audit Commission.

To make sure the course is suitable for you and you will benefit from attending, please ensure you can meet the following prerequisites before booking:

Pre-course work

We ask that you read the blog linked below, which will orient you to the content of the course and help you get the most out of the taught sessions. 

https://hpruebs.nihr.ac.uk/blog-posts/conversations-about-knowledge-mobilisation-with-public-contributors/

During the course there will be an opportunity to try out creating a knowledge mobilisation plan for your own research.  Please come to the course with a research project or topic area in mind.  This could be a project you are already working on, an idea you have for a future project or grant application, or just a topic of study which interests you. 

Before booking this course, please make sure you read the information provided above about the target audience. It is important that you have access to the relevant IT resources needed for the course to ensure you can get the most from the course.

Bookings are taken via our online booking system, for which you must register an account. To check if you are eligible for free or discounted courses please see our fees and voucher packs page. All bookings are subject to our terms and conditions, which can be read in full here.

For help and support with booking a course refer to our booking information page, FAQs or feel free to contact us directly. For available payment options please see: How to pay your short course fees.

Bookings close two weeks before the start of each course. Once all courses have finished for the current academic year we close the booking system for updates, and re-open again in the Autumn. To be notified about our timescales for opening annual registrations and bookings sign up to our mailing list.

Participants are granted access to our virtual learning platform (Blackboard Ultra) 1 to 2 weeks in advance of the course. This allows time for any pre-course work to be completed and to familiarise with the platform.

To gain the most from the course, we recommend that you attend in full and participate in all interactive components. We endeavour to record all live lecture sessions and upload these to the online learning environment within 24 hours. This allows course participants to review these sessions at leisure and revisit them multiple times. Please note that we do not record breakout sessions.

All course participants retain access to the online learning materials and recordings for 5 months after the course. 

University of Bristol staff and postgraduate students who do not wish to attend the full course may instead register for access to the 'Materials and Recordings' version of this course: Further information and bookings.

100% of attendees recommend this course*.
*Attendee feedback from February 2026.

Here is a sample of feedback from the last run of the course:

“Clear description of the stages and processes, and advice about the theoretical background”. - course feedback, February 2026

“Enjoyable, accessible short lectures on key topics. A great introduction to the subject”. - course feedback, February 2026

“Excellent introduction and explanation to KM”. - course feedback, February 2026

“Great overview of KM work. Good to have the time to think about our own projects during the session”. - course feedback, February 2026

“Great speakers, very good examples to illustrate the theory, great summing up” - course feedback, February 2026

“The content was excellent, and all very well presented thank you”. - course feedback, February 2026

“The course was brilliant - covering everything from the basics upwards. Most helpfully, it was very practical in terms of describing theories and what KM could look like in terms of actions at different stages of the research cycle”. - course feedback, February 2026

“Very interesting and informative course, with knowledgeable tutors”. - course feedback, February 2026

“Well paced, knowledgeable presenters. Enjoyed completing the form to write a KMb strategy as the reflection time helped me realise how many opportunities there were within my own work that I hadn't already seen, and to think a little creatively”. - course feedback, February 2026

“While I came to the course knowing a little already about KM, I left feeling like I had bolstered and added to that knowledge. In our work we informally use these sorts of approaches but I now have the information I need to approach KM more intentionally and an evidence base to draw from. This will be particularly useful when writing KM into grants and in terms of introducing other colleagues to these approaches”. - course feedback, February 2026