Inclusive Research Video Guidance for Early Career Researchers and Innovators

Making research and innovation inclusive ensures that all voices, particularly those from underrepresented groups, are heard and valued throughout the research process.

Inclusivity improves the quality and relevance of research, innovation and development by incorporating diverse perspectives, leading to more accurate and comprehensive findings and more impactful co-design.

To further support early career researchers and innovators, we’ve developed a series of videos with guidance and advise on how to make research and innovation processes more inclusive.

Researchers and lived-experienced experts from a range of disciplines and with a variety of impairments share their perspectives and top tips, from how to maximise engagement, to what not to do.

What do the videos cover?

These videos are valuable resources for emerging innovators navigating co-design.

They offer practical guidance on engaging diverse participants and achieving more impactful outcomes. They also provide insights into building meaningful relationships and offer early career researchers strategies for effectively involving disabled expert participants.

Topics covered include key considerations for inclusive research, best practices from fellow researchers, and advice from people who have lived with disabilities. Many of those interviewed are at the intersection of these communities, bringing powerful voices and experiences.

Abdi Omar is the CEO and Founder of Abdi Enterprises with a motive to empower disability inclusion and spark a conversation about the barriers disabled people face on the daily.

Originally from Somalia, Abdi Omar is an inspiring entrepreneur who is living with Cerebral Palsy, a condition marked by impaired muscle coordination, typically caused by damage to the brain before birth. This hugely affected his jaw movement and communication, but never stopped him from having a voice.

Abdi's disability never stopped him from becoming an entrepreneur and now he owns his own company providing inclusion and diversity training and motivational talks to encourage those to never give up regardless of the condition they might have! Abdi brings a unique perspective to the table, advocating for inclusivity and empowerment at every turn.

1. Abdi Omar CEO and Founder of Abdi Enterprises (Video above)
2. Serenity Isaiah Disability and Social Activist
3. Amanprit Arnold Deaf City Strategist
4. Letty Raby Disabled Content Creator, Consultant and Academic
5. Athena Reissis PhD researcher at University College London
6. Ben Williams Health and Social Care Professional with co-design experience
7. Richard Peacock Person with lived experience of Multiple Sclerosis
8. Uzair Ibrahim Disabled Doctoral Scholar
9. Selvie Hayward Deaf Disability Academic
10. Princewill Ahante Researcher and Disability Advocate
11. Kavya Mukhija Disability Inclusion Academic and Advocate
12. Sophia Borovick Past research participant and wheelchair user
13. Caroline Vermeulen Inclusive Graphic Designer
14. Daniel Hajas Innovation Manager at The GDI Hub and UCL
15. Vicki Austin Co-founder and Director of GDI Hub’s CIC
16. Eleanor Harvey co-design researcher at Loughborough
17. Tigmanshu Bhatnagar Research Fellow / Lecturer at UCL
18. Dilisha Patel Senior Researcher at UCL
19. Eliana Rosas-Aguilar Disability Inclusion Academic
20. Dr Ben Oldfrey Lecturer/Assistant Professor at UCL

Full youtube playlist

Funding information

The TIDAL Network+ is a collaboration between UCL, Strathclyde, Salford and Loughborough Universities, led by Prof Cathy Holloway, Academic Director of Global Disability Innovation Hub and Professor at UCL. The research team includes Prof Laurence Kenney (Salford University), Prof Richard Bibb (Nottingham Trent University), Prof Mikko Koria (Loughborough University) and Dr Arjan Buis (Strathclyde University). We are funded from 1st September 2021 to 31st December 2024 by the EPSRC as a Healthcare Technologies New Challenges Network Plus (EP/W000717/1).