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National PPI Festival Fund

National PPI Festival Fund 2025

The PPI Ignite Network @ University of Galway is delighted to announce the launch of our second National PPI Festival Fund , applications are now closed please read below to read more about the Festival Fund.

The overarching goal of this seed funding is to to offer supports of €1000 to assist University of Galway staff or students, all patient & community organisations and individual PPI contributors to host a National PPI Festival event in October that aligns with the festival’s aims (see National PPI Festival 2025 Guidance Document for detail).

The support funds can be used for a wide variety of purposes, including refreshments and catering, design and print, creating accessible information, venue hire, PPI contributor involvement, equipment hire, facilitators hire, interpreters hire, and software or equipment costs. The Festival Fund is for National PPI Festival activities only and cannot be used to fund a research project or to cover staff costs.

National PPI Festival Fund 2025 Winners

Due to the increased interest in the fund, and high quality applications received, we are happy to announce that we have decided to award six applicants with funds and we look forward to celebrating PPI together with them in October. Our winners are: 

 

On the PPI Journey – Lessons from the past, stories from today, aspirations for the future.
Join us for a day of reflection and inspiration as we explore the evolving role of Public and Patient Involvement in research, sharing experiences to date and hopes for what lies ahead. The hybrid event takes place at the ILAS Building, University of Galway, on Thursday, October 16th, 2025, from 11am–4pm and will also be live-streamed.

 

From Numbers to Narratives: Understanding Health Research Through Data

A PPI Workshop on Aligning Analytics with Patient-Centered Care

As part of this year’s National PPI Festival, this workshop explores how we can bridge the gap between data and meaningful patient engagement. Together with patients, researchers, and members of the public, we’ll examine how health analytics can better reflect the lived experiences and needs of diverse communities , making research more transparent, relevant, and compassionate.

 

Hope ICU Voices: From Bedside to Breakthrough

A space for connection, conversation, and creativity — where patients, families, and staff come together to transform lived experiences into research that keeps patients at the heart of care

 

Voice in Action: Social health supports for people living with young-onset dementia

People living with dementia younger than 65 are considered to have young-onset dementia. This is an awareness and networking event with research insights and personal stories of people living with young-onset dementia.
 
Ziyue Wang is organising this event. She is a final-year PhD student based in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Galway, supervised by Dr Duygu Sezgin and Dr Andrew Hunter.

 

Breaking Through the Pain Barrier: Insights on Pain in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome 

Join us for an interactive event, featuring patients, gastroenterology healthcare professionals, and pain researchers, exploring abdominal pain in IBD and IBS - from lived experience to the laboratory bench. Discover and influence how and why we investigate the body's own cannabis-like system in relation to abdominal pain, take a tour of our cutting-edge research facilities, and engage in meaningful conversations over tea and coffee. 

 

Empowering Inclusive Digital Futures: The Digi-ID Co-Design Project and DigiAcademy Experience

We are excited to invite you to an engaging workshop that showcases the EU-award-winning DigiAcademy platform. Developed by Trinity College Dublin, this is an innovative, digital skills education programme delivered via an accessible solution/app. This was done through a co-creation process with adults with intellectual disabilities. This workshop will explore the importance of inclusive research practices, employment skills development, and accessible digital skills training. Through a presentation by a learner with intellectual disability who trained as a teacher, a demo of the platform, and interactive discussions, participants will gain valuable insights into creating more inclusive and equitable digital futures. 
The event will be hosted by Cumas students and team, the University of Galway programme for adults with an intellectual disability. 

 

What is the National PPI Festival? 

The fourth National PPI Festival will take place from 1-31 October 2025. It is a national celebration of progress in Public and Patient Involvement in Research (PPI) in Ireland, where people from all over Ireland can meet others interested in PPI to share their experiences, learn from each other and help progress PPI in research in Ireland further.

The Festival, coordinated by the PPI Ignite Network @ RCSI, under the motto 'Celebrating our history, embracing our future' aims to:

  • Celebrate PPI progress to date.
  • Provide opportunities to foster existing relationships.
  • Broaden out to connect with the research community not currently involved.
  • Increase overall public awareness of PPI.
  • Allow a creative space for innovation.

Application Requirements

By receiving support from the Festival Fund, successful applicants agree to host an event or activity between the 1st-31st of October 2025 which abides by the National PPI Festival Guidelines. By the end of the year, applicants will write a short overview or case study of the event which will be uploaded onto the university of Galway PPI website, previous Festival Fund events can be found here. Festival funds must be spent for the specified purpose. 

Who Can Apply? 

This call is open to

  • University of Galway staff and students from any discipline
  • All patient & community organisations
  • Individual members of the public / PPI contributors

Applications Now Closed for 2025

Key Dates and Times
Call Open to Applicants 14th July 2025
Call deadline 18th August 2025
Assessment of call Within 2 weeks of call close
Awardees Notified 1st September 2025
Event hosted 1st-31st of October 2025
Event overview published End of year 2025

The Application form is available here: PPI Festival Fund Application Form

Please review this document for further details and application requirements here: National PPI Festival Fund 2025 guidance document

Submission Instructions

Due date 18th August 2025 by 5:00PM

Submit one consolidated PDF of the full application requirements. 

Email PDF applications to john.gaffey@universityofgalway.ie and enter 'National PPI Festival Fund' in the subject line. 

Application Assessment Procedure

All applications will be assessed by the internal team of the PPI Ignite Network @ University of Galway based on the proposed event’s alignment with the National PPI Festival.

Where there are more than three eligible applications, the final awardees will be decided by lottery draw.

For queries and questions relating to this call, please email National PPI Festival Funding coordinator John Gaffey: john.gaffey@universityofgalway.ie