Bid Camp March 2009
Last week a group of ten people met at the Commonwork conference
and study centre to work on research proposals/ bids relevant to
occupation, mental health and well being. The venue was very
conducive to group work and provided an excellent environment for
taking time out from the usual run of the mill to really focus on
research (see http://www.commonwork.org/ for
more information).
The group was a mixed group including those early in their
research careers to others with a lot of research experience and so
we all had very different needs. This was managed by having a very
informal programme that included gatherings, shared meals and lots
of time to work on individual/group projects according to each
person’s needs. During the gatherings we discussed bidding, the
politics of research, research careers and the use of creative
activities in data collection and data analysis.
At the end of the bid camp everyone felt that they had gained a
lot from participating in it. In their reflections the positive
benefits of taking time out to focus on research, developing ideas,
networking, working with like minded people, and developing a work
plan for research bids were mentioned. It is early days in
understanding what the benefits are of participating in a bid camp
but it does look like bid camps might be a good way of building
research capacity.