During the week of 4–8 July, 20 leading New Zealand and European researchers participated in an interactive workshop (Sandpit) in Rotorua to look for innovative ways to investigate the genetic and environmental factors associated with diabetes and obesity. The workshop was supported by the FRENZ (Facilitating Research Cooperation between Europe and New Zealand) project with funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme and from the New Zealand Ministry of Science and Innovation in conjunction with the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC).
The Sandpit brought together researchers from a diverse range of disciplines and backgrounds, with the aim of brainstorming research ideas that could be the basis of new research directions and collaborations that could be translated into funding applications. The Sandpit mechanism has been adapted from that utilised by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Council Sandpit model and previously applied by FRENZ within a New Zealand setting. Expert facilitation for the process was provided by KnowInnovation Ltd.
“We're curious about creativity, problem solving, leadership, managing change, research, technology - all the things that go hand-in-hand with innovation. We like to collect people in a room and surprise them with their own ingenuity. Though we have a special place in our hearts for flip-charts and post-its, we love technology and lead rich virtual lives. We've designed and developed a number of intriguing ways to interact and invent using every kind of method: high touch and high tech. We're a virtual team, sprawled across the planet, traveling time zones to do our work, which doesn't really feel like work because we make it fun. Serious play, and all that.”
KnowInnovation
As expected, the Sandpit was a truly intensive process over four full days. By the end of the week the participants, after a welcome powhiri and getting to know each other, had turned more than 250 ‘Post-its’ from brainstorming into 10 collaborative proposals from small groups which covered the full spectrum of research disciplines. The various proposals were presented to the full group who judged them and then plotted them on axes of transformation potential and feasibility. They were then revised to improve these aspects and presented again.
Possible funding sources were outlined which included the European Commission’s Framework Programme and HRC mechanisms augmented by HRC mobility funding to assist further development of on-going research collaborations.
"Yes it was a fantastic experience. To be quite frank, I went to it feeling skeptical about the time it was going to take and what we were actually going to get out of it anyway. In the end, the Sandpit process was a fabulous experience. I got so much form it which will turn into productive research and hopefully societal change in the end. The facilitation was first class. The NZ and European researchers were fantastic. This was an A+ experience. The length and intensive nature were the key to the success."
Professor Grant Schofield
"The Sandpit brought together a very diverse range of skill sets from bioengineering and modelling and basic science through to clinical research and public policy which helped to integrate new perspectives and novel ideas around future obesity and diabetes related clinical research. I found the Sandpit tremendously rewarding and can see that there are likely to be a number of new research proposals being developed by Sandpit groups over the next 12 months. The Sandpit is a very effective approach catalysing and developing new research ideas."
Professor Wayne Cutfield
The New Zealand participants were Professor Geoff Chase, Professor Wayne Cutfield, Dr Ridvan (Riz) Firestone, Professor Ross Lawrenson, Professor Lesley McCowan, Associate Professor Tony Merriman, Dr Rinki Murphy, Associate Professor Cliona Ni Mhurchu, Professor Grant Schofield, Associate Professor Louise Signal and Associate Professor Rachael Taylor. The Sandpit team included Carole Glynn and Gina Deerness-Plesner from FRENZ, Sharon McCook and Fiona Kenning from the HRC, three KnowInnovation facilitators together with Professor Norman Sharpe, Professor Murray Skeaff and Dr Robyn Toomath who helped to guide topic selection and discussion.
Photographs courtesy of Scott Middleton, KnowInnovation Ltd.