Decisions about how we can best support our communities will be more effective when supported by research, data and evidence. This page includes a variety of resources for you to improve your knowledge, skills, and confidence on this topic. There are resources for all levels, from beginner to advanced, including podcasts, videos, guides, and online courses.
Our offers
Coventry HDRC Evidence Café
Coventry HDRC is offering free drop-in sessions called Evidence Cafés for Coventry City Council employees and Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise organisations.
Feel free to bring along any questions, ideas, or challenges you have from your work. We can support you in using evidence and data to inform decisions, improve projects, and demonstrate impact.
Tea, coffee, and biscuits will be provided. No booking required. Find upcoming Evidence Cafés.
Coventry HDRC "So What?" Club
Coventry HDRC host a monthly ‘So What? Club. These interactive sessions demonstrate the importance of using academic literature and research papers to make evidence-based decisions in your area of work. They will help you build skills and confidence in evaluating academic work in the context of solving a real-life problem. We aim to keep all examples relevant to all service areas, showing how it is possible to develop solutions to issues related to the wider determinants of health.
We encourage everyone to attend regardless of their experience with academic research. To register, please email coventryhdrc@coventry.gov.uk, and a calendar invite will be sent to you.
Coventry HDRC Webinars
The Coventry Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) team coordinates a monthly series of online talks, so-called webinars, on a range of research topics. We talk about the building blocks of a healthy Coventry, the different types of research methods, how to involve the public in research, and real-life examples of research that has been applied and has had an impact on people's life.
All previous webinar recordings are available on our YouTube Channel.
Become a Research Ambassador
As part of Coventry HDRC, Research Ambassadors are helping to embed a stronger culture of data and evidence-based decision-making across Coventry City Council's services and Coventry’s Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise sector. They are playing a vital role in shaping the city’s approach to research and tackling health inequalities. By connecting research with day-to-day practice, they also play a key role in ensuring that decisions are informed by the best available insights.
Learn more about the Research Ambassador programme and how it supports communities across Coventry.
Become a Community Researcher
We collaborate on hands-on citizen's social science courses for people looking to learn about research and become community researchers. Attendees put into practice what they have learnt by carrying out a local research project and are supported by experienced researchers at each stage.
A celebration event after each course helps to share the findings with the people who need to know. Find out about the experiences of our community researchers and the research they have done.
They shared insights during the Coventry HDRC's annual webinar 2025. Information on the next course will be available here soon!
Free Learning Resources
Future Learn – "Starting Out In Research" online course
Future Learn host a free online, introductory course carrying out research. The topics focus on health and social care, although the learning can be applied to other topics. Find out more on the website.
Cochrane – involving the public in research
Cochrane have developed training videos about how to involve members of the public in the whole research process. Key videos include:
- Patient and public involvement in research: What, why and how?
- No choice of outcomes about us without us!
Open University
The Open University offer free, self-guided, online courses. Some examples are below, starting from introductory to advanced:
- Exploring data: graphs and numerical summaries (20-hour self-guided course, introductory level)
- Using data to aid organisational change (10-hour self-guided course, intermediate level)
- Understanding research with children and young people (16-hour self-guided course, intermediate level)
- Becoming an ethical researcher (18-hour self-guided course, advanced level)
- Quantitative and qualitative research in finance (10-hour self-guided course, advanced level)
National Institute of Health and Care Research
The National Institute of Health and Care Research (NHIR) are the UK's largest funder of health and care research. They have created the resources below:
- What are Health Determinants Research Collaborations? (short video)
- Introduction to cultural competence in research (10-minute video)
- Toolkit for conducting Equality Impact Assessments in Research (written guide)
National Centre for Research Methods
The National Centre for Research Methods has a range of resources to help you understand the different methods used to carry out research. There are a range of podcasts and online resources:
- Selection of short podcasts about research
- What is inclusive research? (short podcast)
- How are we influenced by the information we are exposed to? (short podcast)
Feedback
We are continually looking for training opportunities. Please do get in touch should we have missed something.
If you would like to receive any assistance to access training, please also get in touch via CoventryHDRC@coventry.gov.uk.
NIHR
The NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) Coventry is part of the NIHR and hosted by Coventry City Council.
Visit the NIHR website