The new Rapid Review training opportunity on 24 May is supported through the University of Bath's Research Culture Fund from Research England and open for applications on a first come first served basis.

• Do you want to increase your knowledge and skills in Evidence Review Methodologies?
• Do you want to be able to respond to requests for evidence in a timely way and meet the needs of decision-makers?
• Do you want to undertake training to enhance your CV?

If so, Rapid Review Training could be for you. Taking place online, our rapid review training will be delivered by experts from the University of Sheffield. It is open to all staff and postgraduate students at the University and with only 20 places available why not sign up today?

Benefits of the course

Researchers are increasingly asked to produce rapid reviews of evidence to help answer key questions in a timely way to meet the needs of decision-makers. Traditional systematic reviews can often be prohibitive due to the time it takes to produce them but also resource constraints such as budgets. Rapid review methods offer a way of addressing these barriers to support evidence-informed decision making.

Dr Maria Loades, Clinical Psychologist, Senior Lecturer/Clinical Tutor and NIHR Research Fellow from the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath, says:

My rapid review enabled me to answer an important and potentially impactful question in a timely way at the outset of the pandemic: that of how loneliness and social isolation impact on young people’s mental health. A rapid review was a way to provide a robust answer, based on the evidence, to the question that parents, teachers, professionals and of course, young people themselves were asking as school closures and social distancing restrictions bedded in. Of all the reviews I have done, this felt like the one with the biggest immediate relevance, attracting huge media globally, and since having translated into wide-ranging impacts – with high academic and policy citations.

Outcomes of the course

If a review is to be delivered in a shorter time frame or a smaller budget, it may seem inevitable that it will no longer be able to remain transparent, rigorous, exhaustive and comprehensive. The following questions will be explored:

• What are the implications of any shortcuts that might be taken?
• Can we measure the impact of such shortcuts?
• Which methods might be adopted when undertaking a rapid review?
• What do commissioners want?
• What is the balance between working smarter and short-changing the commissioners?
• How do you create a team that can work together more efficiently within a shorter timescale?

These questions will be explored through a detailed examination of tools that can be used and adapted to meet the particular needs of each rapid review.

Target audience

This short course is primarily for you if you are currently undertaking, or you anticipate embarking upon a rapid review. The aim of the day is to equip you with a greater insight into the range of rapid review methods that can be used for, and adapted to, your particular review. The purpose is to enable you to deliver methodologically rigorous reviews, that continue to meet the needs of decision-makers. The short course may also be of value for you if you commission reviews, or use rapid reviews to inform evidence-based practice. The course will facilitate you to assess the quality of rapid reviews, and help you to appraise rapid review proposals.

Date of course

The Rapid Review Training will take place online on 24 May 2022.

Delivery method

The course will be delivered using the University of Sheffield’s Blackboard. You will have access to the platform for three months after the course delivery to continue to be able to access the resources you need.

Format

The course will consist of a mixture of presentations, group work, discussions and individual exercises. The course will be three hours long with optional additional access to the resources pre- and post- course delivery for up to three months.

Trainers

Fiona Campbell and Dr Andrew Booth in the School of Health and Related Research (SCHARR) from the University of Sheffield will be your trainers. Find out more.

Eligibility

• You need to be a University of Bath member of staff or postgraduate student
• You will need to have some basic understanding of systematic review methods

Our requirements

The course is free - we ask that participants in the course to:

• Share with us any rapid reviews that are produced as a result of the course
• Take part in the evaluation of the course content and impact
• Let us know as soon as possible if they are unable to attend so that others can join

Apply

To apply please complete the online application form which will ask you to provide:

• Name
• Department
• Outline of your area of research interest
• Benefits you hope to gain from taking part in the training
• How you will use the training in practice (i.e. do you have a rapid review you would like to undertake or a select committee call for evidence you would like to respond to – now or in the future?)

There are a total of 20 places available on a first come first served basis.