National Partners
PPI Ignite network
Changing the research culture together
A major goal of the PPI Ignite Network is to create a sense of shared learning and shared achievement across all aspects of our work. We are keen to embrace and learn from the expertise of our national and local partners, and to contribute to their growth and learning also. Working together, the seven Universities, national partners, local partners and others who join us on the journey, aim to change the research culture so that meaningful involvement through the research cycle becomes the norm in research in Ireland.
Find out here who our national partners are.
PPI Ignite network
Our National Partners
SPHeRE
SPHeRE is Ireland’s national research training programme for population health, policy and health services research (PHPHSR) and is funded by the Health Research Board in Ireland. SPHeRE means ‘Structured Population health, Policy and Health-services Research Education’. By partnering with PPI Ignite we hope to ensure SPHeRE Scholars are effective PPI practitioners and contribute to a culture of high-quality PPI in population health, policy and health services research (PHPHSR).”
TUSLA
Tusla is delighted to be a national partner of the PPI Ignite Network. Membership of this Network has great significance as Tusla’s founding legislation, the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, places a strong emphasis on partnership and co-operation with children and families in the design and delivery of services. In the context of research, this resonates with the work of the Tusla National Research Office (NRO) who endeavour to embed child and youth voices at the core of its work programme through a variety of research intitiaves.
Queen's University Belfast
Queen’s University Belfast was founded in 1845 as Queen’s College Belfast, becoming an independent university in 1908. PPI at Queen’s is prioritised as part of a wider commitment to engaged research reinforced throughout our institutional strategic initiatives and implemented through our Engaged Research Action Plan. Queen’s established a PPI Network in early 2020. Contributing to all five PPI Ignite Network work packages provides an excellent opportunity for mutual shared learning and knowledge exchange between the two Networks.
Maynooth University
Within Maynooth University, we actively promote and support community-based engagement and inclusion within health and social care research. Ensuring long-term and mutually beneficial involvement in research is central to bringing about empowered change to our community partnerships. By embedding PPI in communities and areas outside of traditional healthcare settings, we aim to empower people, their circles of support, and wider communities to enhance health, wellbeing, quality of life and participation.
IPPOSI
IPPOSI is a patient-led organisation that works with academic science, industry & government, to put patients at the heart of health policy and innovation. As a national-level partner of the PPI Ignite Network, IPPOSI is actively involved with a number of work packages and has assisted in connecting patient groups and advocates with involvement opportunities created by the Network partners. IPPOSI is recognised as a key influencer contributing to the overall development of health research policy in Ireland and recently launched a PPI mapping website at
ICPHR
The goal of the International Collaboration for Participatory Health Research (ICPHR) is to strengthen the role of PHR in intervention design and decision-making on health issues. In alignment with PPI’s mission, ICPHR supports collaborations that seek to find solutions where the occurrence and severity of health problems are greatest, by engaging those whose life or work is the subject of the research in all stages of the research process.
HSE Research
PPI is a key part of the Health Service Executive Research and Development Action Plan for Health Research 2019 – 29. The aim is to support and promote the involvement of patients and the public in all levels of research activity. Being part of the PPI Ignite network is enabling us to grow and learn from the experience of partners and academics and apply evidence of what works to HSE involvement activity.
HRCI
Health Research Charities Ireland (HRCI) is the national umbrella organisation of charities active in health, medical and social care research, together representing over 1 million people in Ireland. Through support and advocacy, we represent their joint interests, to achieve our vision of improved lives through a united community of health research charities. We also run the Irish Health Research Forum (IHRF), bringing together all stakeholders to improve health research in Ireland.
HRB-TMRN
The HRB-Trials Methodology Research Network (HRB-TMRN) is a collaborative initiative between a number of Irish and international higher education institutes and methodology centres. Its’ mission is to strengthen the methodology and reporting of trials in health and social care in Ireland so that they become more relevant, accessible and influential for patients and other service users, practitioners, policy makers and the public. This is achieved through a programme of work relating to the methodology of trials and focused on (i) support (ii) training and education (iii) research and innovation and (iv) public involvement and engagement.
Campus Engage
Based at the Irish Universities Association, Campus Engage is dedicated to supporting Irish higher education institutions to embed, scale and promote societal engagement across research, teaching and learning. Currently all seven Irish universities and the Technological University of Dublin are represented on the Steering Committee and participate in the following areas of activity:
- Engaged Research and Innovation for Societal Impact
- Community-based Teaching and Learning
- Planning for Impact: Student Volunteering