Pitch your research idea at its earliest stages to get real-time feedback from consumers.
Sydney Health Partners’ online pitch sessions provide researchers with an opportunity to present and gain useful feedback on an emerging project and consumer engagement plan.
During each pitch session, up to three researchers will be allocated 15 minutes each, including five minutes to pitch a research idea and 10 minutes for questions and discussion with up to four members of Sydney Health Partners’ Consumer Advisory Panel. The four consumers have considerable experience as consumer partners in health research.
The advice the [panel] provided was very concrete and useful and they created a very safe, encouraging, and welcoming environment to pitch my idea.”
Dr Daniel Waller, Senior Research Officer, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network
A pitch session will help you to:
The pitch sessions are not recorded and are only attended by the researchers pitching and the consumer panel to encourage open discussion and genuine idea sharing.
When: The Pitch Sessions will be run on the last Thursday of each month until November 2026.
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Where: Online through Teams
Researchers must complete a short online application to be considered for an upcoming session. Applications must be submitted at least two weeks before each scheduled pitch session. If your application is successful, you will receive a confirmation email with a Teams link a minimum of four working days ahead of your allocated session.
If your application is successful, you will be allocated 15 minutes in an upcoming pitch session. This includes five minutes to pitch a research idea and briefly describe your project. You can use up to two PowerPoint slides for this purpose, but slides are optional.
Your five-minute pitch should build on what you submitted in your application which will cover the following:
*Remember, most consumers are not scientists or experts in a research field so please avoid technical language, jargon, or abbreviations that may not be widely understood.
Following your pitch, you will have up to 10 minutes for questions and discussion with the consumers. Please come prepared with additional questions to make the most of this time. As there will be up to two other researchers presenting in each session, it’s important to keep strictly to your allocated time.
If you have received confirmation to attend an upcoming Pitch Session, and you would like another person to join you, you will need to contact us for permission (via email to: angela.todd@sydney.edu.au).
Researchers may attend a maximum of one session every three months.
There will be up to four consumers at the Pitch Session who are members of Sydney Health Partners’ Consumer Advisory Panel, a subcommittee of the SHP Board. The consumers have considerable experience as consumer partners in health research, have had former roles in academia or health, have reviewed funding applications as consumer reviewers, and some are named CIs or AIs on funded projects.
The consumers may provide advice on issues such as the role and contributions of consumers in the research, how to partner effectively with consumers, whether the overall research question is likely to resonate with patients or the wider community, and other issues that may emerge from the application and discussions.
The consumers will not focus on scientific methods.
At the end of the allocated time, the consumers will check in with the researcher to see that they have some ideas about next steps.
Comments provided by consumers are offered in good faith and intended to be helpful. They may be challenging and thought-provoking, so researchers are asked to come with an open mind.
Please note: Pitch sessions do not replace the need for researchers to form ongoing partnerships with consumers, and should not be used to “tick a box” for consumer engagement in funding applications.
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