In this short guide, Annee Amajd, the Institute’s Head of Research and Involvement and grantholder contact, introduces researchers to The Hub.
What is The Hub?
The Hub is the Epilepsy Research Institute’s online discussion portal for researchers working in epilepsy and its associated conditions. It’s where the research community can come together to discuss and develop the Institute’s research programmes, as well as find the latest research networking and funding opportunities and useful resources.
Who has access to it?
The Hub isn’t in the public domain, so users are required to have an academic institute or hospital email address to access it. All users are verified by the Epilepsy Research Institute.
What can I find on The Hub?
The Hub is divided into the below research themes (or ‘categories’), which form the Epilepsy Research Institute’s research programmes and enablers:
- Neurodevelopment
- Disease modification & therapeutics
- Mortality, risk & morbidity
- Reproduction & hormones
- Enabling technologies
- Researcher network & capacity building
- Research methods
Under each of these categories you’ll find different ‘topics’ including discussions on the theme and relevant resources and opportunities such as publications, webinars and conferences.
There are also further categories for sharing updates, opportunities, and resources:
- LIVE Funding Calls
- Epilepsy Statistics & Reports
- Job Alerts & Opportunities
- Patient & Public Involvement
- Meeting Room & Hotdesk Booking at the Epilepsy Research Institute
How do I get started?
- Register to join The Hub here
You’ll be asked to share your research interests, job title, Institution and upload a profile picture. - Introduce yourself
Once your account has been verified, log in and say hello! Go to the ‘Welcome to The Hub’ category where you’ll find a topic called ‘Introduce yourself’ (or you can find it here) - Start exploring
The Hub is created by forum software Discourse, whose handy guide for new users has all the information you need to get started: Discourse New User Guide – documentation / users – Discourse Meta - Start a conversation
Under each category you can create a new ‘topic’ which could be a question, a discussion point or a relevant resource you’d like to share. Each topic can be ‘tagged’ with relevant key words to make the topic easy to find for other users. You and other users can then post directly under each topic. You can upload documents, share links and even tag researchers who are also on The Hub who will then be notified. - Set up notifications
The Hub allows you to track certain categories or tags so you never miss a post that may interest you. Simply go to your profile, and under preferences you will find a tracking tab. Here you can select certain categories (eg. Neurodevelopment) or tags (eg. Funding call) so you will be notified every time a new topic or post is made.
If you have any queries or questions regarding The Hub, please contact hub@epilepsy-institute.org.uk
