Networking & Shared Learning

DRNS would like you to be involved, whether that’s by offering you opportunities to meet other people, suggesting ways you can share information and learning, or giving you a platform for your thoughts. We have more information about how to get involved on our ‘dissemination’ page.

A varied schedule of events, workshops and online training events.

DRNS events are intended to appeal to a range of people including those at any stage of their research career, those working in the field including people from the third sector/statutory services, those with lived experience and people who care for them, and those who are generally interested in being involved in research in the field. Examples of the events we have held in the past include an event exploring the impact of COVID-19 on people who use drugs, a roundtable discussion on how practitioners can be involved with research in the drugs field and an annual conference.

If an event is running, it will be advertised here, in our newsletter, and on Twitter.

Recent post-event reports and event resources are posted on our updates page.

Members will have access to our archive of post-event reports and event resources materials on our intranet. See how membership can benefit you.

Opportunities for you to share knowledge at events

DRNS sometimes run events where we are looking for teams or individuals to share their work with other people. At those times, we invite people to share short summaries of their proposed contribution to the event – an abstract. If an event is running which offers an opportunity for you to take part, it will be advertised here, in our newsletter, and on Twitter. If you want to write an abstract, you can find the guidelines here.

Opportunities for you to write a blog post for the community to read

Journal papers, conferences presentations/posters, and study reports are how research is often communicated, but to have a wider conversations about the field, blogs can be useful. There are many things that blogs might cover, for instance:

• Views on research that has been published
• Hopes for research that needs to take place
• Information about a great field-specific book you’ve written or read
• Reports about events that have recently taken place
• Sharing what you do during your working day

DRNS has already published a number of blogs from a range of people on a variety of topics, including a series on ‘the importance of evidence’. We will continue to publish articles that we think are of interest to the community, and we hope you enjoy them. Although we don’t currently have vlogs and podcasts, we know that this is becoming more commonplace as a way to communicate. Who knows what might appear in the future!

If you want to write a blog, check out our author guidelines and get in touch.

Helping you to run events, workshops, meetings, special interest groups, or training of your own

DRNS can help you to set up, promote, and run a variety of events. There are several reasons you may wish to do this:

• You want to gather all the people who are interested in a specific part of the field so that you can talk about what you could do to increase knowledge in that area. In the event that the special interest group decides to develop an idea into a bid, DRNS can support that too. Example ideas might be a lived experience/peer research group, or a group interested in research regarding the use of illicit drugs and its ties to homelessness.
• You want to start a conversation about a research idea you’ve had with a variety of people who may have a useful contribution to make.
• You want to share the findings of the research you’ve already done with a wider audience.
• You have skills and expertise you feel would be of benefit to our members and want to run a training event.

If you want to organise an event, simply get in touch. we would normally have a conversation with you to ensure that we are able to help you. DRNS can help you to advertise for interest through our member newsletter, our website and out networks, and we can help you to organise meetings.

Networking for members via the intranet

Members have access to the DRNS intranet where they can connect with others on forum boards, and continue conversations inspired by the DRNS events that they have attended.

Sharing your expertise with policymakers

DRNS are eager to hear from academics within the substance use field who may be interested in sitting and advising on Government Committees/Working Groups, as well as funding bodies boards and advisory groups. If you would be interested in getting involved, get in touch with details on your main areas of interest and expertise within the field.