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In May 2026, staff from the Leeds Institute of Clinical Trials Research (LICTR) took part in the University of Leeds Be Curious event. Be Curious is a university open day with a difference. It’s for families to visit the university for a day of free activities which are centred around the research that happens across the university. You can find out more about Be Curious here.
At Be Curious LICTR staff, a mix of members from statistics, data and trial management, introduced clinical trials research using an interactive activity called “The Chocolate Trial”. The activity asks event attendees to become trial participants and help to answer the question “Which type of chocolate makes people happier?” using the key stages of a clinical trial.
There have been a few iterations of the chocolate trial since LICTR first ran it in 2022, but the premise stays the same:
Information and Consent: Participants are introduced to the activity and told what will happen at every stage. We have made a brief participant information sheet for the activity which has information about the different stages of the chocolate trial, as well as a “Science Behind It” section, for them to take home. They are also asked about their dietary requirements. This starts a conversation about informed consent and eligibility criteria to ensure a trial is safe for everyone to take part.
Baseline Characteristics: Participants tell us which kind of chocolate they prefer and answer the question “How happy are you now?” by putting a sticker on a sticker chart. The shape and colour of the sticker show age and chocolate preference which helps participants to think about who has taken part in the chocolate trial so far.
Randomisation: Participants are allocated milk or white chocolate by choosing a ball out of a bag. This starts a conversation about what would happen if everyone could choose which kind of chocolate they eat and whether that would make the experiment fair.
Intervention: Participants get to eat their chocolate*!
Data Collection and Results: Participants answer the same question they answered at baseline: “How happy are you now?” by putting a sticker on another sticker chart. This allows participants to compare the before and after sticker charts, see any patterns and discuss the results so far.
*Dairy free options are also available to support inclusion!
Images from the University of Leeds Be Curious event in May 2026
This year over 350 people took part in “The Chocolate Trial”! Full results can be found here: https://padlet.com/ahuntermattacks/be-curious-chocolate-trial-2026-7kfyyzi4eyqw1dtg
Here’s what some of the staff members and the public said about the event this year:
“It was really fun to do and interesting to see what children know/don’t know about clinical trials. I didn’t learn about clinical trials until I was much older so I enjoyed being able to teach children about it and get them interested in the subject.” – Staff Member
“I enjoy meeting members of the public and giving them an idea of the work we do in this case through a child friendly activity.” – Staff Member
“You have really thought about how to engage all age groups with this trial process” – Member of the Public
“A must every year!” – Member of the Public
If you are interested in more information about this work please contact the LICTR Engagement Team (CTRU-Engage@leeds.ac.uk). We are happy to share tips and our materials on request. All we ask in return is some brief feedback once your activity has taken place!
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If you have any questions about the site, please feel free to contact us. We are always looking for ways to better serve our members - YOU are important to us!
