FAQs for new organisational partners
- What is the Community Research Initiative?
The Community Research Initiative works to create ways for voluntary, community and non-profit organisations to collaborate with our top quality UCL students.
- Why have I been contacted?
A UCL master's student wants to collaborate with you on an original research project which they will complete for their course. This is known as a dissertation.
- What are the proposed deliverables?
Collaboration means that you will be involved in designing the research so it leads to useful and usable outcomes to you. Students will deliver:
10,000-12,000-word dissertation.
'Community product': the student reformats their research findings in an accessible form to share with you and/or action their findings.
- What are my commitments?
Collaboration is at the heart of our programme. But this doesn't mean you have to be involved at every stage of the research process! You'll work out what collaboration looks like for you with your student partner.
Compulsory commitments for all organisations are as follows:
Organisations will attend one of our induction sessions with their partner student in February or March. They will have regular touch points with the student throughout the project (at least monthly). They will attend our Community Research Showcase in September to celebrate the completion of the project.
- Why should I participate?
You'll get access to original research by a trained postgraduate researcher. Your needs and priorities will be central to the project from the offset, ensuring practical outcomes are prioritised.
You can take a look at our impact page to see past examples of how research has enhanced organisational practices and advanced missions.
- What's the timeline?
Students typically submit their research proposals from December-March and undertake research from April-September.
They produce the Community Product on a voluntary basis after submission (usually in September but extenuating circumstances may delay this). The timeline for delivering this product will be agreed between you and the student.
- What next?
Let us know whether you'd like to participate and we'll connect you with the interested student(s). If you have questions, concerns or just want to talk about the programme a bit more, feel free to book in a 1:1 meeting with our team at this link.