Subject-related volunteering
Over half of UCL students who volunteer with us tell us that they get an insight into their academic studies through volunteering.
Of course, a lot of students use volunteering as a break from their studies. But if you do want to do something that will enrich your understanding of your subject, then get in touch and we'll do our very best to help.
A good place to start is our volunteering directory (where you can filter for opportunities tagged by your faculty and/or department). You can also browse a list of opportunities relevant to your department or faculty.
If you can't find what you're looking for, drop us a line and we'll send you some suggestions.
We also have a number of Student-Led Projects that are rooted in different academic disciplines. You could join one of these, or start your own.
We can also get your volunteering recorded on your Higher Education Achievement Report - visit our HEAR page to find out more.
If you’re a masters student, you might be interested in our Community Research Initiative for Students, where you can carry out a collaborative research project with a charity as part of your dissertation work.
What students say
Volunteering can help you in your studies in a wide range of ways. Here's what UCL students told us in a recent survey:
- I was able to apply the knowledge I learnt in Psychology when interacting with children with autism
- The Grassroots Human Rights Project (teaching Year 7s about human rights) helped me understand the day to day applications of human rights better, since my MA (Human Rights) focuses largely on theoretical ideas/high-blown points of international law. It was good to see how young students could internalise human rights and apply them to their own lives.
- I practiced interview skills which became very useful for my fieldwork during my dissertation.
- my research is about education and I am interested in social work and teenagers' education. These volunteering activities give me good opportunity to gain experience and skills
- I study pharmacology and experiencing the hospital environment taught me about the importance of a balance between developing new drugs and treatments and organisation of hospital facilities and also about the importance of keeping in mind patient's well-being throughout the therapy.
- I learned that academic studies in university is not just confined to the lecture halls and classrooms, rather we have the opportunity to contribute in a more practical aspect by going outside of the university to use what we learn to benefit society.