What are we all about?
Support your students to gain key skills in collaboration, co-production, and community engagement through real world experience
Based within the Students' Union, the Community Research Initiative (or CRIS to our friends) works to bridge the student-community divide, giving students chance to develop cross-sector experience and have a positive social impact with their research skills. If you are interested in how we can support your students to undertake collaborative and engaged research, we encourage you to reach out our team to chat more.
What can we support you with?
At the heart of it all is Community Engaged Dissertations
The core of our programme works alongside departments to facilitate master’s students in producing collaborative dissertations with and for the voluntary and community sector
We focus on key principals of knowledge democracy, co-production, and equitable partnerships within research.
We offer 1:1 mentorship and support, relationship brokering, and skills development for our students who are dipping their toe into the world of engaged research.
Check out our Community Noticeboard to see past projects and currently available opportunities.
How to get started?
Want to inject some community engagement into your dissertation module? Looking to provide your students with more opportunities to apply their research and study stills to the wider world. We are here to help! Reach out to us and we can provide the following services to get your students enticed and engaged:
- Speaking at inductions.
- Coming to dissertation workshops that you may be hosting.
- Offering our skills development talks to support students to work in this way.
- Providing content for your Moodle so that students know that we exist as a resource and service for them.
Our other engaging offers
Applying research skills from classroom to community
Research Volunteering
- These shorter burst voluntary research placements are open to all students and can be a great way for students to apply their learning from classroom into community
- From literature reviews to drawing on qualitative skills, organisations are looking for talented students who want to try their hand and apply their skills to create a positive social impact
- Students apply through our online platform, however, we are able to send bespoke listings to programmes for distribution
Community skills training for doctoral students
Pro Bono Research Service
- We run a yearly research consultancy training programme to support the development of consultancy and entrepreneurial skills within UCL PhD students.
- Students work in interdisciplinary spaces to support voluntary and community sector organisations with crafting research projects to advance their missions
- The programme is open to all active PhD students and runs from term 1 to term 3
Tailored modules and undergraduate explorations
Though our scope is limited to working in the post graduate environment, we have been exploring collaborations with undergraduate courses in departments across Medical Sciences and Psychology and Language Sciences. Below is a highlight of our If you are interested in developing a similar module for your programme, email the Community Research Initiative Manager @ [email protected].
Our work with Dr. Miles Tufft from Psychology and Language Sciences was recently commended by the Provost for Impactful Partnership at the UCL Education Awards. Read about our collaboration with the BSc Psychology Programme on the 'Introduction To Psychological Experimentation' (PSYC0005) module here.
