Skills for Community Engaged Research Taster

Ever wondered how to make a genuine impact with your research? Or share benefits with participants?

Come along to this free skills session hosted by UCL's Community Research Initiative, where you’ll learn about researching with and for community.

We will cover:

• The terminologies, background and meaning of 'community engaged research'
• Skills needed to be a community engaged researcher
• Putting values into action: how to apply this to your research

Gain a deeper understanding about community engaged research by learning the background, terminology, and principles! 

What skills can I expect to flex?

• Ethical engagement: Learn how to create meaningful, mutually beneficial partnerships with participants and ensure ethical reciprocity in research relationships
• Stakeholder management: Develop skills in building strong connections with community organisations, while navigating different perspectives, priorities, and expectations
• Problem-solving in real contexts: Put your academic knowledge into practice by working on challenges identified by communities, making your research more relevant and impactful
• Social impact awareness: Discover how research can drive positive change, support community development, and contribute to better outcomes for people and places
• Career exploration: Explore exciting career opportunities beyond academia, including roles in research, consultancy, charities, public services, and the nonprofit sector

Location

TBC - Somewhere on campus, stay tuned for the room reveal!

FAQs

First up, what's the Community Research Initiative? 

Well, hello there! We act as a bridge between the university and voluntary sector, which includes charities, not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises. One of the favourite parts of our work is helping students to carry out collaborative research volunteering projects, which actually bring about positive change. Instead of your research lying dormant on your hard drive for years, we’ll help you transform your research into something that will genuinely have an impact.

What if I don't know anything about community engagement or research?

That's the whole point of this training! We welcome new students of any year who may or may not have experience in community engagement or research. We'll walk you through the basics and get you geared up for success.

Do I have to be a postgraduate to attend?

Absolutely not! The session will be interactive and open to  all questions, perspectives, and backgrounds. We welcome you to come as you are and get excited about making your research and study skills more impactful.

What if feel a bit shy?

We know it is easy to say 'don't worry about it'. We have given this a lot of thought though, to make sure students can rock up at one of our events and feel instantly like they belong. We started by making sure you enter our event with a warm welcome from our team, providing you with refreshments along the way - great conversations start over great snacks, right,  and finally, making sure each of our event check-ins is run by a one of our lovely Student Event Hosts. Our lead Event Host, will welcome you warmly to our space and help you work out how you want to get started. 

About the Community Research Initiative 

The Community Research Initiative is a part of the Students' Union Social Impact Team. We bring people together across the student-community divide to explore the possibility of creating socially impactful research with and for the community. From discovering new ways of working to co-creating research with local communities, we are here to walk with students through their community research journey.