What is Collaboratory?

Collaboratory (pronounced co-laboratory), or Collab for short, is a pioneering, collaborative research programme that aims to bring together researchers, community-focused organisations, and citizens to deliver meaningful change for the people of our local communities. The programme is supported by Nottingham Trent University, the University of Nottingham, the University of Leicester, De Montfort University, and Loughborough University. The programme comprises two regional chapters, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and Rutland, each underpinned by the support of the Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and Rutland civic university agreements through the Universities for Nottingham Partnership and the Universities Partnership, respectively.

Collaboratory is an 8-year, £7.4m project, funded by the Research England Development Fund and launched in 2022. The programme will work with local communities to shape research that address challenges which are important to them. To carry out this research, Collab will recruit 77 PhD candidates and 37 Research Placement candidates from local communities, supporting them to become future leaders in community engaged research. Ultimately, Collaboratory aims to support positive, evidence-based change for local communities in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and Rutland communities through it’s research.

Collaboratory’s Mission

Through our broad portfolio of work, Collaboratory’s mission is to reimagine a new way of doing PhD-level. One where communities have a meaningful place within the research life cycle, where postgraduate research is made accessible to talented individuals who are typically excluded from such opportunities, and where both PhD candidates and communities can develop themselves to become champions of local evidence-based change.