Thursday 18 May 2023
Six-week, paid research placements designed to make practical experience in research and academia more accessible.
What are Citizen Scientist Research Placements about?
To compliment our main programme of community-engaged PhD research projects, Co(l)laboratory will be offering an annual series of 6-week, paid, Citizen Scientist Research Placements, 5 a year for the next 5 years.
Co(l)laboratory has set out to push the boundaries on how PhD research agendas are created and delivered, and to improve excellence in research by supporting local candidates with more diverse talents, ways of thinking and types of experience to enter research. In order to drive forward our ambition to open up research to the best minds in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, we recognise that addressing practical and structural challenges for existing PhD research candidates alone is not enough. That is how the Citizen Scientist Research Placements came about.
A significant barrier to entering research for people who don’t fit the more stereotypical PhD candidate mould is commonly not a lack of skill, motivation or potential, but a lack of accessible and inclusive opportunities that enable people to contextualise and hone these competencies through practical experience of research and academia. For most people, unless you have the good fortune to have the resources of time, money or professional connections, opportunities to gain experience of the complex worlds of research and academia can be limited.
Through our Research Placements programme, we hope to trial a new way of addressing these issues by providing tailor-made, paid research placements to local candidates who’s community experience and drive to make a difference for local communities give them strong potential to succeed in research.
What do candidates get?
- Following the Co(l)laboratory model, each placement project is developed and then supervised by a collaboration between a University of Nottingham (UoN) academic, a Nottingham Trent University (NTU) academic, and a member of a local community-focused organisation.
- All placement are part-time based on 18.5hrs of work per week and will last for 6 weeks, unless otherwise stated.
- Flexible working is fully supported for all candidates to ensure that the placement work can fit around their existing personal and professional commitments.
- All successful placement candidates will receive a total bursary £1,156.62 for their time, which equates to £10.42 per hour (2023-2024 National Living Wage).
- Successful candidates will be given temporary student status (through NTU for all 2023 placements), which includes a temporary IT account, access to library facilities and hot desking work spaces for the duration of their placement.
- Candidates will also be fully supported by their project supervisory team and the Co(l)laboratory team from start to finish, to help them make the most of their time with us.
- After successful completion of the research placement, all candidates will receive a certificate formally recognising their participation in the Co(l)laboratory Citizen Scientist Research Placements programme.
Who is eligible to apply?
- Our Research Placements are open to anyone who is a current resident of Nottingham or Nottinghamshire.
- All candidates must have the right to work in the UK.
- This scheme is only open to those who DO NOT have previous postgraduate (research Masters and PhD) or professional research experience.
- Current students enrolled at a UK university are NOT eligible to apply.
- The application process for each placement is short and simple. When placements are open, candidates will need to complete a short form which asks them to provide their personal details, answer our anonymous equal opportunities questions, and complete the three main application questions which ask: “Why are you interested in undertaking this specific research placement project?”, “What relevant skills and experience do you have which would help you be successful in this research placement?” and “What relevant skills and experience do you have which would help you be successful in this research placement?”.
Research Placement opportunities will become available throughout the year and will be advertised here on our website, on our social media pages and through our mailing list, which you can sign up to here.