Propose a Community Research Project for Cohort 2026
Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland
Call for community engaged research proposals
ROUND 2 – Cohort 2026
Collaboratory is looking for research project proposals from collaborative teams of Leicestershire & Rutland academics and community focused organisations which seek to address local community challenges.
In Leicestershire & Rutland, Collaboratory will have 3 Rounds of funding calls to support 3 cohorts of research projects. Each cohort will comprise 9 PhDs (3 per institution) and 4 Research Placements.
ROUND 2 deadline: Weds 10 September 2025
ROUND 3 deadline: September 2026
The projects we fund
Through this collaborative approach to research, Collaboratory aims to support community-engaged research – research which is grounded in the needs of local communities and which is more readily able to make a direct, relevant and meaningful impact for communities across Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland.
PhD Projects
- 3-years, full-time.
- UKRI stipend and UK Home Student tuition fees covered.
- Conference and fieldwork budget of £500 per year.
- Full access to partner universities.
- Unique and comprehensive support through our Championing Engaged Research training programme, aimed at developing researchers who can be leaders in community-engaged research.
Research Placements
- 10-weeks, part-time based on 1.5-2 days per week or 111hrs
- Focus on scoping and candidate development.
- Includes candidate bursary of £1,300 and fieldwork budget of £200.
- Access to bespoke training and resources from all partner institutions.
- Unique opportunity to establish new partnerships and explore the potential of new engaged research project ideas.
NOTE: Offline copies of the proposal forms are provided to support your planning and preparation. All proposals must be submitted by the online submission forms linked at the top of this page.
Community Priorities for Research
For our ROUND 2 call, all proposals will need to address one or more community-set research priorities. The full series of 2025-26 Community Priorities for Research for Leicestershire & Rutland will be made available here from Monday 30 June 2025.
ROUND 2 – Key dates
- Application deadline: 11:59pm Wednesday 10 September 2025
- Successful projects open to applicants: 02 Oct – 30 Nov 2025
- Applicant interviews: 12-23 January 2026
- Start date for successful candidates: Monday 30 March 2026
Who are we looking for?
Supported by the Universities Partnership, Collaboratory is looking to support new collaborations between researchers from De Montfort University, Loughborough University, and University of Leicester, and civic and community-focused organisations in Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland.
Each project team must include 1 Lead Academic Supervisor, at least 1 Academic Co-Supervisor, and at least 1 Community Supervisor. As a minimum, each project supervisory team must include an Academic Lead and Co-Supervisor from any 2 different Leicestershire universities.
Researchers
Active researchers from De Montfort University, Loughborough University, and the University of Leicester who wish to develop and supervise a collaborative PhD or Research Placement Project.
Community Professionals
People from organisations based in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland working with one or more local communities, who want to see more evidence-based change for our communities.
Learn more – attend a webinar
We strongly recommend that anyone interested in developing a proposal to submit to us attends one of our Information webinars. We are also offering a Co-Creating Research webinar to support researchers and community professionals to work together to turn their ideas into research projects.
Information Webinars
Learn more about us, the work we do, and what is involved in being part of a Co(l)lab research project team.
Click to see times and registration link
Information Webinars
- Weds 11 June 2025, 4pm-5pm
- Tues 17 June 2025, 12pm-1pm
- Thurs 26 June 2025, 12pm-1pm
Co-Creating Research
Advice and support for those wanting to develop a new research proposal, whether you’re an academic or community professional.
Click to see times and registration link
Co-Creating Research
IN-PERSON WORKSHOP
Monday 30 June 2025, 1pm-4pm
Location TBC.
ONLINE WEBINAR
Thursday 03 July 2025, 12pm-1pm
Looking for someone to collaborate with?
Whether you’re a research academic or a community professional, if you’re interested in developing a project proposal for Collaboratory but are in need of an additional collaborative partner to work with, post your details on our Project Development Padlet Board.