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Propose a Community Research Project for Cohort 2026

Call for community engaged research proposals

Co(l)laboratory is looking for research project proposals from collaborative teams of Nottinghamshire academics and community focused organisations which seek to address local community challenges.

For the Nottinghamshire 2026 Cohort, Collaboratory will be funding 10 PhD projects and 5 Research Placements.

The links above to the PhD and Placement proposal forms will be live and accessible from Tuesday 06 May 2025.

The projects we fund

Through our 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 Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

  • 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.
  • 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.

Community Priorities for Research

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?

Collaboratory is looking to support collaborative proposals from teams of Nottingham Trent University and University of Nottingham academics, with partners from civic and community-focused organisations in Nottinghamshire.

Community Professionals

Learn more – Webinars and Workshops

We strongly recommend that anyone interested in developing a proposal to submit a proposal attends one of our Information webinars. We also offer 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

  1. Weds 14 May 2025, 12pm-1pm
  2. Thurs 22 May 2025, 4pm-5pm
  3. Weds 28 May 2025, 2pm-3pm
  4. Weds 04 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 Community Research

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.