REACH space

The Arts & Humanities Research Institute (AHRI) recognises that to develop new socially engaged research projects requires building trusting relationships with community partners.

Our Community Conversations Start-Up Fund is for arts & humanities researchers at any level from postgraduate researchers, to early career staff to Professors who would like to engage with communities with connected or shared practices, experiences, challenges or interests in order to instigate conversations and to seed relationships around a research problem, enquiry or theme of mutual interest.

The overarching aim of activities funded should be to explore the potential for the community/ies to co-produce, contribute to and partner with an emergent or planned research project.

The fund is to support:

• New conversations with community partners with whom the researcher has not previously engaged;

• Extend emergent conversations where the community partner is not yet involved formally with research

The fund is not to be used for activities where partnerships are already established (e.g. where the community partner is already contributing to research).

The funding (up to a maximum of £250 per application) can be spent on any activity or activities that help create conditions for productive conversations about common research interests / challenges and from which ideas for socially engaged research projects might arise.

Activities should take place in our REACH Space (3rd floor, Surrey Street East Wing Building) which has been specifically designed to encourage creative conversations about research. However, we regret that the space is not wheelchair accessible and therefore, if you require an alternative location, we ask you to note this in your application.

The REACH Space includes a fully fitted kitchen (microwave, dishwasher, fridge), whiteboard walls, and an arts and crafts area alongside a range of other resources – flip tables, bean bags, arts and crafts materials, stationery and much more. If you would like further information, or to see the space before making an application, please email: reachspace@kcl.ac.uk

Example activities supported through this fund could include, but are not limited to:

• Costs (e.g. time / travel) for the community partner(s) to come to the REACH Space

• Catering costs

• Practical resources for ideas generation activities (e.g. arts and craft materials, stationery)

• Venue costs (if REACH Space cannot be used)

An application can cover one or more of the above activities or other relevant ideas not listed but must not exceed £250. The grant cannot be used to cover time for the researcher(s) involved.

A total pot of £2000 is available across the 2019/20 academic year. Researchers are limited to one successful application per academic year.

• Clear articulation as to why the researcher(s) wants to engage with the targeted community/ies

• Clear description of the planned activity

• Clear articulation of ideal outcomes from the activity

• Applications must not exceed £250

• Activities should take place in the REACH Space except where impractical due to accessibility restrictions in which case, the applicant should nominate an alternative location

• Postgraduate researchers must have approval to apply from their supervisor

To apply please complete and return an application form to reachspace@kcl.ac.uk with ‘Community Conversations Start-Up Fund’ in the email header. Please email us for the application form.

We will aim to advise applicants of an outcome within three weeks of submission.

Successful applicants will be asked for an AC code to which their grant will be assigned; they will be responsible for its administration. Postgraduate research applicants will need to liaise with their supervisor as to a relevant code if they do not have their own.

The AHRI team will be available to advise on development of, and support the promotion of, activities but responsibility for all other logistics will remain with the project lead(s).

Following completion of the project, a member of the AHRI team will arrange a meeting to discuss how things went.

The Arts & Humanities Research Institute’s (AHRI) REACH (Research & Engagement in the Arts, Culture & Humanities) Space is a brand-new facility that serves as a place of connection, collaboration and engagement across institutional, departmental and disciplinary boundaries with the aim of bringing about positive social change. Whether generating new research ideas, exploring experimental and creative research methods, or informing a project by building a community network, the space is open to staff, students and external communities.

Our annual Pop-Up Research Fund is aimed at stimulating collaborations led by arts & humanities researchers and including those from other disciplines and / or from community organisations. Applicants can be from early career level up and should explain how they would benefit from dedicated research space (from one week to three months’ duration) to generate and develop creative and experimental ideas or activities for socially engaged research.

Through fostering internal and external connections, projects should generate opportunities for knowledge exchange and allow a broader sharing of theory and practice. The REACH Space is inherently disruptive, challenging the knowledge, experiences and perspectives of all those who use it, so enabling critical thinking and research rigour.

The REACH Space is located on the 3rd floor of the Surrey Street East Wing building on Strand campus. Successful applicants who applied in the 2019/2020 round are using one of the below listed spaces for a period of one week to three months between February and June 2020. Each applicant has received a budget of £1,000 for their project. Any resources bought and remaining at the end of the project will be retained in the REACH Space.

To register your interest for the next iteration of this call, due to go live in Autumn 2020, please email: reachspace@kcl.ac.uk

- The spaces available are:

- • Room 1: 3.65m (l) x 2.90m (w), previously used as a solo workspace

• Room 2: 5.30m (l) x 2.70m (w), previously used as a dual workspace

• Room 3: 4.25m (l) x 3m (w), previously used as a dual workspace

• Meeting room*, ideal for activities for groups of 4 – 12 people

• Open plan main space*, ideal for activities for up to 25 people

*The meeting room and open plan main space can only be booked for satellite activities in support of projects happening in rooms 1 – 3.

The REACH Space includes a fully fitted kitchen (microwave, dishwasher, fridge), whiteboard walls, and an arts and crafts area alongside a range of other resources – flip tables, bean bags, arts and crafts materials, stationery and much more.

Unfortunately, the REACH Space is not accessible to wheelchair users. If you would like to discuss the accessibility of the REACH Space, please contact us via reachspace@kcl.ac.uk or call 020 7848 1299. For additional access information, please see the AccessAble guide to the East Wing.

Applications received are assessed in relation to the following criteria:

• Clear aims for the project

• Clear articulation as to why the proposed project is suited to the REACH space

• Clear articulation of what success will look like for the project

• Clear understanding of how the project will contribute to AHRI / Faculty / College research cultures

• Strong evidence of interdisciplinary teams and / or external partners

Applications for the next iteration of this call will open in Autumn 2020.

We are interested in capturing the learning of funded projects as they progress and to build networks between successful applicants. As such, there is a requirement for those funded to attend:

• A launch event (2 – 4pm on Wednesday 29 January 2020) for projects to network with others funded, to learn more about the ethos of the space, and to consider the benefits and common challenges of socially engaged research;

• A mid-point review of projects in March (exact date TBC), an opportunity for projects to share successes and challenges to date and to learn from one another;

• A celebration event at the end of the call (most likely, in May) where funded projects will showcase their projects and learning to staff and students across the Faculty and beyond.

We do not propose a formal report for this call but will be gathering the experiences of projects as they progress and will likely look to generate some form of creative output (blogs, stories, podcasts, videos etc) from funded projects.

Successful applicants will need to nominate AC codes into which their grants will be paid, and will be responsible for administration of funds. The AHRI team will be available to advise on development of, and support the promotion of, activities taking place in the spaces but responsibility for all other logistics will remain with the project lead(s)