What is the Participatory Research Seed Fund?

The Participatory Research Seed Fund is a new strand of Imperial's existing Societal Engagement Seed Fund that will support staff who specifically are engaging in participatory research. Participatory research is broadly defined as public participation in research, with public participants contributing at any stage of the research lifecycle (eg. co-production, co-creation, citizen science).  

The fund can allocate in the region of £2,000 - £5,000 per project, and may support new or existing projects as a whole or only a specific segment of it, with room allowed for negotiation around total funding allocation (as long as the application justifies any extra requirements). 

Due to the short-term nature of the funding, we are accepting applications until 31 March 2022. Please note that funding will be allocated on a first come first served basis, as long as applicants meet the stated criteria. Successful applicants must confirm they are able to spend the funding by 22 July 2022. 

If you have any questions before starting your application, please contact societal_engagement@imperial.ac.uk

Who is it for?

Our Participatory Research Seed Fund aims to support staff to engage the wider public with our research. It aims to:

  1. Encourage and enable a wider range, and greater number of, Imperial staff to develop and deliver societal engagement initiatives that involve participatory research
  2. Encourage two-way engagement – where public participants are involved in the research process
  3. Engage a range of patients, publics, schools and local communities with Imperial’s research in a mutually beneficial way
  4. Identify research teams with research proposals, existing projects or potential research questions/areas that would benefit from participatory research

What we're looking for

The Participatory Research Seed Fund proposals could include a discrete project or an intention in seeking funding for only a specific segment of it, and ideally will include one or more of the following outcomes: 

  • Develop high-quality engagement with research activities in participatory research
  • Extend previous successful societal engagement activities (e.g. reach a new audience group or develop a new collaboration through participatory research)
  • Undertake pilots of pioneering participatory research activities to evaluate what works, ideally with a view to future development including securing external funding
  • Develop skills of engaging in participatory research that benefits the wider Imperial College Community

How to apply

Applications are now closed, and awarded projects will be announced in September 2022.