Young People as Researchers Fund
Are you interested in developing your skills and experiences of working with young people as researchers? Or are you wanting to develop a case study using participatory methods with young people as part of your doctoral thesis? If so, this is unique opportunity to research alongside young people in a secondary school setting as part of the NextGenLeaders programme may be just for you!
NextGenLeaders is a non-profit organisation that facilitates young people to run their own community-facing projects in areas of social disadvantage as part of an extra-curricular offer. These are projects that make a real difference, both to the young people themselves and their local communities. Examples of projects undertaken include: Project Pawject, helping the homeless in Norwich through the selling of dog beds; Foodprint, providing affordable food that would otherwise go to waste to people in Nottingham; Coding with Codex, delivering inclusive and affordable computer coding courses for neuro-divergent learners; and a community awareness project to help the Roma community access their school and to actively challenge community perceptions of this stigmatised group.
We are looking for a Postgraduate Researcher to work with these amazing young people in two key ways. Firstly, to help build young people’s capacity as researchers in order to develop their community-based projects. And secondly, to help the young people undertake research into impacts of their projects both upon themselves and their communities.
In terms of researching the impact on the young people themselves, this may be a way of exploring a range of skills and competences they develop. In line with the Organisation for Economic Development’s Learning Compass 2030, this could include: agency; collaboration skills; self-regulated learning; and creativity.
If you are successful in applying for this fund, you would be expected to:
- Undertake background reading (March and April);
- Put together a project design and apply for ethical approval (April and May);
- Work with a group of young people in a secondary school to undertake participatory and democratic research (May and June);
- Write a public facing report and blog based on the research (by end of July).
- Present the research at the University’s annual PG research conference (October).
You will be supported throughout this process by Professor Tom Dobson and Dr Charlotte Haines Lyon.
The funding will cover your time (approximately 80 hours), travel and DBS (if necessary).
Please contact Professor Tom Dobson (t.dobson@yorksj.ac.uk) by 12noon on Tuesday 28th February with a 500-word statement of interest. This should include: why the project is of interest to you; the skills and knowledge you have to undertake this project successfully; an indication of how you might research with young people; how you would use participatory and democratic methodologies.
The Young People as Researchers Fund is part of the Institute for Social Justice, which seeks to develop research that works with people and partners to address some of the inequalities and injustices facing society today.
