The LSE Volunteer Centre is extremely excited to announce the launch of our new volunteering initiative, the Research Volunteering Scheme (RVS), which serves to connect charities with the latest academic research via the LSE student body.
The initiative allows the Volunteer Centre, supported by LSE LIFE, to invoke a variety of positive outcomes for the LSE student body, charity sector, and the wider community. Students will have the opportunity to use and to develop their academic skills. The RVS provides a safe and empowering space for students to develop confidence in their research abilities, connect with organisations making social impact, and volunteer, of course! At the same time, our charity partners will have easy access to the latest academic research which may, in turn, inform the services they provide in our communities. Finally, the wider LSE community gains a further means of pursuing its goal of ‘educating for global impact’ through civic engagement and volunteering.
Dr. Rosie Coffey, the LSE Volunteer Centre’s Programme Manager, developed this programme remembering that academic research doesn’t always make it out into the ‘real world,’ as amazing ideas can circulate internally and never leave the classroom. As a result, she saw the RVS as a response to the call for connection between the charity and voluntary sector and academia. Rosie notes:
“Academic questions have had a raw deal in the ‘real world’. They conjure up images of rows of impenetrable books, remoteness, even irrelevance in a fast-paced world where people need to make decisions about immediate concerns and to act quickly. But agenda-less tasks have huge change making potential in causing people to see differently. As the adage goes- if you know what you want to find, you’ll always manage to find it. Academic questions allow you to pursue that quest, but at the same time their answers may whisper ‘what if there’s a better way?’”
The 2023-24 academic year will serve as a pilot for the scheme, where LSE master’s student volunteers will answer academic questions posed by charities. The LSE Volunteer Centre received extensive engagement and interest from our charity partners, allowing us to collect a wide variety of theoretical and research-based questions to pair with student applicants.
Further iterations of the RVS will involve both undergraduate and postgraduate communities, and LSE student volunteers will be able to use their studies to create their own questions. This allows students to imagine what they would like to see reflected in the charity sector, potentially challenging or engaging with dominant discourses in a meaningful way.
“There’s something wonderful and unique about an academic question. It’s different from other sorts of professional tasks, including some consultancies. With an academic question, there is no real agenda. It’s open and inquisitive. You can even ‘question the question’ if you like. All you have to do is to follow the evidence.” – Dr. Rosie Coffey
Students can apply via CareerHub individually, or in ready-made pairs or small teams between 30 October-12 November. We look forward to witnessing firsthand the brilliance of the LSE student body in their efforts to make a social impact on, and forge new collaborations with, the charity sector.
