University of Essex and The Brilliant Club partner to improve access and participation for Black students in postgraduate research
We are delighted that the University of Essex’s bid to the Office for Students and Research England for funding to improve access and participation for Black students in postgraduate research has been successful.
The Brilliant Club is a partner in Transitions and Transformations: Black Researcher’s Journey and will offer training and internships during the course of the four-year project.
Transitions and Transformations will be a four-year project beginning in 2022 that aims to boost postgraduate research access, participation, and good outcomes for UK-domiciled Black students. It focuses on structured longitudinal research exposure and engagement, research training support, and network building for Black (future) researchers.
The project will receive a share of nearly £8 million of funding provided by Research England – part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) – and the Office for Students to UK higher education providers and partners.
The Brilliant Club and the University of Essex have worked together since 2017 and have had a formal partnership since 2019, mobilising postgraduate researchers and training them to share their expertise in non-selective state schools. This is an exciting next step in our partnership together.
The Brilliant Club’s Chief Programme and Communities Officer, Susie Whigham, said:
“The goals of Transitions and Transformations: The Black Researcher’s Journey align with a core strand of our new strategy, Join the Club. Over the next five years, we will support 11,000 students to succeed at university. We are excited to partner with the University of Essex on this project, and we hope to make a meaningful contribution to the improvement of access and success for Black students in postgraduate study.”
Professor Sanja Bahun, Dean of Postgraduate Research and Education at the University of Essex, said: “Our community and our partners want to take bold and far-reaching actions to challenge underrepresentation and make sure talented Black students have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and achieve their aspirations within higher education and in other types of research-related organisations.”
To find out more about The Brilliant Club’s five-year strategy, click here.
To find out more about the University of Essex’s Transitions and Transformations project, click here.
To read media coverage of the announcement from BBC News, click here.