Funding
Find out more about our Collaborate fund and how it seeks to underpin cultural policy and practice with rigorous research.
Hear about the benefits of collaborative research, read resources about developing successful partnerships and stay up-to-date with future funding rounds.
Company Chameleon perform Witness This on Manchester city centre streets. Photo: Joel Chester Fildes
What is Collaborate?
The Centre for Cultural Value’s Collaborate fund supports the development of new research projects between the UK cultural sector and academic researchers.
Collaborate projects ask questions about the difference arts, culture, heritage and screen makes to people’s lives. Through exploring cultural value, project teams also develop and implement a range of creative research methodologies.
The Centre has committed to investing £200,000 into the UK cultural sector through the fund.
Which projects have received funding?
We have now awarded funding to 11 Collaborate projects.
The funded projects involve a wide range of art forms and cultural organisations of varying scales, from national players to smaller grassroots organisations.
They will explore a diverse range of co-created research questions, involving academics from various disciplines, including science, business and the arts.
What are the benefits of collaborative research?
The Collaborate fund creates the space for cultural practitioners and academics to share experiences, skills, knowledge and perspectives.
For cultural sector participants, working with an academic researcher opens up new ways of thinking about their practice. It also allows them to develop collaborative research skills and networks for future work.
For academics, there is the chance to implement research in a different context and develop creative methodologies alongside a highly engaged partner.
Hear from the Collaborate partnership between Compass Live Art and York St John University. Footage credit: Matt Rogers
When will the fund reopen?
Collaborate is currently closed for applications.
Sign up to our newsletter to be sure to hear about future funding rounds.
You can read more about how we selected Collaborate projects on the How the fund works page.
Interested in forging your own collaborative research project? Explore these resources:
Helpful resources
Have you ever wanted to do research but didn’t have either the resources or expertise to do it alone? If the answer is yes, this guide might be what you’re looking for.
This guide will help you consider the potential benefits of research partnerships with academics.
This guide will help you develop the research questions that structure your research.
This guide will help you think about how every stage of your evaluation process can be developed with the different stakeholders and audiences you work with.
What makes a great collaboration? Marianna Hay and Lisa Baxter draw out lessons from a range of partnerships.