Community Research Café
Free, informal research advice at Edinburgh Futures Institute
Whether you’re planning a research or evaluation study, developing a funding bid, collecting evidence, or wondering how best to answer a research question, our Community Research Café is a place to talk through your ideas.
Hosted by the Binks Hub and Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI), in collaboration with the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR) and the University of Edinburgh’s Community Engagement team, our cafés provide friendly, practical advice from experienced researchers with expertise across qualitative, quantitative, mixed and creative research methods.
Come with a fully formed project or simply the seed of an idea – we’re happy to help you think it through!
What can we help with?
You might want advice about:
- planning a research or evaluation project
- choosing appropriate research methods
- designing surveys, interviews or focus groups
- creative and participatory approaches
- analysing qualitative or quantitative data
- demonstrating impact
- ethics
- involving communities in research
- funding opportunities
- making sense of evidence
- communicating findings
- working with digital and online data sources
If we don’t know the answer ourselves, we’ll usually know who does.
Who are the cafés for?
The cafés are open to anyone interested in using research to improve policy, practice or community life, including:
- community organisations
- charities and voluntary organisations
- public sector organisations
- social enterprises
- practitioners
No previous research experience is needed. You don’t need to be based in Edinburgh or working on research in Scotland.
What happens at a café?
Our cafés are informal, welcoming conversations rather than formal consultations.
Drop in for a coffee and a biscuit, and tell us about the work you’re doing. We’ll help you think through possible next steps. Some questions can be answered there and then; others may lead to suggestions for training, funding or further support.
There is no charge and no expectation that your project will involve the University.
Beyond the café
The café is intended as a gateway into a wider ecosystem of research support across the University of Edinburgh. Following your conversation, we may signpost you to training opportunities, funding schemes, student placements, University services or potential collaborators that could help you develop your work further.
To ensure the café remains welcoming, sustainable and accessible to as many organisations as possible, any follow-up is coordinated through the Community Research Café team rather than individual researchers.
The methods specialists who staff the cafés generously volunteer their time to provide advice during each session, and we therefore ask that any further enquiries are directed to the café team.
If you would like to continue the conversation after attending a session, please contact the Community Research Café team on local@ed.ac.uk, and we will be happy to help you explore the most appropriate next steps.