Democratizing University Research

TL;DR

This paper describes an experimental program at a university that provides free access to research resources and mentorship to promote interdisciplinary research among all university members, analyzing its successes, challenges, and future directions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hackspace initiative that democratizes access to research tools and mentorship, fostering a large and diverse interdisciplinary community within a university.

Findings

Large community engagement achieved

Identified key factors for success and failure

Provided metrics for assessing research empowerment

Abstract

We detail an experimental programme we have been testing in our university. Our Advanced Hackspace, attempts to give all members of the university, from students to technicians, free access to the means to develop their own interdisciplinary research ideas, with resources including access to specialized fellows and biological and chemical hacklabs. We assess the aspects of our programme that led to our community being one of the largest collectives in our university and critically examine the successes and failures of our trial programmes. We supply metrics for assessing progress and outline challenges. We conclude with future directions that advance interdisciplinary research empowerment for all university members.