Build the Science Shop of the future through your own research!
The Science Shop brings social research questions to the attention of students, researchers and lecturers. In this way, we create opportunities for scientific research that stems from concrete questions arising from society and brings students and researchers into contact with social organisations.
Science what now?
The Wetenschapswinkel (Science Shop) is an initiative of the VUB, the University of Antwerp and KU Leuven that offers non-profit organisations the opportunity to submit socially relevant research questions. These questions are made available to students, lecturers and researchers via the Wetenschapswinkel database. As a student, you can tackle such a question as part of a (group) project within a course module, a bachelor’s or master’s thesis, or another research assignment. As a researcher or lecturer, you can act as a supervisor or mentor, thereby linking your expertise to a specific societal challenge.
Are you interested in a research question? Through the Science Shop, you can get in touch with the organisation, but the Science Shop can also help you identify relevant academic expertise or a potential supervisor. As soon as a research project is launched, the student, supervisor and organisation jointly agree on the research question, approach, timetable and collaboration. The student takes the initiative in organising this coordination. The supervisor is responsible for providing academic, substantive and procedural guidance for the research.
The Science Shop remains available to answer practical questions and, depending on its operations and available capacity, can offer support in establishing contacts.
Together, these research projects contribute to the exchange of knowledge between the university and society, and the results can support civil society organisations in their work.
Science win-win!
Socially engaged research offers opportunities for everyone involved. As a student, you work on a specific research question drawn from real-world practice and gain relevant research experience. As a researcher or lecturer, you supervise the student and establish links with organisations and topics that can also enrich your own research or teaching.
For community organisations, this collaboration provides access to academic knowledge and research. The research findings can yield new insights and contribute to their operations, policies or further development. The Wetenschapswinkel database serves as the central platform for this collaboration. Partner organisations can submit research questions there, whilst students, lecturers and researchers can discover interesting topics.
Interested? Take a look at the research questions in the database or get in touch via wetenschapswinkel@vub.be.
Vacancy
You are…
- A student/researcher/teacher
- Critical
- Enthusiastic
- Communicative
- Committed
- Bitten by socially engaged research!
What’s in it for you?
- You will actively contribute to strengthening and enlarging the commitment of the VUB to society
- You build a priceless network
- For researchers and lecturers: your research and teaching practice will be enriched by unique input from the field
- For students: you increase your (scientific) knowlegde, learn to apply it in a real-life context, and build on your communication skills
Contact details
Projectleader: Floor Keersmaekers
E-mail: Floor.Keersmaekers@vub.be
*As an Urban Engaged University, we call upon our VUB community to help build a better world through social engagement. On the "The World Needs You" platform, the VUB collects socially meaningful projects on which students, staff, alumni and sympathisers can collaborate. These projects do not represent the university. The initiatives and communication are the responsibility of the project organisers and do not represent the university's position.