Imperial College London has identified Home Black students as underrepresented in its undergraduate student population. It has therefore committed in its Access and Participation Plan to double the intake of Black heritage students by 2025. Access and participation plans set out how higher education providers such as universities will improve access to, success during and progression from university, specifically for groups that are underrepresented.
The Outreach Seed Fund for Recruiting Black Students* will support students at the College to develop and deliver Outreach initiatives targeted at engaging Black UK students with our research and education to inspire the next generation of Black UK students to make a successful application to the College.
The Outreach Seed Fund for Recruiting Black Students is open to Imperial students only.
*This includes Black or Black British- African, Black or Black British- Caribbean, Other Black Background, Mixed- Black African and White, Mixed- Black Caribbean and White, or Other Mixed background (including Black African, Black Caribbean or Other Black background).
Information for Applicants
Seed Fund details
The Imperial Seed Fund for Recruiting Black Students has been introduced to:
- Provide the opportunity for more Imperial role models to engage with pre-university Black African and Black Caribbean students in order to support students from this demographic, who are underrepresented at the college, to explore STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) opportunities and pathways.
- Encourage and enable a wider range, and greater number of, Imperial students to develop and deliver new outreach initiatives.
- Enhance the diversity of student-led outreach initiatives across Imperial and increase the number of student-led approaches to Outreach.
- Engage current Black students and encourage them to create and execute meaningful initiatives to help increase their sense of belonging at the College.
Seed Fund proposals could include a discrete project or a pilot activity to be further developed, and should include one or more of the following outcomes:
- Demystify: messaging that helps to demystify the process of applying to university
- Support: messaging which showcases the support and care students receive to develop the skills needed to apply to Imperial
- Picture themselves: messaging that helps students picture themselves studying at Imperial. We use this to focus on aspects of belonging, ensuring that everyone can see themselves reflected in the students we profile and the passion and interests of Imperial students, for example, through student societies, volunteering etc.
- Academic attainment: offering STEM specific subject support
Funding
A total of £5,000 is available from the Access and Participation budget.
Applicants can request funding in the range of £100 - £1,000 to support projects that involve innovative, two-way, creative approaches to:
- engage Black students with Imperial,
- demystify STEM pathways and career opportunities,
- and support students with their STEM studies and journey to higher education.
The application form, guidance, desired outcomes and eligibility criteria outlined in the rest of the document still apply to these projects.
Eligibility
- The Principal Applicant must be a current Imperial student (UG or PG)
- Proposals can involve a team made up of students, Imperial academics, staff or alumni and/or external partners, alongside the Principal Applicant.
- Initiatives need to be aimed at a UK audience and must engage at least one of the following primary audiences: school students, schools, local community groups, teachers, parents/carers, local authorities or charities, and may also engage the government or media as a secondary audience.
- Existing outreach activities may be eligible for funding, as long as the proposal demonstrates that the intervention has proved effective and is fits with the objectives of this fund.
- Exhibiting at the Imperial Festival or other public events should not be the sole objective of the proposal, although proposals can incorporate the Festival or Lates events as one output among others.
Applications open |
Monday 30 September 2024 |
Closing date for applications |
Monday 6 January 2025 |
Application reviewed |
w/c Monday 13 January 2025 |
Outcome delivered |
w/c Monday 3 February 2025 |
Project delivery phase
|
February to July 2025 |
Project completion and evaluation report due |
31 July 2025 |
Before applying, you are advised to read the following, Outreach Seed Fund Guidance Notes and How to Avoid Common Pitfalls when applying to our Seed Fund. Both documents can be found at the end of the webpage.
One supporting document is allowed per application (no more than two pages in length) that either provides images or diagrams or provides details of a previous or similar project, to help illustrate your proposal. There is a section in the application form where you can upload this.
Please follow this link to complete the online Application Form: Outreach Seed Fund Application Form or click on the tab on the end of this webpage.
For any questions, please contact h.jama@imperial.ac.uk.
Contact us
For any questions, please contact Hanna Jama, Diversity and Inclusion Programme Coordinator