News

Community organisations invited to partner on research projects

Applications are open for community organisations to partner with Australian Catholic University (ACU) on research projects that address social justice issues, community wellbeing, or Catholic identity and ethos.

ACU’s Stakeholder Engaged Scholarship Unit (SESU) is now accepting research proposals from organisations that serve people who experience marginalisation or disadvantage.

Successful organisations will develop their projects alongside ACU academics to co-deliver tailored and evidence-based research or resources.

Organisations that focus a majority of their work on the common and social good are eligible to apply. Applications are welcome for research in Australia or international locations.

Since launching in 2020, the SESU has supported 26 partner organisations, both faith-based and secular, to deliver 22 community-initiated research projects. Some of the social issues addressed by previous and current SESU projects include financial precarity, family violence, suicide prevention, support to families of premature babies, and healthy ageing.

SESU Advisory Group chair Br David Hall fms said the unit’s community-initiated research projects were having a broad impact in community groups both in Australia and overseas.

“ACU’s Stakeholder Engaged Scholarship Unit is embarking on its sixth year and in that short time our community research projects have led to real-world impact and change,” Br Hall said.

“For instance, some of our partner organisations have expanded their community programs or services as a result of a SESU project, while the findings of some projects have supported advocacy on numerous social issues at a national level.

“The impact of this unique collaboration between community organisations and university research cannot be understated, and I look forward to reviewing new applications in 2025.”

Applications for the SESU’s Expressions of Interest (EOI) 2025 round will open Monday 10 February and close on Friday 14 March 6pm AEDT. Successful organisations will be notified by April with research planning to commence in mid-2025.

Interested community organisations can attend an online EOI information session, hosted by the SESU, on Tuesday 25 February 2025, 10am-11.30am AEDT via Teams. Click here to register for the EOI information session.

For more information about the SESU’s Expressions of Interest, contact the SESU Manager, Hasret Mehmedali, on sesu@acu.edu.au or visit the SESU website.