Inquiry with impact

Research Support

The Institute for Social Transformation (IST) can support UCSC faculty to deepen their community and stakeholder engagement and improve their research outcomes to advance system solutions for equitable societies, resilient democracies, and environmental justice.

The institute can support any phase of a faculty’s project, emphasizing proposal coordination, research administration/implementation, ethical data management, and public-facing events and workshops. Involving us from the onset of project planning is your best chance to ensure we can support your initiative. Reach out to Ned LeBlond, Managing Director of IST (nleblond@ucsc.edu), 2-3 months in advance of proposal submission to integrate any of the following core institute competencies:

Grant proposal coordination

  • Grant development in partnership with divisional and campus research development with an IST focus on integrating human centered design throughout the project lifecycle
  • Advance stakeholder/community engagement outcomes with potential IST staff time
  • Review proposal narratives to integrate stakeholder/community aspirations and goals while ensuring funding alignment
  • Potential co-PI organizational planning and project leadership

Project coordination, administration, and events

  • Internal partner communications and project development, including website development
  • Community outreach and networking, including building and maintaining partnerships with partner organizations and helping to communicate community successes
  • Stakeholder outreach and liaison
  • Partner and community scope of work development
  • Non-standard vendor and individual partner payment advice and support
  • IST staff supervision while supporting initiative goals
  • Financial planning and scenario development
  • Events to engage communities, educate stakeholders and the public

Data, analysis, writing & dissemination

  • Secondary data collection and analysis
  • Survey design and implementation
  • Interviews and focus groups
  • Writing assistance
  • Published public reports, video series or tool (different from academic writing)

Workshops and trainings with faculty and community partners/external stakeholders

  • Prepare researchers to ethically work with communities and develop mutually beneficial goals
  • Conduct trainings with community partners and/or relevant stakeholders to translate research findings into integrated solutions
  • Capacity building with community members and organizations to empower people to make change 
  • Linking academic research to community organizing and/or advocacy campaign strategies
  • Coordinating speakers’ series, keynotes, webinars and/or events that uplift the work of faculty alongside community partners, students and those otherwise engaged on the ground

Faculty who plan to submit a research proposal should contact Ashlee Tews, Director of Research Development for Social Sciences, as soon as possible (ashleeac@ucsc.edu).

For support with development and fundraising, click here or contact Joop Rubens, Managing Director of Development for Social Sciences (jrubens@ucsc.edu).

Rooted in the Social Sciences Division at UC Santa Cruz, the Institute for Social Transformation supports innovative scholarship that changes the world. The institute is a critical intellectual and social hub, connecting scholars across UC Santa Cruz and partners beyond the University, developing research-based solutions to urgent problems in the world. For more information about the institute and our work, explore: