Community Engaged Research & Impact (CERI)

Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering No Small Matter Fair

The No Small Matter Molecular Engineering Fair is a half-day event that welcomes 150 middle school students and teachers from four neighborhood schools to explore this emerging field. Led by PME undergraduates and graduates, key events include hands-on demos, science café experiences, and opportunities for young minds to interact with cutting-edge researchers.

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Supporting Community College Student Success: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

A study by the University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab reveals that students who participated in a partner training program from City Colleges of Chicago and One Million Degrees were significantly more likely to enroll in college, remain enrolled, and earn a degree within three years.

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Internet Equity Initiative

The Internet Equity Initiative collaborates to enhance equitable internet access by researching and addressing digital disparities, involving local stakeholders in tailored solutions. Their outcomes include actionable policy recommendations and community-driven projects, aiming to provide high-quality internet service and empower communities for broader digital engagement.

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Voices of Youth Count

Voices of Youth Count (VOYC) is a national, multicomponent research-to-policy initiative led by Chapin Hall to bring actionable evidence to prevent and end youth homelessness. From 2015 through 2017, VOYC conducted the most comprehensive examination to date of youth homelessness, centering youth voices and the practice and policy community to develop achievable solutions.

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About CERI

Community Engaged Research & Impact (CERI) is a coordinating hub for investigators whose research is relevant to Chicago communities to find collaborations, attend relevant workshops across campus, learn about internal and federal funding opportunities, and engage with Broader Impacts efforts to educate the public at large and disseminate their research findings.

CERI will regularly collate these resources and make them available to you, depending on what type of engagement you seek—doing research with the community or extending research for the community as a part of your education and outreach efforts for Broader Impacts (BI).

Engaging with Chicago’s Communities

CERI is designed to support the University of Chicago in becoming the leading institution in developing, studying, and implementing evidence-based solutions for addressing the social, educational, environmental, public safety, and public health challenges of major cities like Chicago.

Based in the Office of Research, CERI spans a range of research engagement with the community, including:

Working with community partners to conduct collaborative research projects;
Carrying out studies in the community to understand complex clinical, social, economic, educational, and environmental issues;
Creating more opportunities for community-academic dialogue regarding community priorities, relevant research findings, and their implications;
Integrating the community as a key setting for Broader Impacts programming and enabling greater educational and mentoring opportunities, upskill training and workforce development;
Developing plans for research communication and dissemination.

We are fortunate that a wide range of successful and prominent initiatives and centers across UChicago’s academic divisions and professional schools are engaged with the community. The number and variety of these efforts makes it difficult to be aware of them and to establish productive collaborations for faculty across divisions, especially for faculty who are seeking to engage with trusted community partners or to collaborate on cross-sectional, interdisciplinary research projects.

To harness, promote, and grow this form of research, CERI will serve as a networking center of resources including like-minded investigators, community collaborators, and funding for research activities.

Goals of Community-Engaged Research

Unique to community engaged research is the idea that community itself is regarded as a precious resource that needs to be cultivated and sustained over time. No matter what type of research is being done at UChicago, its impact depends on the mutually respectful, trusting, and sustainable relationships between University researchers and their community partners. The mission of the truly engaged University depends on the ability to establish mutually beneficial, long-term relationships between researchers and our partners in the wider society including local communities, industry, and civic organizations.

The goals of CERI are to:

Grow and strengthen research infrastructure for conducting community-engaged research at UChicago;
Identify and support UChicago investigators interested in community-engaged research;
Promote interdisciplinary interactions related to community-engaged research across the divisions and schools.

Get Started with CERI

Find Collaborations

Explore faculty-based and community-based opportunities >

Funding Opportunities

Learn about seed, pilot, and federal funding for community-based research >

Broader Impacts

Explore resources to fulfill broader impacts requirements and demonstrate the impact from your research >

Reach out to Elbert Huang (Senior Advisor to the Vice Provost for Research) with any questions about University-wide opportunities to collaborate, seek funding, or demonstrate Broader Impacts with community-based research.

Email Elbert