Recruitment for Reach Alliance Project 2024-26

This two-year interdisciplinary project, "Blind Spot: Enabling Gender-Inclusive Climate Action in Peri-Urban Regions in India," led by Dr. Lakshmi Rajendran from The Bartlett School of Architecture and Dr. Pushpa Arabindoo from Geography/the Institute of Advanced Studies, addresses critical issues around climate resilience, gender inequality, and social justice affecting marginalised women in India's peri-urban regions.

Reach is an engaging extracurricular opportunity designed for dedicated students. It involves working on a case study across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, and includes a field trip, followed by activities to share and discuss the findings after the case study is published. 

The Positions Offer
• Research Costs Covered: Funding for research expenses, including travel, training, resources for fieldwork and data collection.
• Global Collaborative Network: Reach Alliance investigates how critical interventions and innovations reach those who are the hardest to reach and will work with partners with cross-sectoral organisations to translate actionable research insights for impact. In our case, you will get to engage with national and international institutions, such as the National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala Institute of Local Administration, MAKAAM, C40 Cities, and UN Habitat.
• Skill-Building in Participatory Methods: Training in oral histories, community filmmaking, and other participatory techniques, equipping you with practical skills in community engagement and advocacy.
• Mentorship & Publishing Opportunities: Over the next two years, selected students will benefit from the mentorship of Dr. Lakshmi Rajendran and Dr. Pushpa Arabindoo, with expertise in urban studies, social and spatial justice in the Global South to gain hands on experience in research design and analysis.  In addition, you will also work with performance coaches, top students from across the university and gain skills and experience through a curated professional skills development series. Selected candidates will also have co-authoring opportunities on project publications as well as access professional development workshops and seminars. 

The project aligns with several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 13 (Climate Action). Participation in this project will complement and enhance your existing postgraduate studies (taught and research), with the flexibility to integrate insights and methodologies from Blind Spot into your primary research focus.

Participants in the Reach programme become part of a like-minded community across partner universities and have an opportunity to attend conferences worldwide alongside gaining knowledge translation tools to impact decision-makers. While this is ideally suited for PhD students, we welcome applications from MSc and MPhil students, especially those enrolled in a two-year programme or part-time allowing you to pursue this in parallel to your studies over a two-year period. 

Please note that this project will run alongside your ongoing studies, allowing you to apply the learning and experiences gained in ways most relevant to your own learning focus.

Application Process
To apply, email Dr. Pushpa Arabindoo at p.arabindoo@ucl.ac.uk and Dr. Lakshmi Priya Rajendran at l.rajendran@ucl.ac.uk  with the subject line “Reach Alliance Application,” attaching:
1.    A two-page CV
2.    A one-page motivation letter

Application Deadline is 15 January 2025, Interview Dates for shortlisted candidates are in late January 2025.