Support
Our community is buzzing with ideas. For those who want to develop or scale up digital and data-led projects, we're here to help and offer practical assistance in developing projects. We can provide an informal sounding board for ideas in early stages, offering guidance on possible next steps, options and troubleshooting. Within our network we have experience and expertise across many disciplines and research methods.
If you have a digital or data-led project that you think we might be able to help with, let us know. We can give advice on how to get started and may be able to connect you to others with relevant interests and experience.
Chat to us
One of the best ways to develop your ideas is in conversation with others. We hold monthly Digital Fikas, where you can meet other people working on data-led projects across the college, and discuss ideas over coffee and cake.
Consult a Research Technologist
We have a Research Technologist within the CDCS team who provides support to researchers working on digital projects and websites. Get in touch to arrange a meeting to talk through early stage ideas, troubleshoot or get guidance on ongoing projects.
Data Surgeries
Are you struggling with your own data? Do you need some advice and support on how to efficiently adopt data-driven methods for your project? Book a spot at our Data Surgery where we can provide you with advice on how to process your data, how to troubleshoot issues or point you towards more information or training.
Prototyping
We run regular opens calls for projects that are developing digital outputs and need support with prototyping, and have held rapid prototyping sandpits that enable researchers to learn from one another.
Seed funding
We can provide small amounts of funding for pilot projects and the purchase of datasets. Watch out for our funding calls, or get in touch to discuss how we can help.
Training Bursaries
We offer a limited number of bursaries to allow members of staff and PhD students to develop their digital and computational skills by attending workshops, summer schools and other scholarly training events.
Showcasing Success
We run an annual celebration of data-led and computational research: the CDCS Digital Research Prizes. Our call for nominations goes out before Christmas and the winners are announced in late Spring, with each winner receiving a small award of research funding.
Providing infrastructure
We look for opportunities to provide services that our community uses. We currently run two hosting services, one for TEI and XML databases and the other for Omeka sites. Go to our Resources page for more information.
I’m researching contemporary political events in the Middle East using data scraped from social media. I needed to identify how to develop my own coding skills to enable me to capture data effectively. I went along to one of the CDCS clinics, and the research technologist was able to help me sort out my python scripts: it was extremely useful and in a short time, with his help, I was able to make a huge step forward with my research. I’ve since successfully applied for a CDCS bursary to develop my skills at a Social Media Methods summer school, from which my project will also benefit enormously.
Adam Ferron, PhD Student in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
you might also be interested in ...
EFI Research
The Edinburgh Futures Institute has a Research team dedicated to supporting collaborative, data-driven and interdisciplinary research innovation across the University of Edinburgh and four key sectors: Creative Industries, Financial Services and FinTech, Public Services, Tourism and Festivals. For relevant projects, they provide support in grant development and submission, and funding.
Edinburgh Research Office
The Edinburgh Research Office can provide specialist knowledge and targeted support for funding research projects at any scale, from small awards to complex interdisciplinary bids. The College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences also has a dedicated Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, based in the Research Office. They can support researchers in identifying ways to enhance the impact of their projects and ensure that they engage stakeholders effectively.
Edinburgh Innovations
Edinburgh Innovations assist researchers in industry engagement and business development, enterprise support and the identification, management and commercialisation of University intellectual property.