Research Sandpits
Previous Sandpits
“The mix of disciplines and the fantastic facilitating team allowed us to form a truly interdisciplinary group that worked really well together. ”
— Marianne Ellis
Chemical Engineering
Sport and technology Sandpit
“The Sandpit was a fantastic opportunity to work with colleagues that I might otherwise not encounter.”
— John Troyer
Social & Policy Sciences
Sustainable water Sandpit
Our Research Sandpits are residential interactive workshops that stimulate research proposals in promising areas of research for the University.
They take place over a number of days and involve 20-24 participants, facilitators and independent stakeholders. A multidisciplinary mix of participants is an essential element to drive lateral thinking and radical approaches to addressing particular research challenges.
How do they work?
The Research Sandpit process comprises:
- Defining the scope of the issue.
- Agreeing common language and terminology amongst people from a very diverse range of backgrounds.
- Sharing understanding of the problem domain, and the expertise brought by the participants to the sandpit.
- Taking part in break-out sessions focused on the problem domain, using creative and innovative thinking techniques.
- Capturing the outputs in the form of a research project.
Benefits of attending
- Collaboration with colleagues across the University
- Space to explore ideas
- Continual peer review
- Support to develop proposals
University of Bath staff can access further information about attending a Sandpit.
