From Q to A

Criteria

You qualify as an applicant if you meet these three criteria:

• you do not have the financial means to carry out research yourself or to have research carried out for you;
• you do not have the expertise to carry out research yourself;
• your question does not have a commercial purpose.

Exceptions

• We can also help private individuals if the question is relevant to a larger group of people.
• Questions from small and medium-sized enterprises and from government institutions only qualify if they are not eligible for contract research. Requests from financially secure organisations will be directed to the university's Interface service.

In the past, the Science Shop has received requests from local residents, citizen groups, stakeholders, schools, museums, minority groups, patient associations, environmental organisations, and many others.

Register your organisation using the Flemish Network of Science Shops database (link leggen naar http://www.wetenschapswinkel.be/databank/login). You can then submit your question using a login and password.

Intake interview and report

As soon as we receive your application, a member of the Science Shop staff in your province (or nearby) will contact you for an initial interview. The staff member will make a report of the intake interview and send it to the other regional Science Shops. If your question meets the requirements below, it will be added to the online database and can then be consulted by students.

Criteria

Your question qualifies if:

• it is related to the expertise available at a university of university college connected to the Flemish Network of Science Shops;
• it can be investigated in a neutral and objective way;
• sufficient reliable research material is available or can be collected;
• it is socially relevant.

We will let you know if your question has been accepted or not.

Topics that have already been dealt with by the Science Shop include environment, welfare and health, ethnic and cultural minorities, education, culture, the elderly, young people, gender issues, policy, transport, and so on.

Each regional Science Shop looks for experts and students at its own institution who might be able to answer your question, either by giving advice or conducting research. The questions are presented to students in an online database that is promoted through Blackboard, mailings and contact with supervisors.

We cannot guarantee that you will receive an answer to your question within a certain time period. Please note that Science Shop activities depend on the academic timetable and the availability of student researchers.

1. Checking the question:
When a student researcher selects a question, he or she contacts the organisation involved to check their expectations.

2. Selecting the question:
If the student researcher decides to select the question as a dissertation topic, it is marked as 'selected' and is no longer available to other students. The student researcher then looks for a supervisor.

3. Kick-off meeting:
The student researcher, supervisor, applicant and Science Shop mediator meet to discuss the research focus (research question, methodology and planning) and expenses budget, if applicable.

4. Research focus development:
 The student researcher starts to develop the research focus, often in the form of a preliminary paper. This document is submitted for approval to all parties involved (supervisor, applicant and Science Shop).

5. Signing the memorandum of understanding:
Once the research focus and expenses budget have been determined, all parties are invited to sign the memorandum of understanding. All the relevant agreements, set out in writing in the intermediary report, form part of the memorandum of understanding alongside the research focus, Science Shop procedures (Link naar pdf met werkwijze leggen) and expenses budget, if applicable. If adjustments are made during the course of the research, the Science Shop should be notified and the changes added as an appendix.

The research starts after the kick-off meeting.

6. Follow-up:
The student researcher maintains close contact with the supervisor, who monitors the research in terms of content and scientific approach. The student researcher keeps the applicant informed about the progress he or she makes. The applicant can assist in finding research material (e.g. literature, respondents, experts, etc.). The student researcher also keeps the mediator informed about his or her progress, and ideally includes them in any correspondence with the organisation.

The mediator monitors the research according to the usual processes. This means that he or she oversees the planning, follows up, makes adjustments whenever necessary and, if problems arise, plays a mediating role in the discussions. Interim reports or meetings about the research can also be arranged at the request of the applicant organisation, student researcher, supervisor or mediator.

7. Submitting the research report:
If the student passes his or her dissertation (with a minimum score of 10/20), the mediator or student researcher then hands the dissertation over to the applicant and publishes it on the Science Shop webpage (unless other agreements have been made about the publication of the research results).

8. Compensation:
Upon receipt of the dissertation, the applicant reimburses the student researcher for his or her expenses according to the expenses budget (if applicable).

9. Publication:
Once the research has been finalised, the mediator consults with the parties involved to determine the extent to which the results can be disseminated and which options are most suitable. Wider public dissemination can take various forms, such as press releases, articles and study days. Needless to say, the student researcher and supervisor are also involved in this process, as the authors of the work.

The research is conducted at the lowest possible rates.

The organisation is expected to meet the cost of the research either in whole or in part, and the contribution depends on the kind of research being conducted and the organisation's financial resources. The financial arrangements between the organisation, the Science Shop and the student researcher are determined in the budget and the contract.