The collaborative dissertation was a great experience for me. Being able to apply your learning to really help an external organisation is an invaluable opportunity that I’d highly recommend.  Doing the dissertation collaboratively really helped me to engage with the subject more as I was in direct contact with those working in the field. The whole process went very smoothly and there was good communication from both the organisation I was collaborating with and the coordinator. Moreover, I was able to work on employability skills including communication which is great for the CV. In this sense I am sure the experience will greatly help me to transition from academia to the workplace.

- James Adam, MRes Public Policy

Being involved in the collaborative dissertation was a valuable process and allowed us to capture information in real time, during the pandemic on the views of early years' colleagues and local families with young children on the impacts of the pandemic for them/their service. This also revealed implications to think about for going forward. I would recommend a collaborative dissertation as it was a valuable opportunity that can complement your current work priorities.

- Siobhan Boyle, Health Improvement Lead (Early Years) , NHS GCC


First published: 5 November 2021