The EWB-UK Rapid Research Response Secondment Scheme will begin in September 2009. In the first year of the project The University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London and The University of Nottingham will each have one PhD student participating in the scheme. The programme will be funded by a grant administered through the Enhanced Learning and Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA) scheme, under the auspices of Save the Children.

The ELHRA Scheme set out to fund projects which would increase the engagement between institutes of higher education and organisations working in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. At present, engagement, in the few instances when it does occur, is completely ad-hoc. Without opening these lines of communication the likelihood of academia responding to the needs of the humanitarian sector is greatly diminished. Also, the most relevant knowledge generated at the academic level will not reach the humanitarian sector, where it has the potential to be put to practical use.

The EWB-UK Rapid Research Secondment Scheme seeks to overcome the communication and general structural barriers of engagement between humanitarian organisations and institutes of higher education. In addition, EWB-UK will ensure that the relationships are sustainable (i.e. not dependent on specific contacts at Universities and Humanitarian Organisations). With EWB-UK acting as a network facilitator the practice of engagement between the two sectors will evolve and a common language will develop, clearing the way for future engagement.

This project also symbolises a huge moment of growth for EWB-UK research. EWB-UK research has so far been able to conduct demand driven research organically within a variety of academic institutions all over the UK. We have felt this to be an effective means to address the research concerns of institutions in the developing world while making use of academic capacity within the UK. Our programme is growing and improving its capacity to deal with research questions on a variety of themes and with different skill level requirements. The funding from the ELHRA scheme will allow us to improve our responsiveness and run time-sensitive projects. We are on our way to tackling ‘humanitarian assistance and disaster relief’ research needs.