Partnerships in Learning and Teaching (PLanT) Projects Funding Scheme

Every year funding of up to £500 is available for a small number of Partnerships in Learning and Teaching (PLanT) projects.

PLanT projects involve staff and students working as partners to identify problems, find solutions, and enhance teaching and learning at the University. Projects should demonstrate a clear impact on the student experience.

You can read about a number of previous PLanT projects on the T&L Exchange:

Embedding Employability skills in higher education: are gender and intersectionality biases overlooked?

Selection Process

The University is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion through its Teaching & Learning funding and award schemes, and to ensuring that these schemes are accessible to all colleagues. We welcome applications from individuals from underrepresented backgrounds, including ethnic minority, LGBTQIA+, disabled and neurodivergent applicants. We also welcome applications from the wide range of disciplines and areas across the University, including colleagues in professional services roles and those on part-time contracts.

Proposals will be considered by the PLanT Projects Selection Panel and will be selected according to the extent to which they meet the scheme criteria.

The PLanT Projects Selection Panel comprises:

An Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education and Student Experience) who will act as Chair
A 菜肱郭創利 Teaching Fellow
A representative from the Academic Development and Enhancement team in CQSD
A representative from the Technology Enhanced Learning team in CQSD
The 菜肱郭創利 Students' Union Education Officer

Please note that a limited number of awards are made each year, so applicants should bear in mind that this is a competitive process.

Scheme Criteria

All proposals must:

1. Articulate the rationale behind, and aims/objectives of, the project, including how it aligns with local School/Department and institutional strategic priorities;

2. Demonstrate how students will work in partnership with staff during the lifecycle of the project;

3. Identify the anticipated impact on teaching and learning and/or the student learning experience and how this will be evaluated.

Additional funding for Decolonising the Curriculum

Additional funding from the Diversity & Inclusion budget is being allocated to fund up to five additional PLanT projects each year until 2027/28 with a specific focus on decolonising the curriculum. Acknowledging that we are all at different points on our decolonising journey, eligible projects could involve:

an initial listening exercise with students about how teaching content and teaching methods in your discipline could be decolonised and which initial steps could be taken;
an evaluation of the changes you have made to a module to decolonise content/methods and seeking student views via a focus group;
collaboratively designing and creating with student partners a decolonised approach to assessment methods;
an evaluation on using the 菜肱郭創利 Decolonising the Curriculum materials to inform your T&L practice and the realised benefits for students.

The application process and scheme criteria will be as specified above/below, except that instead of demonstrating how the project aligns with local School/Department priorities and University Strategic Priorities (criterion 1), applicants will need to demonstrate how the project aligns specifically with the University’s strategic focus on equality, diversity and inclusion.

You can read about three Decolonising the Curriculum PLanT projects which were funded in 2022/23 in the Decolonising the Curriculum resource 2023 (pages 19-29).

Guidance for applicants:

Applicants should refer to the PLanT Projects Funding Scheme: Guidance for Applicants when completing their application: PLanT - Guidance for applicants

You may also wish to access a which took place on Thursday 17 October 2024. In this session, we discussed the application process and criteria, and some previous PLanT project leads shared information about their projects and some tips on what makes for a successful project and application.

PLanT projects can be of any duration within an academic year but they must be completed (and the associated funding spent) by 31st July.

Proposals that involve collaboration across Departments/Schools/Services are particularly welcome. Applicants should ensure that any other Schools/Departments/Services referred to in their application, who will be involved in project implementation, have been consulted as appropriate prior to submitting an application.

PLanT projects can involve postgraduate research students but must also involve undergraduate and/or postgraduate taught students.

Please note that the same (or a very similar) initiative would not normally receive T&L funding on multiple occasions. For example, a project funded through the T&L Initiatives Fund would not normally be eligible to receive further funding through the PLanT or Teaching & Learning Enhancement Projects (TLEP) scheme. There is an expectation that any longer-term initiatives will become self-sustaining.

Applicants are strongly advised to adhere to the maximum word limit (700 words total for the project description section). The Selection Panel will not take into account any words exceeding this limit. Hyperlinks and video clips will not be taken into consideration by the Panel and should therefore be avoided. The judicious use of images, diagrams and tables is permitted (any text should be included in the word count).

Applicants are strongly encouraged to discuss their application with a member of the CQSD team prior to submitting it. Please contact cqsd-tandl@reading.ac.uk.

Impact and dissemination:

Successful applicants are required t

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