Partner Organisations

The Crick Centre is a small strategic organisation that punches above its weight in terms of visibility and impact by working with a number of partner organisations all around the world. The breadth and variety of these organisations is great, as is the variety of relationships that the Crick Centre maintains. In a large number of cases we have a ‘light touch’ relationship with organisations and we may only come into contact or co-operate with each other around a specific project or request from the public; in some cases we might actually have a closer working relationship that involves co-hosting events or engagement activities or seeks to apply for research funding on the basis of pooled funds. In other cases external organisations may actually commission the Crick Centre to undertake research projects or to play an advisory role in relation to specific events or challenges. Over time we would hope to cultivate a number of relationships that fund specific studentships or post-doctoral fellowships within the Crick Centre. In the spirit of complete openness it is true to say that the Crick Centre is in its infancy as an institution and it is learning to take its first initial steps as an organisation that sits at the intersection of higher education, the public sphere and the political sphere. Like all infants the Crick Centre is likely to fall – or at the very least stumble – from-time-to-time and we will learn from our mistakes but in this immediate first opening phase we are keen to establish working relationships with organisations from across the public, private and third sectors that share a commitment to the intellectual and social values of the Crick Centre at two levels. The first level is simply to generate a list of partner organisations who are willing to be formally recognised as a ‘partner institution’ in the simple sense that we would publicise each others existence and communicate information on events, activities and mutually beneficial opportunities. It is hoped that some of these first-level relationships would then evolve into a deeper (second stage) partnership involving (amongst other things) potential funding streams or in-kind contributions, the creation of international networks based around promoting the findings of original research, the develop of new activities that might utilise the Crick Centre’s various residencies or offer the Crick Centre team new challenges. Where a decision is made to enter into a deeper and more formalised relationship with an external partner the Crick Centre will not be drawn into explicitly partisan party politics and nor will it allow its academic integrity or independence to be compromised. Where external funding (donations, endowments, etc.) is involved the University of Sheffield will ensure that all contributions are approved by the existing ethical approval framework. Full details of all Crick Centre projects and funding streams will be clearly highlighted in the website.

If you are interested in becoming a partner organisation of the Crick Centre (whatever your size, focus or location) then please get in touch via [email protected]