New Researchers
VSSN’s New Researchers group is an inclusive community for anyone who considers themselves new to voluntary sector and volunteering research. There’s no single definition of “new researcher” here, you might be new to research, new to the voluntary sector, new to a project or role, or simply looking for a supportive space to connect. We welcome postgraduate and doctoral researchers, early career researchers, practitioners and research staff in the VCSE sector, and those in-between.
Our aim is to offer a welcoming base for anyone who feels “new” to the field, helping people connect, navigate the research landscape, and learn together.
VSSN supports its New Researchers in a number of ways, including:
- New Researchers Online Sessions
- New Researchers Day prior to the annual Voluntary Sector & Volunteering Research Conference
- New Researchers mailing/discussion list
- Occasional, ad hoc activities, events & opportunities
New Researchers’ Online Sessions
Our main sessions run quarterly through the year and are designed to support connection, confidence and learning. Sessions typically combine:
- informal networking and peer support (often in small groups), and
- a focused topic or guest contribution with Q&A (for example on theory, methods, publishing, or presenting). You can find recordings of previous guest speaker talks here
- New for 2026! To enable new researchers to connect more regularly, we have also introduced informal sessions in between times. These sessions focus on building the new researcher community through sharing ideas, hearing about one another’s research, peer support, etc.
- Browse all upcoming activities
New Researchers at the Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference (VSVR)
We also welcome New Researchers at the annual Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference (VSVR), including a dedicated day especially for New Researchers ahead of the main conference. This offers a supportive space to present work (including work-in-progress), receive constructive feedback, connect with other new researchers, meet some more established voluntary sector studies academics, engage in workshops of particular relevance to new researchers, and address any questions ahead of the main conference.
There are a few ways to keep up with upcoming sessions and opportunities:
- sign up to the New Researchers JISC mailing list and
- follow VSSN on LinkedIn and Bluesky for announcements and reminders.
Help shape the activities
The new researcher sessions are shaped by the people who attend. With this in mind, we recently conducted a survey to get feedback about the online sessions, but your input is always welcome. If you have ideas for topics, formats, guest speakers, or ways to make the sessions more useful, we’d love to hear from you at any time. Please get in touch via: newresearchers@vssn.org.uk.
