Open Access Resources
Welcome!
That’s Me! is grounded in a clear and ongoing commitment to openness, collaboration, and equity in postgraduate research. Our aim is to improve access to and participation in postgraduate study—particularly for students from Global Majority backgrounds—by making our project outputs freely available.
We believe knowledge grows best when it is shared. That’s why materials created through this project are open access, supporting others to reuse, adapt, and build on our research designs, learnings and recommendations.
We’re always adding new content to this page, so be sure to check back regularly for updates.
Our Open Access Materials
We’ve developed a wide range of resources, all freely available. These include:
- Research designs, including surveys, and focus group and interview templates.
- Reports on project activities and findings.
- Project management policies and practices.
These materials are provided to support other researchers and educators who are committed to improving access and participation in postgraduate study. Whether you're running a pilot project, designing a new initiative, or evaluating outcomes—these tools are here to help.
We welcome feedback and collaboration. If you adapt or reuse any of our designs, we’d love to hear how you’ve used them and what you’ve learned.
Join the conversation
This work is part of a broader community effort. We invite educators, researchers, students, and policy advocates to engage with our project—whether through feedback, co-creation, or future partnership. If you have ideas, questions or feedback please contact us at: thatsme@bcu.ac.uk
Together, we can make postgraduate research more inclusive, transparent, and accessible for all.
Through enabling materials to be downloaded from our dedicated institutional webpage, we aim to support others to reuse, adapt, and build on our research designs, learnings and practices. To help us maximise the impact of this resource, please complete this short form to tell us about your engagement with our materials.
Research Design Repository: Build on Our Work
One of the key goals of this project is to not only share findings but also enable others to develop, adapt, or extend our methods. Our research design section makes our approach fully transparent and reusable.
In this section, you’ll find:
- Survey, Interview and focus group research designs.
- Research practice and integrity documentation.
- Project co-creation Briefs
Fieldwork Design Template and Proforma
To ensure high-quality, ethical, and consistent research practice, we use a structured fieldwork proforma. This process supports peer review, promotes academic rigour, and governance processes. It helps teams prepare for fieldwork by enabling peer review, ethical compliance, and consistency in delivery across a large research project.
Surveys
We conducted a series of surveys to engage key stakeholders—including students, academics, professional services staff, and regional employers. Below, you'll find copies of the survey instruments along with the corresponding fieldwork proformas.
Count Me In Survey
Our first survey, Count Me In, aimed to gauge interest across final year undergraduate students in participating in the project's research activities. It also gathered demographic data to help identify gaps in representation and ensure inclusive engagement.
Supervisor Survey
Open to all staff serving on supervisory teams, the Supervisor Survey sought to explore their experiences of postgraduate research supervision and associated processes.
Careers Series Survey
This survey, open to all Global Majority postgraduate researchers, was designed to inform the development of an inclusive and targeted Careers Series—created by and for Global Majority researchers. The result was Beyond the Doctorate: A Career Series for Postgraduate Researchers.
Employer Board Survey
Open to all members of the That’s Me! Employer Board, this survey sought to understand how organisations support and perceive doctoral study.
Secondment Scheme Evaluation Survey
Open to all participants in our 2024 Summer Secondment Scheme, this survey evaluated student experiences to help shape and improve future co-creation programmes.
Project co-creation briefs
Here we share a collection of project briefs, originally developed to guide our student co-creators during their secondments. Each brief outlines a mini project, including context, aims, research questions, methods, deliverables, and indicative timelines. Designed to manage a large volume of work, scaffold the student experience, and provide clear direction, these briefs proved highly valuable in supporting co-creators, including students studying master’s programmes, Postgraduate Researchers and Post-doctoral Researchers, throughout their secondment projects.
We make these briefs available to illustrate how our outputs have evolved—with many projects serving as the foundation for final outputs and targets—and to enable others to build on our approach. Produced in batches for each secondment wave, they reflect our commitment to clarity, collaboration, and professional development.
Data Analysis
The That’s Me! Project has collated a range research including about applications, to inform fieldwork and the preparation of progression and awards.
Pre Research Degree Programmes
To support the Chair of the Pre-Research Degree Working Group to research Master of Research provision and Open Access Bridging Programmes across the sector, aligning with both That’s Me! and Birmingham City University’s (BCU) organisational goals relating to diversity and representation.
Employer Campaign
To identify key attributes possessed by Global Majority Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) and develop a strategic campaign to effectively communicate those attributes to regional employers in the context of their needs
Pre Research Mentoring Programme for Global Majority Students
The aim of this project is to develop an effective and sustainable mentoring programme for Postgraduate Research (PGR) students from Global Majority backgrounds. This programme will engage current PGRs, alumni, and regional employers to create a supportive network that enhances the academic and professional development of these students.
Open Access Materials
To support realising the That’s Me! commitment to open access through developing an open access strategy and open access materials.
Open Global Majority Student Forum
To introduce regular open Global Majority Postgraduate Research (PGR) student forums, aligning with both That’s Me! and BCU’s organisational goals relating to diversity and representation.
Postgraduate Research Exchange Programme
The aim of this research project is to develop a Research Exchange Programme that offers professional development events and activities tailored for Postgraduate Research (PGR) researchers. This programme will culminate in the delivery of an initial event in July 2024, serving as a prototype to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the exchange programme on enhancing the professional skills and academic networks of PGR researchers.
Postgraduate research portfolio review
This project aims to evaluate Birmingham City University’s (BCU) postgraduate research (PGR) project portfolio to identify themes, trends and disciplinary differences, with a specific focus on Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in the context of That’s Me!
Website Audit and Recommendations Report
This project aims to support Birmingham City University (BCU) to foster a more inclusive online presence, aligning with both That’s Me! and organisational goals relating to diversity and representation.