The CCI partners joined together in order to integrate research, education, policy and practice with the aim of securing a sustainable future for all life on Earth. An area for opportunity identified through this collaboration is in bridging the gap between academic research and research in the field.

The Knowledge Exchange Studentship Programme has been established in order to address exactly this. The aim of the programme is to produce insights that advance both impactful conservation research and effective applied conservation. This programme brings academics from the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute together with leading conservation practitioners from CCI’s partners to supervise ‘knowledge-exchange’ doctoral studentships. The academic research undertaken by the doctoral students will deliver intellectual insight to the conservation organisations, in a manner directly applicable to conservation practice or policy. In turn, the experiences and insight gained by the students through their engagement with biodiversity conservation organisations will inform their academic research and build their understanding of cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral activity within conservation, and ultimately inform conservation research more generally.

CCI is extremely grateful to the Evolution Education Trust for establishing this programme.