Hack-a-demia 2.0 is an interactive conference for early career researchers, artists, creative SMEs and policy makers which will explore the benefits, challenges, and possibilities that meaningful collaboration between the arts, creative industries and the academy can bring to all involved.

For the past two years The Culture Capital Exchange has been running The National Academics and Creatives Exchange (The Exchange), a two-year project supported by Arts Council England and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The Exchange has connected early career academic researchers, creative SMEs, artists and micro-businesses from around the country to develop collaborations and to encourage the exchange of knowledge and expertise. Our aim has been to deepen understanding around how and why academic researchers and creatives should work together while, at its heart, the project has seed funded 26 collaborations between researchers and creatives.

Through an imaginative programme of workshops, talks and facilitated networking, Hack-a-demia 2.0 will draw on and showcase the findings of The Exchange project to explore how creative practitioners and academic researchers can learn from each other’s approaches. We’ll prove how getting out of your professional comfort zone can enhance the impact of your work, build genuine cross-sector and interdisciplinary collaborations, and develop your practice for the future in a variety of ways.

Existing creative / research partnerships will be able to book 1:1 surgery sessions with TCCE staff. We will offer advice on how to take your collaboration to the next level, and we promise that all attendees will leave Hack-a-demia 2.0 with an enhanced network (and maybe even new friends) as a result of our “Cannon Chequers” networking!

Confirmed workshops and discussions include:

• An opportunity to develop mutually beneficial research impact for researchers and creatives led by Dr. Steven Hill, Director of Research at HEFCE
• A practical workshop on developing your “T-Specialism”, i.e. how researchers and practitioners can communicate their specialisms into other areas. The session will be led by Dr. Sara Jones, Course Director, Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership at Cass Business School, and Dr. Enrico Bertelli, Business Development Manager and Pracademic at TCCE. It will be aimed at helping academics, artists and arts organisations to identify new ways of generating value for themselves
• A workshop on understanding one another’s values as a basis for designing collaborative research projects between artists and academics, led by Gemma Burford and Paula Graham-Gazzard, Fossbox

Other contributors include:

• Rachel Tyrrell, Head of Knowledge Exchange Team, HEFCE
• Ghislaine Boddington, Creative Director, body>data>space
• Laura Gander-Howe, Director, Children, Young People and Learning, Arts Council England
• Ben Doyle, Publisher, Literature, Palgrave Macmillan
• Sarah Burgess, ‎Portfolio Manager, Creative Arts and Digital Humanities, Arts and Humanities Research Council
• Joanna Dunster, Portfolio Manager, Researcher Careers and Training, Arts and Humanities Research Council
• Round 1 Collaborative Research awardees for ‘The Lost Hope Book Club’ –Tony Lyons, Director, Estuary English and Katherine May, ECR, Canterbury Christ Church University
• Round 2 Collaborative Research awardees for ‘The Creative Business – Enhancing business practice in the arts-based creative industries’ – Antonia Beck, Performance artist and Creative Producer and Jacob Salder, ECR, Birmingham City University
• Round 3 Collaborative Research awardees for ‘The Rhythm Resilience Project’ – David Higgins, Performance artist and musician, Stickman and Fred Dalmasso, ECR, Loughborough University

FULL TIMETABLE is available here. 

Please note: This event is FREE to artists /creative SMEs (England-based) and ECRs from TCCE member HEIs and Exchange Pilot Partners and TECHNE PhD students.

Registration is essential.

Tickets for Non-Members are just £50

We ask all those registering for a free ticket to please notify us 48 hrs prior to the event if, for any reason, they find they can no longer attend so that we can release their ticket for another ECR/Creative to take up this valuable opportunity.  

Please note that parts of this event may be recorded and photographs taken for use on our website.