As an alternative to a standard dissertation, an Extended Interchange Project provides students with the opportunity to undertake a research project on behalf of a local voluntary or community organisation. Working to an initial brief developed in collaboration with our charity partner Interchange, students get to undertake a project to address an organisation’s real world research needs, and produce knowledge that stands to impact positively on the work that they do in the local community. The applied and collaborative nature of these projects provides opportunities to develop a range of practical research and research related skills, and to gain invaluable experience of research in the real world.