Creative & Collaborative Research Projects: A Cheat Sheet by Dr Ina Linge

Building a creative and collaborative research project is really exciting, but it can also be daunting if you’ve never worked in this way before. In this post, I share some themes and questions to discuss with your project partners. These reflections consider both the ideal of shared creation and the real labour conditions under which such work takes place. These are most useful at the planning stage, but can also guide reflection throughout a project.

This is not a record of what I have done, but a “cheat sheet” for collaborative and creative work that I wish I had had at the beginning of this process! It is based on lessons learned, mistakes made, and conversations generated by the Queer Natures project, its team members and partners. These suggestions are written from my own perspective as a project lead for a funded research project held at a British university, and are intended to support open, collaborative conversations among all team members.

Understand Process-Driven vs. Output-Driven Work

Collaborative creative research projects might be process-driven rather than focused on a single deliverable. This distinction affects expectations, contracts and payments.

Output-Driven Work

Typically tied to a specific deliverable (e.g. illustrations, a short film, a play).
Involves clear briefs and payments upon delivery.

Process-Driven Work

Focuses on participation, reflection, and shared exploration.
There can be hidden expectations in process-driven work, and it is advisable to spend some time reflecting on hidden requirements.
Work may include:
- Attending meetings and workshops
- Sharing knowledge and expertise
- Keeping reflective journals, photo/video diaries
- Creating social media/blog content
- Facilitating workshops and engagement activities
- Contributing to evaluation reports or interviews
- Emotional labour may be involved, especially when lived experience is central.
Payments are often phased and tied to time, participation, or developmental milestones – not just outputs.
Despite its more flexible approach, process-driven work is still structured around clear themes and aims and its worth identifying these early on, so that work can be kept on track while allowing plenty of space for exploration.

Key Reflection:

What kinds of labour does your project involve – and how are you acknowledging and compensating this?

Build Relationships Early

Funding applications can feel rushed because of internal deadlines and high academic workloads, but ideally meaningful collaboration takes time and trust. Begin building relationships with partners before a project starts. Try to find internal funding from your workplace so that you can pay your potential collaborators for their time.

Consider asking your potential partners some of these questions:

Are you interested in the project? Do you want to work with me?
What are your goals, values, and boundaries?
What are you willing to contribute to the project? What aren’t you willing to contribute? The latter is really important and rarely discussed.
Have you collaborated with universities before? If so, what was your experience? If not, what are your expectations or worries?
What professional environments and constraints do you work within?
Are you in a position to take on the project as it is currently structured? Consider workload, health, or other considerations.
What does “professionalism” mean to you – and to me?
How might this project support or limit your work?
Do I want to work with this person?

Key Reflection:

Relationship-building is part of the research. Time spent here can significantly improve the project environment and its outcomes.

Be Honest About Limits

Creative research often aims to push boundaries, and this might even be an exciting motivation for the work. But projects always have constraints, and this can be disappointing. By delivering good work now, you signal to the people who make decisions (e.g. funders) that this is work worth pursuing, and thereby create opportunities for more work in the future.

Project parameters:

Be clear about the aims and objectives of the project and be honest about limitations. This can feel disappointing when new ideas emerge, but will ensure that your project stays on track.
You will have to adhere to university regulations and institutional processes (e.g. ethics approvals).
Consider funding rules and timelines.
Be mindful of your own workload and capacity: take this as seriously as the rules above.

Hidden rules:

Workplace norms around productivity and delivery
Hidden expectations around roles, identities, or emotional labour
Structural and systemic inequalities based on disability, race, gender, etc. Understand that these are not limited to personal experience, but to larger structural and systemic inequalities that go beyond the project – though you can still critique and trouble these limitations.

Key Reflection:

Acknowledge constraints clearly. This opens space for critical, creative resistance.

Make Accessibility Central

Accessibility can be broadly defined and proactively addressed. Accessibility is not limited to disability but includes physical, neurodivergent, cultural, emotional, and relational access.

Considerations:

Don’t assume everyone feels safe to disclose their access needs – create safe ways for them to do so. For example, you could partner with an accessibility consultant or facilitator. You could use an accessibility rider (a document that outlines personal access needs) to facilitate this conversation. You can find the accessibility rider used by Flock South West for the Queer Natures project as a .wordx or .pdf here.
Accessibility includes the language used and forms of communication. Does the language you use in- or exclude others?
Institutional accessibility: universities are places of power and privilege that can feel exclusionary for people both within and outside of the academy. Be honest about this and encourage discussion (see also the next point about reflecting on your own role).
No one should be made to feel difficult when asking for access requirements to be met.
After identifying access needs, reflect on how the project and workplace can meet these needs and where you come up against the limitations listed above.
Build in flexibility and support (mentorship, peer support, decompression spaces).
Access needs will become clearer as you build your team, so build in time to review needs.

Key Reflection:

Accessibility is not a checklist – it’s an ongoing, relational practice that can lead to more meaningful and creative work. Despite your best efforts in considering accessibility needs, the limitations listed above might make it impossible for partners to be involved in the project and you should respect this.

Reflect on Your Own Role

It is really important to take the time to explore what you bring to this project and what you need from it. For example, as a project lead, you might bring both power and vulnerability, and this will shape how you approach the collaboration.

Questions to consider:

What are your personal and professional motivations for this work?
How does your identity shape your leadership? This can take some time to figure out and you might find it helpful to take a professional development course on leadership, e.g. Advance HE’s Aurora or Diversifying Leadership programmes.
What are your institutional responsibilities – and how do they affect collaboration?
How can you distribute power while maintaining accountability? Examples of power-sharing include:

Inviting others to chair meetings
Using external facilitators to hold space for the whole team
Being open about decision-making lines – and constraints.

Key Reflection:

You are a collaborator – but sometimes also a gatekeeper. Be transparent, redistribute power where you can, and name the structures you’re working within.

Plan for Change and Uncertainty

In process-driven and speculative work, things will change. That’s okay, but it can feel scary or unsettling, especially as a first-time project lead. With some planning and reflection, you can feel more confident and learn to let go of control.

Identify clear but adaptable goals.
For process-driven work, plan how you will document work in progress (e.g. shared drives, blog posts).
Consider how to reallocate funding if someone leaves; for example, you could retain a shortlist from open calls in case someone drops out.
Build time for regular reflection and feedback.
Understand that conflict arises and can be a sign of self-advocacy and engagement, not failure.

Key Reflection:

Change is not always a setback. It can be a productive moment, if planned for with care.

Budget for Real Needs

Your budget reflects your values. Don’t just budget for outputs, but budget for process, support, and learning.

Examples:

Meeting your project participants professional needs, e.g. paying for production support for artists by teaming with a creative producer – we worked with Flock South West.
Mentorship for project lead (this could be a small percentage of a senior academic’s workload)
Impact evaluation, e.g. an impact evaluator who can implement an evaluation framework and write a summary report. To learn more about the importance of impact evaluation, check out Dr Chloe Asker’s blog post.
Facilitator for project workshop or retreat
Training or course fees to support your learning needs, e.g. we worked with Lakshnie Hettihewa to explore how to hold and facilitate spaces responsibly and with the aim to reduce harm. You can find out more about Lakshnie’s work here.
Project assistance to help with navigating your institution’s often complex payment structures, setting up meetings, etc.
Your time as project lead: factor in time to research and write, but also for project leadership.

Key Reflection:

Budgeting is an ethical act. Plan for the labour that often goes unseen.

Create a Contract That Reflects the Work

A strong contract:

Reflects the process-driven nature of the work
Protects all parties,not just the institution or project lead
Describes various types of labour (not just final deliverables or outputs – see list of process-driven activities above) and in doing so clarifies expectations
Respects the individual needs of contributors
Accounts for your institution or funder’s requirements

We worked with GLAM-E Lab and Mathilde Pavis to develop equitable contracts that ensure that artists are informed of their rights and give informed consent on how this should be managed. You can find a copy of this contract as a .wordx or .pdf here.

Key Reflection:

A well-crafted contract can be a tool of care, clarity, and accountability, not just compliance.

Create a structure of support and mentorship for your yourself

Leading a collaborative, process-driven research project is rewarding, but also emotionally and intellectually demanding. Project leads often carry the weight of institutional responsibility, emotional labour, and the pressure to “make it work.” This can lead to burnout, especially when navigating conflict, uncertainty, or competing expectations.

Build a Support Structure:

Mentorship: Identify a trusted colleague or experienced PI you can check in with regularly—especially one with experience in collaborative or interdisciplinary work. Ideally you do this through an existing mentorship programme at your university or beyond, e.g. UCFL’s mentorship programme for researchers in languages) so that your mentor receives the recognition or workload allocation they deserve, too.
Advisory board: Create an advisory board for your project with members that offer a diverse set of skills and knowledge, but be aware that their workload might be limited.
Facilitators or coaches: Bring in external facilitators or creative producers to help hold space, especially during key moments of the project (e.g. start-up, conflict resolution, closing).
Reflection time: Build in time for your own structured reflection, e.g. through journaling, or voice notes.
Boundaries: Be honest with your team about what you can and cannot do. You are a co-creator, not an infinite resource.

Key Reflection:

You deserve support too. Building a sustainable structure around yourself is not a luxury – it’s an act of care that strengthens the entire project

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