Impactful Research in Birmingham
Transforming our city
At Birmingham City University, our mission is to be the University for Birmingham. BCU’s research generates academic knowledge and drives tangible benefits for local communities, industries, and the cultural landscape of the city. We play a vital role in improving the environment, enhancing society, and enriching the culture and heritage of Birmingham through diverse and impactful research.
Preserving Culture
Through collaborations with local organisations and innovative projects, BCU plays a key role in shaping Birmingham's vibrant cultural landscape. We are boosting local culture by blending arts, heritage, and design with digital technology, helping to preserve Birmingham's rich history while pushing its creative scene forward.
Small Performances
Contributing substantially to the history of printing technology, investigating the typographic punches of John Baskerville.
Find out moreFASHION POLICE
Exploring the evolution of police uniforms throughout history with the West Midlands Police Museum to create a digitised collection.
Find out moreAural Histories of Coventry
Exploring the experience of music in late-medieval and early-modern Coventry, through recordings of its lost performing spaces.
Find out moreMidlands4Cities
The AHRC-funded Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership (M4C) brings together eight leading universities across the Midlands, to support research students to become experts in their field and to employ their knowledge and skills in their career destinations
Shaping the city
Our research is building the city of the future by focusing on smart technologies, sustainable development, and creative design solutions. Working directly with industry and shaping new knowledge, BCU is shaping a more connected, eco-friendly, and innovative Birmingham.
OneEastside Digital Twin
Developing a pilot digital twin platform, designed for immediate operation at Birmingham's tallest building.
Find out moreNo11: Know Your Place
Harnessing the local No11 bus route as a means of uncovering Birmingham’s landscape and to re-imagine the bus service.
Find out moreJewellery Quarter Common Room
Establishing a Cultural Action Area within the historic Jewellery Quarter to support place-based economic recovery and regeneration.
Find out moreEastside Projects
Eastside Projects is a long ranging project funded by Arts Council England to make art public in Birmingham. It has expanded beyond an art gallery to apply our distinctive, artist-centred processes to offsite contexts, with a focus on Birmingham and the West Midlands.
Nurturing Society
We support our city by addressing key social issues, from healthcare and education to economic growth, through community-focused projects. This collaboration empowers communities by providing resources and knowledge that drive positive change and foster resilience.
THAT'S ME!
Investigating elimination of barriers to postgraduate research study in the West Midlands, in partnership with the University of Wolverhampton.
Find out moreEnabling a digital Birmingham evaluation
Evaluating Birmingham City Council’s 'Enabling a Digital Birmingham' programme, exploring how the initiative tackled digital exclusion within the city.
Find out moreCreativity Collaboratives
Creating a toolkit offering strategies to embed creativity in schools and provide a valuable resource for teachers.
Find out moreEvaluating the Birmingham Arts School Model
Enhancing arts education across the city, facilitating collaboration between schools and a range of cultural organisations to expand access to high-quality arts education.
Find out moreInforming empathy led change management
Investigating how empathy can inform manufacturing with digital technologies, learning through engaging with human users and creating a health plan for workers.
Find out moreSupporting Global Majority Families of Prisoners
Evaluating the project delivery of the Empowering Communities 'BAME Families of Prisoners' programme through community-focused, social action research.
Find out moreBirmingham Enterprise Projects
Birmingham City University is actively engaged in boosting the local region through Enterprise projects and partnerships, focusing on supporting businesses in the area, volunteering with communities, enhancing futures and integrating digital technologies. We partner with small businesses, enhance skills and promote economic growth, aiming to create sustainable impacts and drive regional innovation to empower our city.