Muslim Friendly Universities
The Audit Project
Muslim Friendly Universities (MFU) Audit Project commissions research at universities that wish to better understand their Muslim staff and student experience.
The aims of the scheme are to support universities to:
- Understand how the British Muslim identity is shaped by HE environments
- Identify the enablers and inhibitors of British Muslim progression, inclusion and access
- Assess whether existing EDI frameworks and interventions are fit for purpose and how they can be enhanced to better take into account the needs of British Muslims
Funding Cycles
The Aziz Foundation ran two commissioning cycles in 2023/24, accepting bids for match funded research projects that aim to explore the lived experiences of British Muslims on campus. These cycles ran from 1st-30th September 2023 and 15th -31st January 2024.
Match funding was available up to £10,000 for an audit of British Muslim staff and students tailored to the institutional context.
Areas that the audit could cover:
- Faith provision
- Learning culture/ inclusion
- Academic experience
- Curriculum Context
- Welfare and student support services
- Built environment of campus/ capital projects/ spatial inclusion
- Financial circumstances/ profile of students
Projected benefits of the audit include:
- Generating granular data on British Muslim Student Cohorts
- Creating evidence for bespoke interventions
- Strengthening EDI & institutional strategies
- Understanding the social impact of existing interventions
Completed Research Projects
The commissioning cycles in 2023/24 resulted in three research projects being awarded funding. These have now completed and have reported back:
- University of Bradford, Countering Islamophobia on Campus, Principal Investigators: Dr Yunis Alam and Dr Izram Chaudry
- De Montfort University, Being and Becoming: British Muslim Students' First-Year Journeys in Higher Education, Principal Investigators: Professor Richard Hall, Dr Lucy Ansley, Dr Lamia Nemouchi, Sumeya Loonat
- Loughborough University, Lived experiences and improved futures for Muslim students and staff at Loughborough University, Principal Investigators: Professor Line Nyhagen, Rafia Arshad, Ellie Moore
The date of future funding cycles are still to be confirmed.
Muslim Friendly Universities Conference
The Aziz Foundation convenes conferences exploring access, equality and inclusion of Muslim communities in higher education. These events bring together researchers, practitioners and policy makers to exchange ideas and knowledge in this rapidly emerging field.
The inaugural Muslim Friendly Universities conference took place in January 2025, co-hosted with the University of York and YCEDE (Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education). For conference proceedings, please read a summary report produced by participating colleagues.
