Service-learning (SL) can make a specific pedagogical contribution to Catholic Higher Education Institutions (CHEIs), helping them to articulate their social outreach and spiritual identity with academic activities, offering innovative ways to achieve a “hands, head and heart” education, as demonstrated by research and experiences developed by CHEIs.The general research and reflection objective of the Uniservitate Programme is to understand the contributions of the spiritual dimension of SL to the identity and mission of the CHEIs, considering diverse multicultural contexts. Under this statement it is hoped to contribute to the building of strong links between spiritual reflection, pastoral activities, learning, teaching and research.
The question of reflection and research that Uniservitate seeks to answer can be summarized as follows: What is the contribution of the spiritual dimension of SL to the mission and identity of CHEIs at the global level, in diverse multicultural contexts? This virtual space is a place to exchange news, materials and documents, as well as academic articles and other valuable research resources. The aim is to form a community that builds and exchanges knowledge, reflecting on and researching the spiritual dimension of SL at CHEIs.
The first edition of this initiative, held between 2023 and 2024, distributed 70,000 euros among 33 research projects developed by teams from 28 universities in 18 countries on 5 continents. The presentation of many projects during the V Global Symposium Uniservitate , held in November 2024 in Rome, showed the variety and richness of the selected proposals.
This new call invites projects to be implemented during 2025-2026. Again, 70,000 Euros will be distributed among the 7 regional hubs of Uniservitate and each one will manage these resources according to the applications received and evaluated by an academic committee.
On this occasion, the four lines of research (detailed below) will be maintained but priority will be given to projects that contemplate comparative studies of service-learning from different institutions and regions.
The proposed themes are:
The call is open to all researchers who meet the requirements and submit projects aligned with the terms and conditions of this proposal.
We look forward to receiving your proposals by completing the following form. Each regional hub will establish the deadlines according to their schedules, which will be available soon in this space.
Call start date: 27th January 2025.
Deadline for submission: 25th March 2025.
Communication of selection of winners: 25th May 2025.
Research Time: to be confirmed.
Submission of reports: to be confirmed.
For further information, write to: metriga@tangaza.ac.ke
Call start: 20th January 2025.
Deadline for submission: 31st March.
Communication of selection of winners: 29th May.
Research period: 30th May 2025 to 3rd July 2026.
Submission of reports: 26th March 2026 and 3rd July 2026.
For further information, write to: macaire@uc.cl
Call start date: 7th February 2025
Deadline for submission: 14th March 2025
Communication of selection of winners: 2nd May 2025
Research Time: to be confirmed.
Submission of reports: to be confirmed.
For further information, write to: jimi.caldea@dlsu.edu.ph; romin
Call start: 1st March 2025
Deadline for submission: 31st May 2025
Communication of selection of winners: 1st July 2025
Research Timeframe: 1st September 2025 to 31st August 2026
Report Submission: 1st September 2026 and 15th October 2026
For further information, write to: uniservitate@ku.de
Call start: January 2025
Deadline for submission: 23th March 2025
Communication of selection of winners: 29th May 2025
Research Timeframe: 1st June 2025 to 13th June 2026
Submission of reports: 27th June 2026
For further information, write to: marie-an.knops@kuleuven.be
Start of call: 3rd March 2025.
Deadline for submission: 30th April 2025.
Communication of selection of winners: 1st June to 15th June 2025.
Research Time:15th June 2025 to 31st August 2026.
Submission of reports: 1st to 28th October 2026.
For further information, write to: uniservitate@deusto.es
Start of call: 15th January, 2025.
Deadline for submission: 4 April, 2025.
Communication of selection of winners: 16th May, 2025.
Research Time: 26th May, 2025 – 31st July, 2026.
Submission of reports: 31st July, 2026
The hubs that constitute the Uniservitate programme for service-learning in catholic higher education institutions participated in the call for small research grants to be implemented during 2023-2024. In this first edition, we had a budget of 70,000 euros distributed globally, with each of the 7 Uniservitate regional hubs managing funds according to the requests received and evaluated by a scientific committee to support research on service-learning. 33 small research grants were delivered to projects from 28 universities in 18 countries on five continents
The proposed research areas were:
We congratulate those selected by the jury appointed for each hub and encourage them to continue working on expanding resources to research on service-learning.
Jury: Beatrix Bouwman – Mary Cecilia Draru – Ellainne Etobe – Alice Kaudia
Coordinator: Denis Etriga Munguci
Application title: “Linking Service Learning to the Christian Ethic of Service.”
Topic: The spiritual dimension of SL.
Project Leader: Simon Itabari Mwenda
Application title: “Fostering ethical leadership through service learning a case of Tangaza University College.”
Topic SL institutionalization processes in the specific contexts of CHEIs.
Project Leader: Nazarene Kabuya
Application title: “Institutionalization Processes of Service-Learning in Catholic University of Central Africa.”
Topic: SL institutionalization processes in the specific contexts of CHEIs.
Project Leader: Dr Epiphane Kinhoun
Application title: “Towards Sustained Service-Learning Institutionalization: Understanding Advances, Opportunities and Challenges at Mwenge Catholic University, Tanzania”
Topic: SL institutionalization processes in the specific contexts of CHEIs.
Project Leader: Gilleard Minja
Application title: “Benchmarking the Institutionalization of service learning in selected Catholic Higher Education”
Topic: SL institutionalization processes in the specific contexts of CHEIs.
Project Leader: Angella Beatrice Nalwanga
Jury: Sterling Miranda Plata. Ma. Lourdes Melegrito. Froilan Alipao. Marietta Guanzon. Carol Ma Hok Ka. Mercy Pushpalatha. Victoria Tibon. Maher Spurgeon
Coordinators: Jimi Caldea & Romina Eloisa Abuan
Application title: “A study on stakeholders attitude towards institualization of service learning: perceived threats and opportunities across Christian Higher Education Institutions of India.”
Topic: SL institutionalization processes in the specific contexts of CHEIs.
Project Leader: Bonnie Amonge Crerar
Application title: “The Contribution of the Christian Service Learning Program (CSLP) Towards Spiritual, Social, and Professional Growths as Perceived by the USLS Political Science Graduate”
Topic: SL contribution to CHEIs mission and identity.
Project Leader: Elias P. Patriarca, Jr.
Jury: Bojana Culum Ilic – Alina Simona Rusu – Edina Malkic – Alžbeta Brozmanová Gregorová
Coordinator: Christiane Hoth de Olano
Application title: “The impact of service-learning methodology on applied linguistics students success outcomes”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Viktoriia Durkalevych
Application title: “Learning by doing at Bethlehem University; The SPEL Model”]Topic: SL institutionalization processes in the specific contexts of CHEIs.
Project Leader: Bilal Salameh
Application title: “Service Learning for Campus: Opportunities and Challenges in Relation to the Sustainable Transformation at Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Ann-Kathrin Bremer
Jury: Alexis Rodríguez – Chantal Jouannet – Daniel García – Daniela Gargantini -Gladys Jimenez -Gretel Hernández -Isabel Tresca -Leticia López -Mercedes Morales -Nicolas Dorronsoro -Rodolfo Gallo -Rodrigo de Andrade
Coordinator: Manuel Caire Espinoza
Application title:“Service-learning as a possibility of Comprehensive Education and transformation in the way of being of higher education students”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: João Elton de Jesus
Application title: “From extension as a transfer service to dialogue of knowledge” Case study: Creation and implementation of the Center for Learning and Solidarity Service “Santa Clara de Asís”
Topic: SL institutionalization processes in the specific contexts of CHEIs.
Project Leader:Rita Marcela Gajate
Application title: “Notions and practices of Christian spirituality in S+L UC: Reality and Challenges.”
Application area: The spiritual dimension of SL
Project Leader: Cristián Felipe Núñez Durán
Application title:“Family and community strategies to combat Childhood Malnutrition as comprehensive learning tools for Nutrition and Dietetics students.”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Edgar Wilson Rojas González
Application title: “Service-learning as a predictor of academic-social commitment of Bachelor of Nutrition students at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Catholic University of Córdoba”
Topic: SL contribution to CHEIs mission and identity.
Project Leader: Constanza Rodríguez Junyen
Jury: Barbara McCrabb – Andy Furco – Rebecca Sawyer – Patrick Green – Jennifer Pfigza
Coordinator: Nadine Jalandoni
Application title: “Exploring the impact of a community-engagement project on students’ perceptions of housing justice and housing insecurity and their intention for continued engagement”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Jessica Hodge
Application title: “Cultural Snapshots: Institutionalizing Catholic Social Teaching and Asset Based Community Development through Community Engagement”
Topic: SL institutionalization processes in the specific contexts of CHEIs.
Project Leader: Jake Kurczek
Application title: “Lives in the Balance: College Engagement and the Development of Moral Solidarity”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Jay W. Brandenberger
Application title: “From mission to practice: Instructor perspectives on creating engaged learning experiences that foster the spiritual development of Lasallian university students”
Topic: SL contribution to CHEIs mission and identity.
Project Leader: Sarah Beth Dempsey
Jury: Stijn Latré (UCSIA, Member Advisory Board). Aaron Soens (Odisse, Education coordinator and lecturer in Philosophy). Marie-An Knops (Hub). Nicolas Standaert (Hub).
Coordinator: Nicolas Standaert
Application title: “Anthropologie et Service Learning en contexte associatif: enjeux moraux, politiques et épistémologiques”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Rigaux Natalie
Application title: “Reading students Service-learning journals from the perspective of a Christian anthropology”
Topic: The spiritual dimension of SL.
Project Leader: Thierry Magnin
Application title: “Levers as a pre-condition for integral education: an exploration of principles and transformative mechanisms of service-learning”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: De Smet Aurelie
Jury: Marian Aláez – Míquel Martínez – Arantzazu Martínez – María Cinque – Luísa Mota
Coordinator: Marian Aláez
Application title: “The social profitability of community educational methodologies: Case study. “University service-learning in the field of ADE studies”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Carlos Ballesteros Garcia
Application title: “Education in values and development of skills through service-learning: impact on students at the Universidad Católica De Ávila 2015-2023”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Ana Isabel Muñoz Alcón
Application title: “Working on language didactics with the service-learning methodology”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Ariane Díaz Iso
Application title: “La empatía y autocompasión en el alumnado de CAFyD tras una experiencia de ApS”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Yolanda Lázaro Fernández
Application title: “Analysis of published service-learning experiences in chemistry and chemical engineering programs”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Núria Agulló Chaler
Application title: “Impact of the service-learning programme on the perception of learning humanized care in students and usefulness in the community”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Raquel Lafuente-Ureta
Application title: “The reflective processes in SL projects in the CHEIs. “His contribution to the development of the spiritual dimension of students and educators”
Topic: The spiritual dimension of SL.
Project Leader: Arantzazu Martínez Odría
Application title: “Impact evaluation indicators in Service-Learning from the experience of the Social Sector of the Society of Jesus”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Ignacio Sepúlveda del Río
Application title: “Interdisciplinary Service-Learning: An (im)possible agenda?”
Topic: SL institutionalization processes in the specific contexts of CHEIs
Project Leader: Paulo C. Dias
Application title: “Examining University Students’ and Final Beneficiaries’ Perceptions of SL and their Community: A pre- and post-Service-Learning Analysis”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Luísa Mota Ribeiro
Application title: “Examining the medium-term impact of a service learning project using a value creation framework”
Topic: Evidence of SL impact towards an integral education.
Project Leader: Abbe Brady
Global events aiming to create a multicultural and diverse space regarding the contributions of the service-learning (SL) pedagogy and its spiritual dimension to integral education in Higher Education.
With the contribution of outstanding international academics and specialists, its objective is to share multicultural perspectives on topics of interest related to spirituality and the pedagogy of service-learning in the world.
Specialised content on service-learning and its spiritual dimension in higher education. Its growth is based on the motivation of the global community of practice that actively learns, produces and shares knowledge on the subject, and forges meaning and identity.
CLAYSS develops quantitative and qualitative research programs on service-learning in Argentina and Latin America, partnering with universities and national and international organizations.
