Research impact and engagement
Our research is used by government departments in different countries, civil society groups, journalists and many others.
REF 2021 case studies
The Research Excellence Framework 2021 assessed 100% of our research impact as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Here are our three impact case studies.
Current impact
Our academics work with many governments and organisations on different issues. Here are some examples of where our research is making a difference.
Defence in a changing climate
Dr Duncan Depledge is using research from two ESRC-funded projects to work with the UK Ministry of Defence, NATO and defence industry to transform understanding of the implications of the climate crisis and changing global energy landscape for military operations and strategy.
Geopolitics in the Arctic
Professor Kennedy-Pipe and Dr Duncan Depledge continue to work on the geopolitics of the Arctic. This includes working with the Royal Navy on the future of Svalbard, and with Government agencies on how the Ukraine war has affected UK national defence priorities in the High North.
Responding to emergencies
Dr Chris Zebrowski’s ESRC-funded research delivered real-time insights to the Cabinet Office and emergency management practitioners on optimising the use of communication technologies during the UK’s response to Covid-19. The project has generated an independent, evidence-base for policymakers, emergency professionals and researchers – helping them to understand how digital communication can be used to strengthen the UK’s resilience to future crises.
Re-viewing LGBTQ+ lives
Dr Marcus Collins’s AHRC-funded project works with dramatists, archivists, teachers and campaigners to reconsider the representation and reality of past LGBTQ+ lives through the lens of twentieth-century broadcasting. Its centrepiece is The BBC’s First Homosexual, a play based on the true story of how broadcasters tackled the touchy subject of male homosexuality in the 1950s.
Current engagement
Engaging with the public, civil society groups and organisations outside of academia is central to our research.
Balancing social care priorities
We’re collaborating with stakeholders and other experts to explore how the UK Government can reform social care in a way that maximises public support among those most likely to be affected by the reforms and across a wide range of different party supporters. This two-year project – funded by the British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research Grant scheme – will generate detailed evidence on how the Government can build a cross-party and national consensus on social care.
Feminist Miscarriage Project
Funded by the AHRC, we are working with partners – including the Reproductive Justice Initiative, the Miscarriage Association and MSI Choices – to develop new understandings of miscarriage as a feminist social justice issue and build a 'full spectrum' model of support, solidarity and care.
Whatever Happened to the Swinging Sixties?
An array of AHRC-funded public events takes a new look at old television and radio programmes to discover whether the 1960s represented a turning-point in British culture and society. Participants weigh how far sixties broadcasts reinforced existing norms and hierarchies and how far they pioneered the more permissive and pluralistic values of the twenty-first century.
Expert advice on the heritage of 20th century conflict
Sam Edwards advises various UK organisations connected to the heritage of 20th century conflict. He sits on the Board of Trustees for several museums and memorials, including The D-Day Story (Portsmouth) with which he also has an AHRC CDP exploring the role of D-Day artefacts at the intersection of personal, family and national cultures of remembrance.