Introduction
Social sciences research at Sussex ranges across social sciences, cultural studies, education, law and social work.
Our work is committed to cutting-edge and critical research that addresses key social, economic, political and cultural transformations in the contemporary world.
Sussex has an international reputation for interdisciplinary research and specialises in comparative and cross-cultural approaches.
Much of our work looks out from the University to provide essential knowledge and skills relevant for the complexities of the 21st century and to enable positive change in individuals and their societies.
The campus is also home to SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research, a world leader in science, technology and innovation policy. As a research institute, SPRU’s primary aim is to deepen understanding of how government, industry and society may succeed in reaping benefits and managing risks arising from science and technology. SPRU’s research mission can be summarised as ‘the growth, sustainability and responsible governance of science, technologies and innovation systems’.
In addition, there are more scholars at Sussex working on development issues than in any other UK university. The Culture, Development and Environment Centre and the Poverty Research Unit each contribute to a leading international reputation in the fields of poverty and development. The Centre for International Education focuses on education and development in low-income countries. The Institute of Development Studies (IDS), one of the world’s leading organisations for research, teaching and communications on international development, is also on the Sussex campus. Though independent of the University, IDS has strong links with faculty across the range of its research activity.
Centres of excellence in the social sciences include the Sussex European Institute, the Centre for Life History and Life Writing Research, the Centre for Global Political Economy, the Centre for Research in Health and Medicine, as well as the Sussex Centre for Migration Studies. In 2007-2008, Sussex launched a number of new research centres including the Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research.
These research centres of excellence provide an unrivalled interdisciplinary context for the study of the contemporary world, fostering a vibrant community of researchers committed to international excellence.
Our research is making a real difference to people’s lives. It is funded by a range of sponsors including research councils, the European Union, the World Bank and UNESCO. In Africa and Asia, it has influenced the planning and financing of education, non-state provision of services, donor support, and access and inclusion. In England, policy and practice have been influenced in the fields of education, community development, social work and law.
Major research grants in 2007 included:
- £540,668 from the Economic and Social Research Council/Department for International Development for Widening Participation in Higher Education in Ghana and Tanzania: Developing an Equity Scorecard
Louise Morley (education) - £285,957 from the European Research Council for Financial Services Governance in the European Union
Lucia Quaglia (contemporary European studies) - £277,004 from the Economic and Social Research Council for International Science and Bioethics Collaborations: Critical approaches to new knowledge relations
Margaret Sleeboom-Faulkner (anthropology) - £193,191 from the Economic and Social Research Council for Sex and Gender in the Post-Thatcher Conservative Party
Paul Webb (politics) - £129,776 from the European Union for A Micro level analysis of violent conflict
Julie Litchfield (economics)
