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• John Troyer on Terry Pratchett's assisted dying proposals
• Dr Louise Brown, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Department of Social & Policy Sciences has been appointed as trustee to the Board of the Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE).
• Dr Joe Devine & Prof Geof Wood helped to set up a parliamentary group to address extreme poverty in Bangladesh
• SPS student Valerie Kwan reports on Copenhagen talks
• Tony Walter on BBC Woman's Hour
• Research into death and bereavement is highlighted in publication about world-class research
• Launch of Postgraduate Governance Research Network
• Joe Devine Discusses Extreme Poverty
• Dr Tess Ridge gives evidence to committee scrutinising Child Poverty Bill

» News archive

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Welcome to the Department of Social & Policy Sciences

Welcome to the Department of Social & Policy Sciences at the University of Bath. The Department has an international reputation, having been rated excellent in both teaching and research assessment exercises. The long-standing teaching excellence in Sociology placed the Department 2nd amongst UK universities and Social Work 2nd in the UK in the Good University Guide 2010.

We offer a range of Undergraduate programmes and Postgraduate programmes in sociology, social policy, social work and international development. The Department also has a vibrant group of research students studying for Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Philosophy (MPhil) Research Degrees. The Department of Social & Policy Sciences is one of the leading research centres in social policy in Britain. The Department draws together academic staff with backgrounds in Social Policy, Sociology, Social Work, International Development and related disciplines. The Department launched The Journal of European Social Policy and continues to edit two major journals: Work Employment & Society and Mortality.

Research

The Department of Social and Policy Sciences has been graded 2nd in the country for Social Work and Social Policy & Administration in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The 2008 RAE exercise recognised the Department of Social and Policy Sciences for its top 4*(star) research - 'quality that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour'. International Development staff were part of the submission to the Development Studies research panel that was ranked 4th in the country.

New : Funding for PhD research in Social and Policy Sciences - 2010-2011 details now available

Annual Report 2008

Key research areas

Work and welfare; health and social care; life course analysis; ageing, death and dying; children and young people welfare; policy analysis and design; globalisation, wellbeing and governance; social protection and welfare to work; poverty and social exclusion; family and gender policies; evaluating health and social care; comparative International and European social policy; criminology and youth justice; social impacts of new technology; work, employment and human resource development; the social dimension of the EU; globalisation, social movements and social policy; researching wellbeing; welfare regimes and developing countries.