Global political economy and governance research
Our research addresses the dynamics of political economy and governance across local, national and transnational settings and in relation to key policy areas.
Department of Social & Policy Sciences research
Our research brings together insights and approaches from social policy, sociology, international development and criminology studies.
Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021
The REF is the UK’s system for assessing higher education research.
Research themes
Our substantive interests fall under five broad themes.
Health, life and death research
We explore the intersection between human health, environmental sustainability, and the socio-cultural aspects of life and death.
Marginalisation and vulnerability research
Our research is focused on developing a multifaceted understanding of social marginalisation and vulnerability, and the structures that perpetuate inequality.
Social justice, conflict and rights research
Our research concerns the dynamics of human rights and social justice with the key focus on conflict settings, coloniality and colonialism.
Violence, harm and crime research
Our research examines the understanding and experiences of harm within societies, considering the entities that perpetrate violence in its many forms.
Research Centres
Staff from our department contribute to University Research Centres.
Centre for Death & Society
CDAS is an internationally recognised research centre focusing on the interdisciplinary social aspects of death, dying and bereavement.
Centre for Development Studies
Our interdisciplinary and collaborative researchers engage with international development policy and practice.
Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy and Society
An interdisciplinary research centre critically engaged with the evidence, design and evaluation behind policy development across a range of major social issues
Pop up Research Centres
The department has several research centres to explore new avenues of research.
Centre for Decolonising Knowledge in Teaching, Research and Practice (DECkNO)
We explore meanings and ways of decolonising knowledge in academia. We explain and challenge Eurocentrism, and fight individual, institutional & systemic racism
Centre for Natural Resource Extraction, Sustainability and Social Justice
We explore the social, political, economic and ecological impacts of resource extraction both locally and globally using cross-disciplinary engagement.
Centre for Prisons Research
We are dedicated to exploring imprisonment and other forms of coercive confinement from the perspectives of those that live and work in carceral environments.
Centre for Conflict, Migration and Humanitarian Action
We research the drivers of conflict and the individual and collective responses to them, paying particular attention to those who are rendered most vulnerable
Research environment
We are a busy and vibrant research community spanning a number of research interests and themes.
Department of Social & Policy Sciences research student community
Read about the Department of Social & Policy Sciences research student community.
Department of Social & Policy Sciences academic staff
We oversee and deliver the Department’s teaching and research activities.
Department of Social & Policy Sciences research strategy
View the research strategy for the Department of Social & Policy Sciences
SPS Department Seminars
SPS department seminars; happening the first and third Tuesday of the month, late morning into lunch; are a mix of in-person and online seminars.
Research impact
Our research has shaped policy and helped people out of extreme poverty.
Funeral costs, affordability and public provision
Research from the University of Bath has shaped policy linked to the affordability and subsequent support available for UK funerals.
Improving living wages
Research from the University of Bath has informed policy change, directly impacting the living standards and social welfare of employees.
Eradicating extreme poverty in Bangladesh
Over 1 million people have increased access to livelihood support, enabling them to move out of extreme poverty as a direct result of our research.
Research projects
Find out more about our research projects.
Mining energy's future? The temporal political economy of energy transition metals in Africa
This research explores the global rush for metals required for net zero transition, and its impact on mining-based development in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Relationships between the pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare sector in the UK and Japan
Through an interdisciplinary collaboration between social scientists and medical doctors, we're seeking to improve the governance of transparency in healthcare.
The Researcher Wellbeing Project (RWP): addressing researcher distress, trauma and secondary trauma
This project explores the impacts of researching emotionally challenging topics and aims to establish what interventions researchers want for their wellbeing.
Our research
We carry out high quality research that contributes to scientific understanding and policy and practice, with the aim of improving family well-being and alleviating poverty.
Our research has impact on a diverse range of people and communities, in both first world and developing countries. Research is interdisciplinary, bringing together academics from departments across the University, including Economics, Education, Psychology and Health.
Contact us
Contact us to find out more about our research.