Research culture
The School of Social Science & Public Policy is one of the largest UK university groupings focusing on policy-orientated research and teaching. Its dynamic interdisciplinary research culture supports collaborative working on a range of cross-cutting themes. These include urban sustainability and climate change, new security uncertainties and risks, the changing nature of war and conflict, age and ageing, social care and children’s wellbeing, scientific literacy and cultural inclusion, social cohesion in multi-faith societies, inequalities in health and education, public service reform and the future of the professions.
Our academic staff advise governments, serve on commissions and public bodies, are seconded to national and international organisations and work with the public and voluntary sectors and industry to help ensure that the expertise developed within the School is transferred to the wider community.
The School’s London based departments are on the Waterloo and Strand campuses of the College, both of which are in the heart of London with easy access to Westminster and the cultural and intellectual heart of the city. The School’s Defence Studies Department is housed within the UK Defence Academy at Shrivenham and at the RAF College in Cranwell.
The quality of research within the School has been recognised in the UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), as well as by numerous national and international funding bodies and the excellence of our research environment for those undertaking doctoral work is affirmed by the accreditation of the King's Interdisciplinary Social Science Doctoral Training Centre (KISS-DTC) by the UK’s Economic & Social Research Council.