King's College London

Researchers in SSPP are having a wide-ranging impact on society and helping to build a more secure future, an audience heard at the SSPP Impact Awards, held at the Maughan Library.

Six award winners presented exceptional work across various fields. From law enforcement agencies being able to de-anonymise online extremists, to public measures put in place to tackle extreme heat in India, the importance of SSPP research and impact was clear.

At the event, ‘Resolving the ISIS Detainee Dilemma: Evidence-Based Responses to Post-Conflict Detention’, by Shiraz Maher and Johanna Inness of the Department of War Studies, was chosen as the overall Impact Prize Winner via an audience vote.

Their work sought to analyse and mitigate the harms arising from the detention in Syria of more than 56,000 women and children, as well as a further 12,000 men associated with ISIS. Their work challenged entrenched prejudices and institutional inertia, providing governments and humanitarian organisations with evidence to inform practical, policy-relevant solutions.

Opening the event, Professor Sir Bashir M. Al-Hashimi, Vice President (Research & Innovation) and Professor Linda McKie, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy commented on the excellence and importance of SSPP research impact.

Five other Impact Prize Winners presented their projects:

Cevat Aksoy, Lecturer in Economics at the School of Politics and Economics, co-founded the Global Survey of Working Arrangements (G-SWA. He has informed public conversation through engagement with media, major companies such as Microsoft and Vodafone, as well as other organisations. In his role as a policy advisor to the House of Lords, Cevat works directly with parliamentary stakeholders to translate the evidence from the survey into actionable analysis.

Joël Reland, Research Fellow at the Policy Institute, developed the UK-EU Regulatory Divergence Tracker, for the post-Brexit world. To date he has published over 450 case studies outlining the impacts of divergence in policy areas ranging from AI and financial services to climate and agriculture. He has also generated data from this to show that the scale of UK-led divergence has been far less than initially anticipated. Joël’s work has been widely reported in the media and cited by policymakers in the UK and the EU, directly impacting policy and debate.

Rajan Basra, Research Associate at the School of Security Studies, developed open-source methods which be applied to online ecosystems and message boards to identify pseudonymous or anonymous users. Rajan has since delivered briefings to policymakers, including at the UN, and delivered training sessions to more than 1,000 counterterrorism, intelligence, and law enforcement practitioners. His work has increased awareness of the serious threat these firearms pose and strengthened the capability of investigators from national and international agencies.

Toryn Whitehead, PhD candidate, School of Global Affairs, investigates the coexistence between people and wild boar - who have been locally extinct for over 400 years - in the Scottish Highlands. Building on this, he has iteratively developed through conversations with local and national stakeholders an interim policy brief that calls for a more considered and proactive approach to wild boar. His work has also increased understanding in rural communities and built the capacity of stakeholders to engage with governance and decision-making processes.

Aditya Pillai, PhD candidate at the School of Global Affairs, India Institute, identified poor policy design and an institutional framework unequipped to protect the poorest from devastating future heat extremes in India. Aditya worked with a team of researchers to develop the first evidence-based recommendations for reform. The findings and subsequent policy engagement have made new funding available to India’s states and cities to prepare for future heat extremes.

The Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy Impact Team is now developing a video series to further showcase the work of the prize winners. Follow the SSPP LinkedIn page to stay in touch with the latest updates.