Research
Research in SSESW combines five core disciplinary areas, in Criminology, Education, Social Policy, Social Work and Sociology, We see our work as being key to bringing about positive social change. Along with our strengths in these core disciplinary areas, we are committed to trans-disciplinary work that can address local and global challenges, bringing together professionals, researchers, and service users to bring about innovation in research agendas and methodologies.
In the last Research Excellence Framework assessment, our research was judged in the top quartile of UK research, and our impact work was judged to be world leading. Our research has influenced policy and practice locally, nationally and globally in many areas including education, criminal justice, the wellbeing of children, social cohesion and mental health. Research in the school is organised within a number of Research Centres and Networks: Centre for Children's Rights; Centre for Shared Education; Disability Research Network; Centre for Behaviour Analysis; Centre for Language Education Research; Drugs and Alcohol Research Network; and the ARK Northern Ireland Social Policy Hub. Members from the School also locate their research within the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice.
Our research serves local and global communities, and our ambition is that it aids social transformation to improve lives and outcomes of people.
Allen Thurston
in the UK for Research Intensity for Education
Research Excellence Framework (2014)in the UK for Research Intensity for Social Policy and Social Work
Research Excellence Framework (2014)in the UK for Research Intensity for Sociology
Complete University Guide 2021
QUB is driving forward public policy debates in relation police stop and search powers. By examining the history, context and scale of this police practice, such research enhances a deeper understanding of how stop and search is used Northern Ireland’s post-conflict setting. Particularly regarding children and young people, the research is providing new empirical data with national and international significance.

Dr Liam O’Hare leads a collaboration between a team of researchers at QUB and teachers in the Hallam Teaching School Alliance. The team have developed a programme called SMART Spaces for use during GSCE science revision classes, currently being trialled across England in 160 disadvantaged schools with over 14,000 pupils participating.
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Research Centres and Institutes
Our mechanisms for research delivery include a number of interdisciplinary Research Centres, Research Networks and Institutes
- Our Impact
87% of research in Education and 76% of research in Social Work and Social Policy was assessed in REF 2014 as either 'Internationally Excellent or World-Leading', with Education ranked 4th in the UK for Research Intensity and Social Work and Social Policy ranked 11th.
- Collaborations and Current Projects
Our academics work collaboratively with an array of international partner organisations to be at the forefront of innovative social research.
- Environment and Support
We provide the flexibility for talent to flourish, underpinned by our Graduate School and the Queen’s University Fellowship Scheme.
- Postgraduate Research
Are you interested in doctoral study in the school of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work? Search for PhD supervisors.
Latest Publications
Reading for meaning: reciprocal reading secondary for struggling readers (KS3). A randomised controlled trial and process evaluation
1 February 2023Probing dual harm and non-violent misconduct among imprisoned adult men in Northern Ireland
- Michelle Butler
- Dominic Kelly
- Catherine McNamee
Behind the chair: "doing hair" and "flipping the script" in interviews on the sensitive topics of religion and sexual experiences
30 January 2023Immigrants’ and refugees’ ‘funds of knowledge(s)’ on the path to intercultural competence
- Yecid Ortega
- Rebecca Oxford
Beirut port disaster: former Lebanon prime minister charged with homicide
25 January 2023