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In This Section
  • Research Centres and Institutes
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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

#4

in the UK for Research Intensity for Education

Research Excellence Framework (2014)
#11

in the UK for Research Intensity for Social Policy and Social Work

Research Excellence Framework (2014)
#14

in the UK for Research Intensity for Sociology

Complete University Guide 2021  
Boy playing on the floor
CENTRE FOR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS

BECAUSE CHILDREN HAVE RIGHTS

Two schoolgirls whispering
CENTRE FOR SHARED EDUCATION

WORKING TOGETHER FOR LEARNING

DISABILITY RESEARCH NETWORK

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: INNOVATIONS IN DISABILITY RESEARCH

CENTRE FOR BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS

OVERCOMING BARRIERS, ACHIEVING POTENTIAL

CENTRE FOR LANGUAGE EDUCATION RESEARCH

LANGUAGE MATTERS...FOR EVERYONE

Assorted tablets
DRUGS AND ALCOHOL RESEARCH NETWORK

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH AND PRACTICE IN DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

Featured Projects
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Improving Scrutiny of and Knowledge of Police

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. 


Lanyon July2018
Improving attainment by using SMART Spaces

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. 


  • Research Centres and Institutes

    Our mechanisms for research delivery include a number of interdisciplinary Research Centres, Research Networks and Institutes

    Find out more

  • 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.

    Our Impact

  • Collaborations and Current Projects

    Our academics work collaboratively with an array of international partner organisations to be at the forefront of innovative social research.

    More on our collaborations

  • Environment and Support

    We provide the flexibility for talent to flourish, underpinned by our Graduate School and the Queen’s University Fellowship Scheme.

    Environment and Support

  • Postgraduate Research

    Are you interested in doctoral study in the school of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work? Search for PhD supervisors.

    Postgraduate Research

Latest Publications

  • Reading for meaning: reciprocal reading secondary for struggling readers (KS3). A randomised controlled trial and process evaluation
    • Maria Cockerill
    • Allen Thurston
    • Joanne O'Keeffe
    1 February 2023
  • Probing dual harm and non-violent misconduct among imprisoned adult men in Northern Ireland
    • Michelle Butler
    • Dominic Kelly
    • Catherine McNamee
    February 2023
  • Behind the chair: "doing hair" and "flipping the script" in interviews on the sensitive topics of religion and sexual experiences
    • Ruth Flanagan
    30 January 2023
  • Immigrants’ and refugees’ ‘funds of knowledge(s)’ on the path to intercultural competence
    • Yecid Ortega
    • Rebecca Oxford
    28 January 2023
  • Beirut port disaster: former Lebanon prime minister charged with homicide
    • John Nagle
    25 January 2023
View all Research Outputs

FIND OUT MORE

Read about our research areas
Research
  • Research Centres and Institutes
  • Research Areas
  • Our Impact
  • Research Environment and Culture
  • Collaborations and Current Projects
  • Recent Publications
  • Visiting Scholars

Upcoming Events

Events

  • 2
    Feb
    Book launch and talk - Religious Terrorism in Japanese Collective Memory
  • 10
    May
    Social Work Offer Holder Event
  • 8
    Dec
    Listening to the learner’s voice: the experience of an Irish primary school
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BT7 1HL

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E-mail: ssesw@qub.ac.uk

Tel:+44 (0)28 9097 5941/3323/5117

Subjects

  • Criminology
  • Education
  • Social Policy
  • Social Work
  • Sociology

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