Our REF submission
For REF 2014, we did not make a separate submission to UoA 23: Sociology, Instead, our researchers in Sociology were included in submissions to UoA 22: Social Work and Social Policy and UoA 03: Allied Health Professions.
However, during the REF 2021 period, we saw substantial growth in Sociology in the scale of our research staff, research activity and size our doctoral student population, linked to faculty and central investment as part of our research strategy, which enabled a first-time submission to the Sociology UoA in REF 2021.
Our submission to this unit of assessment featured contributions from 14 people, 35 outputs, and two impact case studies:
- Improving health equality for incarcerated people through new harm reduction policy and practices
- Decolonising education and influencing policy and public discussions on racism
This area of our work also saw one doctoral award and £743k research income during the REF 2021 period.
Our research
Sociology research is hosted within the Department of Criminology and Sociology in the School of Social Sciences, located in our Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences.
The School of Social Sciences supports five interdisciplinary research centres spanning Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience (UoA4), Social Work and Social Policy (UoA 20) and Sociology (UoA 21). The majority of Sociology researchers work within the Identities and Inequalities research centre:
- Identities and Inequalities
Researching social identities and diverse inequalities in local, regional, national and global societies. Research takes place within four clusters: Black studies, cultural sociology, higher education and society; and policy, activism and politics. The centre also acts as a collaboration hub for sociology researchers from the Department of Criminology and Sociology, the Business School and the Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences.
The other four research centres are: