Mapping the UK behavioural research landscape

First things first – what do we mean by ‘behavioural research’? Is it the same as behavioural science? What counts as ‘behaviour’ or ‘research’? Our view aims to be broad and inclusive. We agreed that the following descriptions would guide our map:  

• Behavioural researcher - someone who works on behavioural research projects, as part of a formal role in employment, study or volunteering. For example, they might be someone who works on research grants in a university Anthropology department, someone who leads market research projects for a government communications team, or someone who conducts surveys within their organisation to develop HR policies. 

• Behavioural research project - a research project that aims to understand what influences, characterises, changes or results from people’s individual or collective behaviour. 

• Research project is a project in which data is systematically collected, analysed and interpreted to address a question or problem, and new knowledge documented, e.g. through a report, technical note, presentation, framework or strategy. 

Our scope includes all types of public, private and third/voluntary sector organisations in which there is at least one behavioural researcher. Organisations could be of any size, including (where relevant), teams, units or departments within larger organisations. 

There have been various initiatives to map behavioural teams around the globe. One of the largest is BehaviouralTeams, a project which began in 2019 with gathering information about behavioural science and behavioural design teams through a short survey, and making the results available online. It has since expanded to collect details about individual practitioners and researchers, and over 900 teams and over 740 practitioners feature on the site (researchers are to be added), with over 100 teams and 80 practitioners based in the UK. 

Other efforts include the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation’s database and map of behavioural insights units. These are units working in or with governments to apply behavioural insights to public policy. It has 25 entries for the UK, which range from units or teams to whole government departments.  

The global directory of applied behavioral scientists isa database to which people who identify as applied behavioural scientists may add their details. It lists around 370 individuals, around 40 working in the UK. Various other directories exist, linked to professional networks such as the Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists and the UK Behavioural Science and Public Health Network to name two, although these don’t include people’s locations. 

In line with BR-UK’s remit as a national leadership hub, our map focuses on organisations based (or with a base) in the UK and includes their postcode locations.^1. This allows for a more detailed look at how behavioural research activity is distributed across different regions and gives people the opportunity to find organisations in their area.  

By mapping organisations rather than individuals, we aim to build a more accurate and stable view of how much and what types of behavioural research are happening nationally. 

So far, 695 organisations are represented, making this the most comprehensive and detailed map of UK behavioural research activity to date. It brings together in one place 161 private sector, 71 public sector, 28 third/voluntary sector and 435 academic organisations where at least one person works on behavioural research projects as part of their role. For 217 organisations, an estimated number of behavioural researchers is included.² 

Users can explore the map by navigating around the map itself, toggling which sectors they are interested in, searching by keyword, and clicking on organisations for more details, such as webpage. 

The underlying data from the map can be accessed as a CSV file on the Open Science Framework. 

Whereas previous directories and maps have typically relied on people to self-identify and add their details, BR-UK has been able to draw on more varied sources of information.³ These are listed in the table below.  

You can find more details on the methods in our research protocol on the Open Science Framework.  

Unlike previous voluntary mapping efforts, the BR-UK Map is part of a nationally funded research and capability-building programme. It contributes to BR-UK's capability scoping study, which aims to understand the behavioural research landscape, identify gaps and opportunities related to societal needs, and develop strategic priorities, through surveys, workshops, and consensus-building. The map serves as both a foundation for this work and an accessible, evolving resource for all. 

The map includes 695 organisations with 741 locations. ⁴ Thirty-five percent of these locations are in Greater London (256 out of 741). The South East and the North West have the next highest numbers of behavioural research organisations (89 and 66 locations, respectively). In Northern Ireland relatively few organisations have so far been added, particularly in academic and private sectors. 

This graph reflects the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on behavioural research organisations in the UK. However, this distribution could change as more information is added, and as organisations and teams evolve over time.  

It is also important to note that comparisons between sectors may be limited by the differences in typical size and make-up between organisations. For example, academic organisations in the map tend to be sub-units such as research groups, whereas this is less common among the other public sector, private sector and third/voluntary sector organisations added to date.

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As well as mapping organisations, BR-UK has gathered information on around 200 existing networks established to connect behavioural researchers and/or behavioural research users, which have members in the UK.  

The networks we have found span domains including behavioural economics, consumer behaviour and market research, health and medicine, environmental and energy behaviour, user experience (UX) and human factors, policy and government, technology and AI, interdisciplinary approaches, and ethics and social impact.  

Details of all the networks, including web pages and estimated number of members (where available), are available as a CSV data file on the Open Science Framework. 

The BR-UK Map will serve as a living resource to facilitate networking and partnerships among researchers and organizations. As we continue to gather insights into the organisations doing in behavioural research across the UK, the map will help identify trends, gaps, and opportunities, informing our future capability-building work and wider leadership. To support transparency and further analysis, the latest data will also be available on the Open Science Framework, providing an alternative format to the map and opportunities for reanalysis. 

To delve deeper into the UK behavioural research landscape and steer future directions, BR-UK is running a cross-sector survey which individuals can complete. Insights from the map and survey will be combined and follow-up workshops will be held as part of BR-UK’s capability scoping study. 

Is your organisation on the map?  

To add or update an organisation's details, please email BehaviouralResearchUK@ucl.ac.uk with the following information: 

• Name of organisation / group 

• Type of organisation (public, private, third/voluntary sector or academic) 

• Main UK postcode(s) 

• Main webpage 

• Estimated number of people who work on behavioural research projects 

For networks please send the following information: 

• Name of network 

• Main webpage 

• Estimated number of members 

Do you engage with or work on research about people’s individual or collective behaviour? We want to hear from you, to help us build a cross-sector picture of behavioural research in the UK and steer future directions.  

There are several ways you can get involved with our work: 

1. Complete our 10-minute cross-sector survey (you don’t have to be a ‘behavioural researcher’ to take part). 

2. Join the BR-UK Network by signing up to our mailing list. 

3. Check out BR-UK’s programme of webinars and events. 

4. Find out more about our research and ways to get involved on our website.