News & Insights

A paper introducing a new community of practice for behavioural researchers working with ontologies is now available on Wellcome Open Research. Initiated by the Human Behaviour Change Project , but combining input from researchers working on the BR-UK and APRICOT projects the paper introduces the Behavioural and Social Sciences Ontology (BSSO) Foundry, which is a repository to help the development, adoption and use of ontologies in the behavioural and social sciences. Read the paper to learn more about how to join and contribute to the community of behavioural researchers using ontologies. If you’d like to learn more about BR-UK’s approach to ontologies, what are and how they can be used, watch the BR-UK webinar on ontologies.

Part of BR-UK's role is to conduct rapid research that addresses emerging challenges or events.  Following the UK summer riots, BR-UK in collaboration with Professor John Drury, Professor Clifford Stott and others, is conducting a mixed-methods study that aims to understand the processes and impacts of the 2024 riots in England. The research aims to generate findings that can inform policy and practice to reduce the likelihood of similar events.  The protocol is available on our Open Science Framework site and results are expected to be available in the Spring of 2025.

Read Professor Stephen Reicher's commentary on the riots here.

The College of Medicine and Integrated Health has launched the Future Health Leaders Programme.  This transformative initiative is designed to cultivate the next generation of healthcare leaders. It aims to equip participants with the essential knowledge, skills, and innovative mindset necessary to navigate and reshape the evolving healthcare landscape. We are delighted that BR-UK Research Fellow Dr Julze Alejandre is one of 14 research leaders appointed in the inaugural cohort. Julze said: The College of Medicine’s Future Health Leaders programme is a unique opportunity. Being part of the inaugural cohort is both an honour and a privilege, especially given the chance to learn from experienced leaders like Sir Michael Dixon and Dame Donna Kinnair. My goal is to leverage this platform to promote the use of behavioural research in making healthcare more accessible and environmentally sustainable, both in the UK and globally.

Following on from winning the Society for the Study of Addiction’s 2024 Impact Prize, BR-UK Deputy Director Dr Sharon Cox has joined the Board of Trustees that lead the Society.  The mission of the SSA is to advance the understanding of addictive products and behaviours and the use of this knowledge in policy and practice.  Sharon is a psychologist with nearly 20 years’ academic and clinical experience studying substance addictions and harm reduction and an excellent addition to their team.

BR-UK have launched a map of almost 700 research groups and organisations with behavioural researchers based in the UK. Explore the map for public, private and third sector organisations in your area. 

The map assembles publicly available information about each organisation, along with estimated researcher numbers from BR-UK's cross-sector survey. You can access the underlying data in CSV format on the Open Science Framework, as well as details of over 200 existing networks. 

This is a living resource which will be regularly updated as an output of BR-UK's capability scoping study. We will include any organisation in which there is at least one person who works on behavioural research projects (of any kind) as part of a UK-based role. 

Published: 26th August 2024

BR-UK’s Deputy Director, Dr Sharon Cox, has been announced as the winner of the Society for the Study of Addiction’s 2024 Impact Prize.  The Impact Prize is awarded to those whose research has impacted treatment, policy, practice related to, or communities affected by, addiction. Sharon is a Principal Research Fellow at UCL and psychologist with nearly 20 years' academic and clinical experience studying substance addictions and harm reduction.

Reacting to the announcement, Sharon said: I am nothing short of overwhelmed and proud to receive this award. For many years, myself and my colleagues have been trying to raise awareness of how smoking impacts people who experience multiple and severe disadvantages, and slowly we are getting there. I am lucky to work with inspiring and hard-working colleagues that always give me ideas air time, without them, this work would not be where it is. It's really testament that science doesn't progress without the support of others.

Smoking cessation policies often fail to consider and address the evidence that there are members of society who are more at risk from smoking related harms than others and that do not have the same routine access to information and treatment to reduce those harms.   Sharon’s broad portfolio of research on smoking and its subsequent findings have facilitated her ability to directly influence policy and secure investment in smoking cessation interventions for people experiencing homelessness.

Professor Linda Bauld, BR-UK Principal Investigator and Co-Director:

On behalf of BR-UK, I send warm congratulations to Sharon for this well-deserved acknowledgement of her hard work and passion for research and her continuing commitment to challenge – and address - health inequalities within underserved communities.

Published: 29th May 2024

As part of our plans to develop a national network for behavioural research in the UK and a capability building strategy, BR-UK is undertaking a multi-part scoping study which aims to describe the field of behavioural research across all four UK nations and determine the current strengths, gaps, needs, opportunities, and priorities. The study includes several phases: mapping organisations and networks; surveying behavioural researchers and research users; conducting interviews and workshops; and co-developing strategic priorities. The focus will be across sectors (research, public and voluntary sector organisations, and industry). 

You don't have to be a 'behavioural researcher' to take part. It is open to anyone who engages with evidence or research about what influences, characterises, changes or results from people’s individual or collective behaviour. This includes research and non-research roles in public, private and third (voluntary) sectors. It can include fields such as (but not limited to) anthropology, behavioural design, economics, marketing, neuroscience, politics, sociology, and UX/UI. We welcome responses from people who belong to parts of society that are under-represented in the field of behavioural research. 

The survey will look at what types of research activity are happening, what topics and issues are being addressed, where there are needs for more or better research, and how we can strengthen people's capacity to conduct and use behavioural research. It will help to inform BR-UK's priorities for advancing behavioural research, including the management of research commissioning fund that will be open to people outside of BR-UK. The findings will help to create an online map of behavioural research activity in the UK, and respondents may be invited to take part in follow-up workshops.  The survey is open until May 13th, 2024.

 Take part in the BR-UK survey 

Published: 15th April 2024

BR-UK Co-Director Professor Susan Michie chaired a special event in London to celebrate the anniversary of The Centre for Behaviour Change (CBC) ay UCL which brings together academics, policy-makers, practitioners and others, from a wide range of disciplines to create a vibrant hub for developing ideas, methods, theories and evidence relating to behaviour change, and translating that expertise to achieve real-world impact, nationally and internationally.  This inspiring event summarised the journey Susan and the team at CBC have been on over the last decade to establish this world leading centre in behaviour change and also featured a range of presenters including BR-UK Co-Director Professor Linda Bauld. 

Learn more about CBC and to watch the celebration

Published: 11th March 2024

Professor Nick Pidgeon chaired the official launch of the BR-UK Leadership Hub which included an opening address from the UK Government's Chief Scientific Officer, Dam Angela McLean.  The launch provided an overview of the ambitions of both the Economic and Social Research Council who fund BR-UK through their National Capability in Behavioural Research initiative and the Hub as a whole.  BR-UK Directors, Professor Linda Bauld and Professor Susan Michie, explained the rational behind the Hub, why behavioural research matters and the BR-UK vision.  

If you missed the launch and would like to catch up,  you can watch it on our YouTube channel.

Published: 10th March 2024