Work Packages

Leads: Professor Jo Hart and Nia Coupe (Manchester) 

With Dr Rachel Carey (Zinc) and Dr Maggie Guanyu Yang (UCL).

This work package is laying the groundwork to build and enhance capabilities in behavioural research, addressing challenges and fostering collaboration, training, and practices that contribute to sustained improvement and impact in the field. We have conducted two capability scoping surveys to better understand the current landscape of behavioural research in the UK (led by UCL) and the role of behavioural research within UK start-ups and scale-ups (led by Zinc). Find out more about our initial capability scoping research that underpins this work package. This multi-part study will pinpoint existing strengths, identify areas where scientific and stakeholder needs remain unmet, and highlight opportunities for significant advancements within behavioural research. The survey results are being utilised to establish a UK-wide network for behavioural research. 

Access our Learning Resources.

Access and read BR-UK's Capability Building documentation on the Open Science Framework.

Leads: Professor Jamie Brown (UCL) and Professor Ashley Gould (Public Health Wales) 

with Dr Aideen Maguire (ADR-UK), Dr Vera Buss (UCL) and Dr Janna Hastings (Idiap Research Institute).

Better data infrastructure informed by underpinning ontologies and more rapid mechanisms to collect and report results is needed to safely and ethically scale up the pace and impact of behavioural research. This work package is creating a strong foundation for behavioural research by enhancing data infrastructure, leveraging technology, and expanding the scope of studies to address a wider range of behaviours and issues. We are improving data infrastructure and ontologies by utilising underlying ontologies to inform the structure and organisation of data.   

BR-UK funds data collection in Scotland and Wales as part of the Smoking and Alcohol Toolkit Studies. Some of the outputs below are not solely funded by BR-UK.  Please refer to each publication for details.

Access and read BR-UK's Data and Technology documentation on the Open Science Framework.

Leads: Professor Oliver Escobar (Edinburgh), Professor Ann Phoenix (UCL)

with Professor Stephen Reicher (St Andrews), Dr Julze Alejandre (Edinburgh) and Dr Niamh Hart (Edinburgh).

To ensure that BR-UK's research and outputs are accessible and meaningful to diverse groups and embedded in contexts that are relevant to them, BR-UK will employ participatory methods to gain insights into public and stakeholder perspectives. This will include developing effective methods for engaging and sustaining the public and other stakeholders, such as community mobilisation, citizen engagement, and leadership.

Activities will include: incorporating community mobilisation & citizen engagement into long-term plans, improving understanding of how mobilisation and engagement affect the priorities and decisions of policymakers and the acceptance of policy decisions by communities, delivering training in engagement skills to build capacity across BR-UK and providing training opportunities to build knowledge and skills in public and stakeholder engagement therefore fostering capacity of individuals and teams across BR-UK in this area.

Access and read the BR-UK Engagement and Involvement project documentation on the Open Science Framework.

Leads: Professor Thomas Webb (Sheffield), Professor David Lagnado (UCL), 

with Professor Nichola Raihani (UCL/Auckland), Dr Sarah Lynn Flecke (UCL), Dr Dan Thorman (Sheffield) and Dr Hui Zhang (Sheffield). 

With In-Kind Contributions from Dr Harriet Baird, Rosie Buhaenko, Dr Elizabeth Corker, Dr Melanie Simmonds-Buckley and Dr Lesley Uttley (Sheffield).

This work package is improving the reliability and accessibility of methods in behavioural research, incorporating ontologies, robust frameworks, causal models, and tools for effective data integration and visualisation. These efforts are geared towards enhancing decision-making based on sound behavioural science methodologies and will build upon the work and outputs of the BR-UK Demonstration Projects (specifically 2 and 3). We will also provide tools and opportunities to rapidly identify and synthesise evidence as part of the longer-term plans for a BR-UK rapid systematic review function that will provide rapid and high-quality reviews to inform decision-making in response to emerging issues. 

Read more about our rapid systematic review outputs.

Access and read BR-UK's Methods & Evidence Synthesis documentation on the Open Science Framework.