School of Education and Social Work

Research

The Departments of Education and Social Work & Social Care have strong commitments to research, producing influential, world-leading reports which shape professional policy and practice nationally and internationally.

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Research with Impact, Sussex Priorities and the ESW Strategic Plan 2019-25

The University's 2025 Research with Impact Strategy provides a structure for our School's Strategic Framework for Research with Impact [PDF 162.91KB] which outlines the aims, objectives and mechanisms underpinning our vision for research and knowledge exchange. For further information about Research at Sussex, see About our research.

Our Research Centres

The School of Education and Social Work provides a robust and nurturing research community with internationally recognised research centres delivering strong externally-facing identities and a ‘research culture without borders’. All research-active staff and postgraduate researchers are actively involved with at least one interdisciplinary research centre. These Centres are the key mechanism through which the School's research agenda is developed and implemented through links, networks and knowledge hubs with local, national and international research partners and stakeholders. The Centres also promote the synergies between research, scholarship and teaching.

We are proud that two of our Research Centres been awarded flagship Centres of Excellence* status.

The Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth (CIRCY)* is sits across both the Department of Education and the Department of Social Work & Social Care, as well as the School of Law, Politics and Sociology.

Department of Education

Department of Social Work & Social Care

The Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth (CIRCY) sits across both Departments.

Elements

Elements is the University's platform for supporting the management of research activities by providing one single point of organisation, presentation and reporting for all scholarly and research activities, including research outputs and impact. It also hosts the University staff profile pages.

Full training and support is available for its use.

Elements is an invaluable tool to capture, collect and showcase research and its impact. It is important that researchers maintain an accurate record, including up to date publications, both to comply with Open Access and as your outward facing profile. Elements is also used to track and review potential outputs for the REF submission.

If you have any queries or issues using Elements, the Library's Elements team will be more than happy to help. Please email at elements@sussex.ac.uk.

The Research Excellence Framework (REF)

The REF is the UK’s national assessment of research in higher education institutions (HEIs). Its results help decide research funding worth about £2 billion in public money to UK HEIs.

The main purposes of the REF are to:

  • provide accountability for public investment in research
  • provide benchmarking information for use within the Higher Education sector and for public information
  • to inform the selective allocation of quality-related (QR) funding for research.

The Research Quality and Impact (RQI) team co-ordinates Research Excellence Framework (REF) preparations at University level and each School coordinates its own submission to contribute. You can find out more information on REF at Sussex on the RQI webpages.

In the School of Education and Social Work the REF 2029 team is made up of:

Preparations for REF 2029 are already underway. If you have any questions about being involved in REF in ESW please contact any of the above.

Knowledge Exchange and Impact

Research carried out by staff in the School of Education and Social Work is making a substantial and positive impact to the lives of people globally. Our work is improving policy and practice for children and young people at risk of abuse, neglect, violence, exploitation, and school exclusion.

Strong partnerships with practitioners and policy-makers have enabled research on educating refugees, young people’s sexual health, adults in higher education, and children in conflict-affected areas to bring about measurable change in national and international policy. Our research on safeguarding adults, supporting individuals with learning disabilities, and evaluating interventions with parents, children, and families continually shapes the innovative practices of educators and social care professionals both nationally and internationally.

Planning for research impact is integral to the way in which we support academics and postgraduate researchers to develop and carry out their research; discussing pathways, planning and measuring impact is at the heart of our research culture. See the Knowledge Exchange and Impact web page for more details.

Sussex Social Change Hub is a collective of academic experts from the School of Education and Social Work dedicated to strengthening relationships with organisations, governments, schools and charities through consultancy, training and tailored services. Contact socialchangehub@sussex.ac.uk to find out more.

Ethics, Integrity and Research Policies

Ethics are an essential part of conducting research and need to be reflected on with considerable care and attention. You should start this process early to ensure that no harm is done to you, your participants, or to the University in pursuit of your research goals. It is also essential to assess the level of risk involved, as well as how you will mitigate it, e.g. how you will protect vulnerable individuals in your research sample, what strategies you will employ to avoid restimulating distress or trauma or what information you will provide for your participants with.

Ethics review

Details on ethics review can be found on the Research Governance and Integrity web pages, including useful information on research integrity, how to apply, university ethics processes, and policies and procedures. There is also a useful section on exploring whether you need ethics review. 

Useful contacts

Further information and resources
See our internal web pages on Ethics for more detailed information.

If you are conducting social care research, see the University’s Guidelines on social care research and guidance from the NHS.

Researchers planning to work with children in schools should consult the ‘SOP for obtaining consent for research with child participants in schools'.

All University policies relating to research can be found on the Research Policies web page, including the 'Code of Conduct for Research'.

Staff Achievement & Development Reviews (ADRs)

The Achievement and Development Review (ADR) process aims to support staff to set professional and career development goals, to measure their success and progress against their objectives, and to develop new objectives that are achievable and measurable. 

All staff are expected to have an annual ADR between 1 May and 30 September using the relevant ADR form to record agreed objectives and actions.

Detailed information and the relevant form is available on the Organisational Development web pages.

Research Mentoring

The aim of research mentoring is to encourage faculty to thrive at all career stages as part of a vibrant research culture.

You will be paired with a mentor based on career stage. Mentoring matches will always be open for review, with the expectation that changes take place after 2-3 years. Any requests for changing mentors need to be made in advance of workload planning, so during the autumn academic semester. The focus of the work with your mentor is your own professional progress/goals in research and scholarship, with the agenda led by you as the mentee in negotiation with your mentor.

If you choose, you can share your Individual Research Plan (IRP) with your mentor but this is not a requirement. Research mentoring is not related to performance management or the Achievement and Development Review.

The ESW model of mentoring is consistent with the approach supported across the University, including central training and resources. You can find out more on the Organisational Development web pages on mentoring. Additional training and support events are held within the School to support mentoring.

Specialist support for research activity (including support and peer review for bidding and publications) should be sought in the first instance through your Research Centre.

If you have any questions or concerns about mentoring, including if you do not have a mentor, please contact the Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange: eswdrake@sussex.ac.uk.

Individual Research Plans

The purpose of the Individual Research Plan (IRP) is to provide a framework which you can use to reflect and plan your aims, objectives, priorities and support for your research profile and development.

The completed IRPs of all research staff will be used to get a collective sense of research achievements and support needs for colleagues individually and collectively. It does not form part of your ADR (Achievement and Development Review) or research mentoring. However, if you choose to, you can use it for both.

Although the IRP is primarily for your personal benefit you can also use it to think about your potential contribution to your UoA's collective REF submission. It is intended to be a planning document that you can return to, build on and adapt each year as we move through to the end of this REF cycle (2029). You don’t need to start your IRP afresh each year, but should instead edit, adapt, revise the existing document year on year. 

The online link to the IRP is circulated annually in order to support planning and support for next academic year.

Research Study Leave

Research Study Leave is available to all staff on Teaching and Research contracts, with an expectation of normally one term every three years, subject to submission and approval of a research and impact plan evaluated against set criteria and within set timelines. Relevant faculty may also apply for shorter periods of 'exceptional study leave' for bidding, writing and impact activity within a tight timeframe.

The Research Study Leave Policy is consistent with University Guidance on Study Leave for Research and meets the particular needs of the School. It combines a rights-based approach to ‘standard research study leave’ and a needs-based approach to ‘exceptional research leave’ to maximise short-term flexibilities when required. It intends to ensure equity and transparency of the decision-making process, and the spirit of collegiality in which research study leave is resourced and undertaken.

Research Data Management

A systematic and rigorous approach to research data management is fundamental to good research practice. Refer to the relevant University policies and guidance below.

See the library webpages on data management for more information, including data management policies and further information about Figshare and Sussex Research Data Repository.

Research Funding

The School of Education and Social Work has a vibrant and thriving research culture working on projects across our Research Centres.

The ESW Research Team works alongside colleagues in Research and Innovation to provide expertise and enable research across the whole research lifecycle.

The Research Development team helps with:

  • How to find external research funding
  • How to apply for funding
  • Carrying out eligibility checks
  • Creating a budget with you
  • Gathering required documents
  • Carrying out due diligence checks
  • Ensuring an application meets funder requirements

Send Clare Neil a proforma at least 6 weeks before the funder’s closing deadline (or 8-12 if involving multiple collaborators and/or international partners). You don’t need all the details, or even be 100% committed to going ahead with a grant application. The process simply places you onto the ResDev workflow to ensure that you have support and approvals should the application proceed.

The proforma system will be phased out once the new Worktribe Research Management System is fully implemented in autumn 2024. If you are using Worktribe, please ensure that you start the project and then email the link to your RDM to alert them that you have started your application. (6 week/8-12 week timelines still apply)

Internal Funding

The University operates several mechanisms to support and foster research and research related activities. These mechanisms exist to enable the development of ideas and partnerships in order to attract external funding. More information can be found here.

Further contacts and advice

  • A fortnightly ESW Research Assistance session takes place with Hazel Crawford, ESW Assistant Research Manager and Clare Neil, Research Development Manager, for any Faculty who are thinking of applying for funding to discuss their plans and ask any questions. These sessions take place every other Tuesday 9.30-11am and you can secure a slot (usually 30 mins) by contacting Hazel Crawford. Check the Events calendar on the ESW internal staff webpages for the next scheduled session.
  • ESW Assistant Research Manager: Hazel Crawford to talk through your ideas, connect with other researchers, general questions about process or where to go next.
  • Workflow and Guidance: External research funding for advice on the process for developing research bids and securing external funding for different types of research and consultancy projects.
  • Guidance on how to create a proposal.