Research programmes

Migration to the UK has been pushed to the forefront of the public debate with a highly emotional tone in recent years. The Migration team aims to provide a critical assessment of the debates and policies in place, bringing innovative ideas and new ways of thinking about migration. It focused in particular on questions related to asylum seekers and refugees, European migrants in the UK post-Brexit, and issues pertaining to gender and education.

The Identities Programme recognises that it is not always sufficient to confine discussions to existing policies, and works to re-imagine conventional policy-making by approaching it through different lenses. By recognising overlapping issues of class, culture and intersectional identities, it aims to bring nuance into topical discussions over identity and what it means to ‘belong’.

From Kyoto and Stockholm, Paris and soon Glasgow – the momentum in the fight against the Climate Crisis is building steam, including in the UK. Our Energy & Environment team analyses the UK’s climate policy, its roadmap to decarbonisation, the dawn of the circular economy and resource and waste issues, green finance, pollution, biodiversity, and more.

As the balance of power across the world shifts, topics like voting rights, public engagement, and institutions become even more important. The Democracy & Governance Programme provides a platform to share and discuss such topics, exploring questions like how democracies can be strengthened, what democratic participation looks like, and what makes an effective institution.

This Programme is focused on the UK’s role in global military and civilian operations. Amidst new, asymmetric non-state threats, an emerging China-US power struggle, and other state actors challenging the rule-based international system, this topic brings with it a range of evolving challenges.