New ESRC Large Grant on Poverty and Social Exclusion

27 January 2010

'Poverty and Social Exclusion in the United Kingdom - the 2010 Survey', a 42-month research project, has been awarded £4.3 million by the ESRC, the largest grant ever given for poverty research in the UK. Professor Dave Gordon (The Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice, School for Policy Studies) will be the PI and co-applicants include colleagues in the School for Policy Studies (Eldin Fahmy, Christina Pantazis, Demi Patsios, Sarah Payne and Simon Pemberton)), Sociology (Ruth Levitas and Esther Dermott), Norah Fry Research Centre (Pauline Heslop), as well as researchers at Heriot-Watt University, the National Centre for Social Research, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Open University, Queen's University Belfast, University of Glasgow and the University of York. 

The research project will build on earlier work including the 1999 Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey (funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation) and established expertise in defining and measuring social exclusion in the Faculty.

Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, Professor Guy Orpen; Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law, Professor Judith Squires; and Professors Dave Gordon and Ruth Levitas gave presentations about the importance of this research to help improve people's lives. They were joined by 40 guests, staff and graduate students in the celebration at the Priory Road Complex on 19 January 2010. Further celebration of research successes in the Faculty is being planned following large grants from the Department of Children, Schools and Families, and the National Institute for Health Research.