This is an Internal Announcement 

New Bristol Poverty Institute Research Clusters

I am delighted to introduce the Bristol Poverty Institute’s (BPI) five new interdisciplinary research clusters:

• Child Health and Development, bringing together researchers interested in the intersections between poverty and child health, growth, and development from both medical and social perspectives.
• Education, bringing together researchers interested in the intersections between education - at different levels and scales - and poverty.
• Food and Nutrition, bringing together researchers interested in the intersections between food systems, diet and nutrition, health, well-being, and poverty.
• Livelihoods and Debt, bringing together researchers interested in the intersections between livelihoods, personal finance, debt, and poverty.
• Multidimensional Poverty Measurement, bringing together researchers interested in the concept of poverty as multidimensional, and methods for measuring, analysing, and tackling it.

We have set up a MS Team/group space for each research cluster, providing a space for collaboration, a forum for engagement, and a platform to share news, views, and resources with one another. You can view the team space by clicking on the above links for each cluster.

To join any of the research clusters simply send an email to bristol-poverty-institute@bristol.ac.uk stating which cluster(s) you are interested in. 

You will then be able to access the full site functionality, including the team’s mailbox where you and your cluster colleagues can share news, ideas and information, and my BPI team will also share targeted information with the group on relevant events, funding calls, and other opportunities. Please note you may also need to ‘follow’ the group, by clicking the star in the top right corner of the group page, in order to receive all notifications. We can also work with the cluster members to develop this team site to include other sections which you might find helpful, including document libraries, event calendars, external contacts lists, a Yammer group, and so on.

We are also looking for volunteer(s) to be Cluster Leads. Clusters can have a single lead if necessary; however, we would prefer a small group to share the responsibilities, work together, bring different ideas to the table, and broaden the scope of Cluster activity. If you are interested in being a Cluster Lead please get in touch with BPI Manager Dr Lauren Winch (lauren.winch@bristol.ac.uk).

Our ambition is for these virtual clusters to develop into a real community of engagement, and we are happy to support this community as best we can. For example, we can help you with organising and/or promoting events – both virtual in the current climate and in-person in due course – and providing targeted information and opportunities. In addition, in Spring 2021 the BPI will be running a large, international online conference and we are keen to offer research clusters the opportunity to host sessions at this conference.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch via bristol-poverty-institute@bristol.ac.uk. Please do also feel free to share this email with UoB colleagues who may be interested in joining any of the clusters. Cluster membership is open to UoB researchers at all career stages, including PGR students.

We look forward to working with you!
With best wishes,
Lauren.