24 March Programme

Social Sciences in Motion: Power, Pressure and Potential 

Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre

Plenary 

• Julia Black (British Academy, Nuffield Foundation)
• Will Hutton (Academy of Social Sciences)
• James Canton (ESRC)
• Jonathan Michie (University of Oxford)
• Molly Morgan Jones (British Academy)

With local, national and global shifts from political transition to the funding landscape and beyond, this session will explore where the social sciences are at today and the dominant forces reshaping the sector. Hear from University leaders, funders, and researchers as they discuss their respective experiences and reflections in the social sciences and explore the possibilities and opportunities in research for the future during a time of instability and uncertainty.  

About the panel 

Professor Dame Julie Black

Julia Black is Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford and a Professor of Law and Regulation at Oxford University. She is a non-executive director of the Financial Conduct Authority; external member of the Bank of England’s Financial Markets Infrastructure Committee; a member of the Prime Minister’s Council of Science and Technology; and a Governor of the Courtauld Institute of Art. She is a visiting Professor at LSE Law School and an Honorary Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. She has held leading roles in academia and policy making. She was a Professor at the LSE before moving to Oxford, where she held a number of senior management roles including serving as interim Vice Chancellor in 2016-2017. She was Senior Independent Member of the Board of UK Research and Innovation from 2017-2023. From 2018-2024 she was an external member of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Committee, and from 2021-2025 served as the President of the British Academy, the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. She was awarded a CBE in 2020 for her contribution the study of law and regulation and a DBE in 2025 for her services to research in the social sciences, humanities and the arts.

Will Hutton

Will is the President of the Academy of Social Sciences; a political economist, author and columnist. He is an associate with the London School of Economics Centre for Economic Performance, a non-executive director of the Satellite Applications Catapult, co-chair of the Purposeful Company, an associate of the Oxford Martin School, and writes a regular column for the Observer. He was principal of Hertford College, University of Oxford from 2011 to 2020. He has authored many bestselling books including the acclaimed The State We’re In (1995).

Dr James Canton

James Canton is Deputy Director for Innovation and Public Policy at the Economic and Social Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation. He leads work at the interface of research, innovation and public policy, focusing on how social science can respond to major societal challenges and uncertainty – from economic change to technological disruption. He oversees national investments including the What Works Centres, ESRC Impact Acceleration Accounts, and UKRI’s Policy Fellowships, strengthening the capacity of the social sciences to inform decision-making and deliver impact. Before ESRC, James held roles in government spanning resilience, national risk and the application of social science to emerging technologies.

Professor Jonathan Michie

Jonathan Michie is Professor of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange and President of Kellogg College at Oxford. Previously he was Director of Birmingham Business School, held the Sainsbury Chair of Management at Birkbeck, and was at Cambridge’s Judge Business School – moving from Brussels where he was an Expert to the European Commission. Jonathan is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences; edited the Reader’s Guide to the Social Sciences (Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001) and co-edited Why the Social Sciences Matter (Palgrave, 2015, 2nd Edition 2025), and was an interdisciplinary member of the Management & Business Panel for the previous REF. 

Dr Molly Morgan Jones

Dr Molly Morgan Jones was appointed Director of Policy at the British Academy in 2018. She was previously senior research leader with RAND Europe, an independent not-for-profit research institute whose mission is to help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis. Prior to joining RAND Europe, Molly worked for the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She received her DPhil in Science and Technology Policy from the University of Sussex and has a BA in biology from Northwestern University (Illinois), United States.

Vice Chancellor's Address

Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre

Professor Irene Tracey, Vice Chancellor, University of Oxford 

Working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to share area expertise: the case of Europe

Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre

Deep Dive

• Ed Turner (Aston University)
• Christopher Bannister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
• Nicolas Wright (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
• Katja Ziegler (University of Leicester)

This session will bring together expert speakers with different backgrounds: leading analysts from the Europe Research Group in the FCDO, a Politics academic with particular expertise in Germany, and a European Law scholar.  The latter two both have extensive experience of working with the FCDO, while the former two, while now civil servants, have backgrounds in academia. The session will take the format of a deep-dive discussion addressing questions such as:

• How can academics with particular area or subject expertise best support the work of the FCDO and other government departments?
• What is the best way to ensure academic research can have real traction?  What are the particular "do;s and don't's"?
• How can scholars get the maximum benefit from their engagement with diplomats and civil servants?

Pivoting From Timelines to Pipelines: Harmonising SHAPE Impact Support

Tsuzuki Lecture Theatre

Panel Session

• Tamsin Varney (University of Cambridge)
• Tina Basi (University of Cambridge)

This interactive panel explores how SHAPE teams can begin to shift from time-bound, project-based impact models to dynamic, pipeline-oriented approaches that can also reflect the realities of academic labour. Drawing on three distinct perspectives, we will unpack the competing agendas that shape impact: 

• Focus on commercialisation and accelerators by government funders
• Reward of evidenced outcomes through REF
• Increasing demands for place-based projects addressing unmet needs
• Internal university pressures for 4* publications and teaching excellence
• Disciplinary demands for originality and innovation

Through the discussion of three case studies, we will explore the challenges of competing timelines (e.g. VC cycles/tenures, researcher contracts, REF submission dates) and fragmented funding landscapes, and siloed mindsets. These case studies and connected provocations will also invite consideration of how to facilitate fast failure, identify inflection points, and build flexible, collaborative infrastructures that enable long-term impact. 

The session will challenge participants to rethink how impact is supported, measured, and sustained across diverse contexts.

Blind Media Creators: A Community-driven Project for Inclusive Media Training and Practice

Seminar Room 7

Deep Dive

• Catalin Brylla (Bournemouth University)
• Anica Zeyen (Royal Holloway College, University of London)
• Geoff Cummings
• Michelle Felix
• Stephen Portlock
• Sarah Pamment

Blind and visually impaired (BVI) communities face persistent exclusion shaped by stigma, inaccessibility and socio-economic inequality. Although digital platforms promise inclusion, their visual orientation often marginalises BVI users. Meaningful inclusion requires not only access but opportunities to create media, build peer networks and develop counter-narratives—yet sustained training in creative production remains limited.

Media Engagement for Wellbeing in the Blind and Visually Impaired Community (British Academy, 2024–25) piloted 12 inclusive media workshops in London and Dorset. Developed by an interdisciplinary team and co-delivered with BVI tutors and partner organisations, the project combined technical training, peer support and leadership development. Findings highlight the value of ability-based, community-driven frameworks for empowerment, accessibility and social change.

Engaging Every Body – Diverse Approaches to Developing Health and Nutrition Impact

Seminar Room 8

Presentations and Discussion

• Kay Aaronricks (Anglia Ruskin University)
• Dayna Brackley (NGO / Third Sector)
• Shelly Coe (Oxford Brookes)
• Emily Fallon (Essex County Council)
• Alexandra Halbish Rayner (Imperial College, University of London)

This session brings together three projects that demonstrate how inclusive, creative and community-engaged approaches can generate meaningful impact in health and nutrition research. Through examples ranging from immersive, game-based engagement to school-based co-created interventions and community-centred research partnerships, the session highlights how creativity, ethical collaboration and responsiveness to local contexts can strengthen both evidence and impact. Participants will gain practical insight into designing inclusive engagement, working effectively with diverse stakeholders, and developing impact pathways that are adaptable, scalable and rooted in real-world needs.

Served in Foyer A and B, Ruth Deech Building 

How the Social Sciences Are Meeting the Climate Change Challenge

Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre

Panel

• Anastasia Badder (University of Cambridge)
• Ms Lauryn Duncan-Rouse (University of Plymouth)
• Denise Baden (University of Southampton)
• Mahreen Khan (University of Oxford)
• Ana Maria Marin Morales (University of Oxford)
• Sabina Alkire (University of Oxford)

This panel examines how social science research contributes to climate action by engaging values, behaviour, institutions and evidence. Drawing on projects spanning interfaith collaboration, creative public engagement, green employment pathways and multidimensional poverty analysis, the session explores how climate responses are shaped by belief systems, communication strategies, labour markets and policy design. Speakers will share experiences of cross-sector collaboration, evidence generation and stakeholder engagement across diverse geographical contexts. The session highlights challenges and opportunities for social sciences in supporting inclusive, context-sensitive climate responses that address both environmental risk and social inequality.

Inclusive Digital Futures: Challenges, Opportunities, and Pathways for Displaced Communities

Tsuzuki Lecture Theatre

Panel

• Isabel Ruiz (University of Oxford)
• Marie Godin (University of Leicester)
• Lorraine Charles (Na'amal, Cambridge)
• Xia Shuting (Na'amal, Cambridge)
• Carlos Vargas-Silva (University of Oxford)
• Mrs Amy Fallon (UNHCR, Nairobi, Kenya)
• Vestine Ihimbaswe (Vestine Leila Network, Nairobi, Kenya)

Digital refugee livelihoods include digital skills training, platform-based work, local digital employment and small-scale entrepreneurship. These initiatives are increasingly promoted as pathways to refugee economic inclusion. In Kenya, recent reforms have shifted policy from encampment towards a settlement-based approach recognising refugees’ rights to work, movement and property, creating a more enabling regulatory environment.

However, evidence shows that systemic barriers often outweigh individual factors, such as skills or motivation, with gendered disparities across camp and urban contexts. “Skills-first” approaches alone are insufficient; broader structural challenges—such as weak digital infrastructure, restrictive legal frameworks, exclusionary platform design and persistent gender inequalities—must be addressed.

This panel brings together scholars, practitioners and humanitarian actors to examine how displaced communities engage with the digital economy under constraint, and what measures are needed to build more equitable digital ecosystems.

Civic Engagement and Inclusive Local Economies

Seminar Room 7

Presentations & Discussion

• Jordana Armstrong (Oxentia)
• Shukru Esmene (University of Exeter)
• Elina Varoutsa (Cardiff University)
• Emma Coles (Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership)
• Amy Heaps (Ulster University)
• Penny Chaidali (Cardiff University)
• Helen Kerr (WOMEN'STEC)

Social science research, when rooted in civic engagement and sustained local relationships, can contribute to more inclusive and resilient local economies. Bringing together three projects working across different geographical and institutional contexts, this session highlights how universities, policymakers, employers and communities can collaborate to address barriers to fair and inclusive economic development, social change, and employment. Through case studies of social innovation ecosystems, place-based employment partnerships, and policy innovation, speakers will reflect on how trust, co-design and behavioural insight shape effective local action.

Navigating Challenging Pathways to Impact with the Responsible KE, Engagement and Impact Framework 

Seminar Room 8

Workshop

• Alis Oancea (University of Oxford)
• Paul Manners (National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement)
• Aileen Marshall-Brown (University of Oxford)
• Juliet Scott-Barrett (University of Oxford)

What support, skills development and knowledge do you need to act responsibly in challenging and uncertain times? 

The Responsible Knowledge Exchange, Engagement and Impact (RKEEI) Framework and Principles describes 6 intersecting principles of responsibility and their implications for practice. This interactive workshop will use scenarios to support participants to familiarise themselves with the framework and to think through the knowledge and skills they need to become truly responsible, resilient and impactful practitioners through trying times.  

Participants will be empowered to frame challenges in new ways and to find solutions through reflection, learning and practicing RKEEI skills. 

Lunch served in Foyer A and B, Ruth Deech Building 

Measuring, Evidencing and Evaluating Impact – Perspectives from REF, the Third Sector and Policy

Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre

Presentations & Discussion

• Evangelia Varoutsa (Cardiff University)
• Sander Wagner (University of Oxford)
• Charles Rahal (University of Oxford)
• Jonathan Davies (University of Oxford)
• Jessica Reedy (University of Oxford)
• Penny Chaidali (Cardiff University)
• Shuks Esmene (Exeter University)

How impact is measured, evidenced and communicated across higher education, public services and the voluntary sector? Through examples ranging from government-commissioned evaluations and sector-wide impact research to the use of large language models to analyse REF impact case studies, speakers will reflect on how evidence can be made accessible, credible and useful in real-world settings. Participants will gain insight into emerging approaches to impact evaluation, the limits of existing frameworks, and how impact practices can better support decision-making across policy, practice and research.

Supporting Local Evidence Needs through Co-Production

Tsuzuki Lecture Theatre

Deep Dive

• Aileen Marshall-Brown (University of Oxford)
• Noora Kanfash (University of Oxford)
• Chris Hewson (University of Huddersfield, UPEN)
• Foyeke Tolani (Oxfordshire County Council)
• Carol McAnally (Oxford Brookes University)
• Joanna Crocker (University of Oxford)

Supporting evidence-informed policymaking is increasingly important in the context of ongoing devolution, the re-organisation of the UK funding landscape, and significant resource constraints within local authorities. Across the UK, universities and local/combined authorities are increasingly forming strategic partnerships to strengthen capacity, respond to urgent policy challenges, and co-produce research that delivers tangible impact. This session will showcase examples from Oxfordshire’s Local Policy Lab and the West Yorkshire universities, exploring how they have developed strategic partnerships across their regions. Speakers will reflect on the challenges, lessons learned and success factors in building cross-institutional collaborations and co-producing research agendas, through such mechanism as Areas of Research Interest (ARIs). The session will also provide an overview of other partnership models emerging across the UK, alongside resources and sector-wide support available (including through UPEN) to those looking to establish similar collaborations.

Participatory Research and Co-Production as Pathways to Impact

Seminar Room 7

Presentations and Discussion

• Maria Adams (University of Surrey)
• Georgia Bowers (University of Surrey)
• Nigel Fancourt (University of Oxford)
• Jon Garland (University of Surrey)
• Andrew King (University of Surrey)
• Wonyong Park (University of Southampton)
• Hanan Wahabi (Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission)

Participatory research and co-production can be effective approaches to generating meaningful impact in complex and sensitive contexts. Drawing on projects in women’s prisons, LGBTQ+ housing and care, and work with the Grenfell Tower community on education for social justice, speakers will reflect on how communities, researchers and practitioners collaborate throughout the research process. The session explores creative and participatory methods, long-term partnership building, and the challenges of sharing power and sustaining engagement. Insights will be shared into how participatory approaches can generate impact that is inclusive, justice-oriented and responsive to lived experience, while also reshaping research practice itself.

Films as Engagement Tools: How to make them and what to do with them 

Seminar Room 8

Workshop

• Galina Goncharenko (Aston University)
• Bethan Jinkinson (BBC Ideas)

Films can be a bold, creative way to disseminate key research findings and messages beyond academia and spark conversation and curiosity, but how do we make use of these outputs to ensure that they are an effective engagement tool with the potential to lead to research impact? This session explores perspectives from behind and in front of the camera: an academic who uses short films and videography to bring research on workplace harassment, accountability and democracy to life for diverse audiences, and the editor of the award-winning BBC Ideas team who will discuss their partnerships with academics to make research-based short films for digital and social platforms. 

Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre 

Plenary

• Tina Miller (Oxford Brookes University)
• Paul Manners (NCCPE)
• Mitali Mukherjee (Reuters Institute, University of Oxford)
• Amir Lebdioui, (University of Oxford)

Hear from diverse perspectives for a critical discussion of the social sciences. In a world that is facing global challenges, the increase of technology, misinformation, and polarisation, how are and should the social sciences be responding? This session will explore whether and how the social sciences can maintain and build trust as well as its value to the public, policy, the media, and business. 

About the panel

Professor Tina Miller

Professor Tina Miller is Professor of Sociology at Oxford Brookes University, specialising in family lives, gender, parenthood and reproductive health. Her research uses qualitative and longitudinal methods to explore transitions to motherhood, fatherhood and parenthood and their social meanings. She has acted as an expert adviser to bodies including the World Health Organization and UK parliamentary committees and regularly contributes to public debate on family, work and care. Professor Miller’s work has shaped scholarly and policy discussions on contemporary family dynamics and gendered social practices.

Paul Manners

Paul Manners is Co-Director of the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) and Associate Professor in Public Engagement at the University of the West of England. Paul is responsible for the strategic direction of NCCPE. Originally he trained as a secondary English teacher, then worked for twelve years at the Open University as a producer of TV, radio and multimedia, before joining the BBC as an executive producer of a number of national public engagement campaigns. He advises a number of national organisations on learning and engagement, including the National Trust and the Science Museum.

Mitali Mukherjee

Mitali Mukherjee is Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford and Director of Journalist Programmes. A political economy journalist with over two decades of international experience in TV, print and digital media, she has previously held senior editorial roles and been recognised with fellowships including Chevening and Raisina Asian Forum. At Oxford, she leads global research, fellowship and training programmes focused on the future of journalism and media innovation.

Dr Amir Lebdioui

Dr Amir Lebdioui is Associate Professor of the Political Economy of Development at the University of Oxford and Director of the Technology and Industrialisation for Development (TIDE) Centre. Amir is a development economist, whose research has focused on the economic diversification of resource-dependent nations, green industrial policy and low carbon innovation, commodity value addition and biodiversity-based development models. His work has been published in top tier academic journals including World Development, Ecological Economics, Development and Change, the Journal of Technology Transfer, and the Review of International Political Economy. Amir also regularly advises governments and international institutions on green industrial policy strategies. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He is an Algerian national.

'Be with Nature' Walk

Meet at the Conference Welcome Desk at 16:15

An opportunity to connect with nature in the beautiful grounds of Somerville College. Genista Astell (co-founder of ‘Be with Nature’) will guide a 45 minute session on Tuesday 24 March, 16:30-17:15 in Somerville College. For 'Impact in Motion' conference delegates only.

Spaces are limited, so please sign up in advance: Be with Nature Walk registration form

The Evidence Chamber: Collaboration at the Intersection of Justice, Research and Society

Seminar Room 7, 16:15 - 17:30

The Evidence Chamber is an innovative immersive project developed by Fast Familiar with the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science (LRCFS) to explore how members of the public / our juries might evaluate complex forensic evidence in criminal trials. Through a specially designed  and interactive “jury experience,” participants are invited to deliberate on a fictional case while engaging with real-world social science research on forensic practice, uncertainty, and decision-making. This session is hands-on and will showcase the experience - turning you into the jury and demonstrating how this experience works in practice. This is a full experience and not a drop-in. We will also be available at the exhibition session on Wednesday for further discussion. 

Maximum of 15 participants, please sign up in advance: The Evidence Chamber registration form

The Games Room

Seminar Room 8, 16:00 - 18:30

The Games Room provides a relaxed and informal environment to decompress and reset before the evening’s events. A selection of classic tabletop games will be available, along with light snacks and drinks, offering the opportunity to enjoy a game or two with others before dinner.

Drinks served in Foyer A and B, Ruth Deech Building 

Served in the Dining Hall