The School for Social Care Research, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, formally began work in May 2009 and was extended in 2014. The School was refreshed in 2018 and an extension for a further five-year period was confirmed in 2019.

Phase I (2009–2014) involved the London School of Economics and Political Science, King’s College London and the Universities of Kent, Manchester and York.

Phase II (2014–2019) involved the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Universities of Bristol, Kent, Manchester and York.

Phase III:

Led by Professor Martin Knapp with a budget of £15 million over five years, the NIHR SSCR is a partnership between seven leading universities in adult social care research in England:

London School of Economics and Political Science: Led by Professor Martin Knapp, the LSE hub comprises research teams within the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre.

King’s College London: Led by Professor Jill Manthorpe, the KCL hub comprises research teams within the NIHR Health & Social Care Workforce Research Unit.

University of Birmingham: Led by Professor Catherine Needham, the Birmingham hub comprises research teams within the Health Services Management Centre and the Department for Social Work and Social Care.

University of Bristol: Led by Professor David Abbott, the Bristol hub comprises research teams within the School for Policy Studies.

University of Kent: Led by Dr Karen Jones, the Kent hub comprises research teams within the Personal Social Services Research Unit and the Tizard Centre.

University of Manchester: Led by Professor Catherine Robinson, the Manchester hub comprises research teams within the Personal Social Services Research Unit.

University of York: Led by Professor Yvonne Birks, the York hub comprises research teams within the Social Policy Research Unit.

The School’s mission in Phase III continues to be to develop the evidence base to inform and improve adult social care practice in England by commissioning and conducting internationally leading research. In pursuit of this mission, we will build on progress made in our first ten years.

We will pursue this mission through a number of activities:

conducting high-quality peer-reviewed research to produce new knowledge including, where appropriate, reviewing and synthesising existing knowledge, in order to inform the further development of social care practice;
commissioning high-quality peer-reviewed research through competitive tendering;
adding value to research and associated activities funded by the School in Phases I and II;
providing a focus for adult social care research within NIHR, as well as strategic leadership for the development of adult social care research more generally;
further investing in ongoing efforts to build and strengthen adult social care research capacity and build research awareness and utilisation;
further developing methodological rigour and broadening the methodological repertoire, including bringing disciplinary perspectives currently not well represented in adult social care research;
consulting on research questions and distilling, with guidance from the Advisory Board and the User, Carer, Practitioner Reference Group, into priorities;
supporting the generation of impact from the process of research and from findings, and supporting wider knowledge exchange and implementation activities.

Dr Andrew Power PhD, MA, BA

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