Centres of Specialism

Listed below are various institutions which specialise in certain areas of Sociology.  If you would like your institution included, please email Donna Willis with details.

  • The Cathie Marsh Centre for Census & Survey Research (CCSR), is an interdisciplinary research centre in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Manchester.
  • Centre for Classical & Critical Sociology (CCCS), provides an organizational focus for research in sociological theory as well as empirically grounded research in historical sociology, political sociology and economic sociology.
  • Centre for Death and Society (CDAS), University of Bath is the UK's only centre devoted to the study and research of social aspects of death, dying and bereavement.
  • Centre for Disability Studies (CDS), is an interdisciplinary centre for research and education in the field of disability studies at the University of Leeds (England). The Centre incorporates and develops the work of the former Disability Research Unit (DRU) and aims to promote international excellence within the field.
  • Centre for Education Sociology (CES), is a dedicated Research Centre of the School of Education, in the College of Humanities and Social Science of the University of Edinburgh.  It conducts independent, high quality multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research on all sectors of education and on education policy.
  • Centre for Narrative Research (CNR), University of East London brings together work on narrative that is being pursued in a variety of contexts across the social sciences. Such work includes the analyses of the structure of social stories and the processes of social storytelling, and explorations of the relationship between narratives and the social world.
  • The Centre for Public Policy Research at King's College London is committed to using research to inform national and international public policy debate. Its work, which is rooted in both sociology and applied philosophy, focuses on the theoretical and empirical analysis of policy and policy effects. Research is organised around four overlapping themes: public sector restructuring, professional change & professional development, professional values & ethics and equality & social justice.
  • Centre for Research on Ageing and Gender (CRAG), Department of Sociology, School of Human Sciences, University of Surrey.
  • Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR). CRFR generates high quality research on families and relationships and disseminates it widely.
  • Centre for Research on Family, Kinship & Childhood, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds.
  • The Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, has been set up in recognition of the importance of ethnicity to the study of contemporary societies and polities, and prospects for social justice and social cohesion.
  • Employment Research Institute (ERI), Napier University carries out theoretical and applied research in the areas of employment, employability, work life balance, equal opportunities and regional local economic development. It focuses on multi-disciplinary research, including staff trained in sociology, political science, economics and human resources.
  • European Neuroscience and Society Network, has been established to serve as a multidisciplinary forum for timely engagement with the social, political and economic implications of developments in the neurosciences, a field that has experienced unprecedented advances in the last twenty years.
  • Institute for Science & Society, The University of Nottingham delivers internationally recognised research and research training on innovation and change in society, science, technology and medicine.
  • The Lehman Brothers Centre for Women in Business, London Business School conducts cutting edge research on gender issues in business and aims at bridging the theory-practice divide through an engaged dialogue with practitioners.
  • The Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life, was established in 2005 as a focus for research in the fields of family life, contemporary relationships, parenting and partnering and childhood.
  • Qualitative Research Unit, University of Exeter specialises in qualitative research around issues of embodiment, identity and culture in sport and physical cultures, via a range of approaches that includes ethnography, auto/biography, life history, and narrative analysis, inter alia.
  • School of Applied Social Studies, The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. Particular strengths in subjects such as: Applied Social Research; Homelessness; Sociology of the Body; Environmental Sociology; Social Movements; Historical Sociology of Islam; andSociological Theory.
  • The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) is lead by a partnership between Glasgow, Stirling, Edinburgh, andGlasgow Caledonian Universities in alliance with a wider consortium of individuals and groups in Strathclyde, and Aberdeen, Universities, and with colleagues in Dundee and St Andrew's Universities. It is aimed at promoting collaboration, enhancing research capacity and increasing the international profile and impact of Scottish criminal justice research.
  • The Sociology of Sport Group at Loughborough University conducts sociological research into all aspects of sport, but specialises in particular in aspects of the globalization of sport, and issues related to sport and the body.