Understanding Society is a complex and important study requiring significant investment and expertise, clear scientific leadership and effective operational management. It is led by a team at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex.
Co-Investigators
Professor Tarek Al Baghal
Deputy Director, Understanding Society & lead for content development
Professor Michaela Benzeval
Director, Understanding Society
Dr Jon Burton
Associate Director, Surveys
Professor Paul Clarke
Co-Investigator, Statistics
Professor Thomas Crossley
Co-Investigator, Economics
Dr Paul Fisher
Associate Director, Income
Professor Annette Jäckle
Associate Director, Innovations
Professor Vittal Katikireddi
Co-Investigator, Public Health
Dr Jack Kneeshaw
Executive Director & lead for data linkages
Professor Meena Kumari
Associate Director, Health, Biomarkers and Genetics
Professor Peter Lynn
Associate Director, Survey Methods
Dr Aja Murray
Co-Investigator, Psychology
Professor Alita Nandi
Associate Director, Outreach
Becky Parsons
Associate Director, Communications and Engagement
Raj Patel
Associate Director, Policy and Partnerships
John Payne
Associate Director, Data
Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris
Co-Investigator, Demography
Professor Lucinda Platt
Co-Investigator, Sociology
Understanding Society Team
Dr Edith Aguirre | Senior Research Officer | Profile page |
Amir Avarzamani | Software Developer | Profile page |
George Bennett | Survey Data Officer | Profile page |
Dr Cara Booker | Senior Research Fellow | Profile page |
Hannah Brightman | Participant Liaison Officer | Profile page |
Dr Pablo Cabrera Alvarez | Senior Research Officer | Profile page |
Dr Roberto Cavazos | Senior Data Analyst & Training Officer | Profile page |
Chris Coates | Research Impact and Project Manager | Profile page |
Giacomo De Santis | UKHLS PhD student | Profile page |
Emily Dix | Survey Officer | Profile page |
Glenn Dunn | Survey Database Manager | Profile page |
Paul Garcia Hinojosa | Senior Data Analyst & Training Officer | Profile page |
Kristijan Garic | Survey Data Linkage Officer | Profile page |
Dipanwita Ghatak | ISER PhD student | Profile page |
Kelly Goodyear | Participant Liaison Team Leader | Profile page |
Dr Karon Gush | Senior Research and Content Development Officer | Profile page |
Isobel Hibbard | Participant Liaison Officer | Profile page |
Ryan Holmes | Survey Officer | Profile page |
Hannah Howman | Survey Officer | Profile page |
Omar Hussein | Research Assistant (Income Data) | Profile page |
Jane Ismail | Library and Information Officer | Profile page |
Jay James | Events Coordinator | Profile page |
Nicole James | Survey Data Officer | Profile page |
Graham Jolliffe | Research Data Manager | Profile page |
Dr Olena Kaminska | Survey Statistician | Profile page |
Eirini Koraki | Survey Data Officer | Profile page |
Joanne Maher | Research Assistant (Questionnaire Development) | Profile page |
Dr Piotr Marzec | Senior Data Analyst and Training Officer | Profile page |
Memory Mhembere | Research Data Manager | Profile page |
Louise Miles | Senior Web and Communications Officer | Profile page |
Jasmine Mitchell | UKHLS PhD student | Profile page |
Lewis Mitchell | Survey Officer | Profile page |
Dr Jamie Moore | Research Fellow | Profile page |
Tiago Nascimento | Research Assistant (Ethnicity) | Profile page |
Jonathan Nears | Web Developer | Profile page |
Janet Page | Participant Liaison Officer | Profile page |
Sarah Parbury | Survey Officer | Profile page |
Dr Violetta Parutis | Assistant Associate Director (Surveys) | Profile page |
Cheryl Pasfield | Project Support Officer and Committee Secretary | Profile page |
Annette Pasotti | Senior Web and Communications Officer (User Engagement) | Profile page |
Kelly Reeve | Research Officer | Profile page |
Lorraine Roberts | Finance & Contracts Officer | Profile page |
Dr Paulo Serodio | Senior Research Officer (New Data) | Profile page |
Fatimah Shah | UKHLS PhD student | Profile page |
Robin Vanner | Policy & Partnership Manager | Profile page |
Jim Vine | Senior Research Officer | Profile page |
Christine Woods | Senior Survey Officer | Profile page |
Dr Carla Xena | Weighting Officer | Profile page |
Catherine Yuen | Survey Applications Manager | Profile page |
Topic Champions
Topic Champions provide expert advice to Understanding Society on their specialist field and encourage use of data from the Study in their discipline.
Professor Andy Charlwood | Topic Champion – Employment | Profile page |
Professor Kiron Chatterjee | Topic Champion – Transport | Profile page |
Dr Roxanne Connelly | Topic Champion – Social Stratification | Profile page |
Dr Rory Coulter | Topic Champion – Housing | Profile page |
Dr Stuart Fox | Topic Champion – Civil and Political Engagement | Profile page |
Professor Susan Harkness | Topic Champion – Social policy | Profile page |
Dr Amanda Hughes | Topic Champion – Genetics and Social Science | Profile page |
Professor Hamish Low | Topic Champion – Economic risks | Profile page |
Professor Wouter Poortinga | Topic Champion – Environmental Behaviour | Profile page |
Professor Stephen Pudney | Topic Champion – Ageing and social policy | Profile page |
Professor Birgitta Rabe | Topic Champion – Education | Profile page |
Professor Ingrid Schoon | Topic Champion – Youth | Profile page |
Professor Karl Taylor | Topic Champion – Household Finances | Profile page |
Professor Simeon Yates | Topic Champion – Digital life | Profile page |
Strategic Oversight Board
The Strategic Oversight Board represents the range of stakeholders engaged with Understanding Society. The Board independently oversee the direction and operational delivery of the Study, working closely with the Co-Investigators team.
Professor James Banks | University of Manchester | Profile page |
Simon Briscoe (Chair) | Independent consultant/The Data Analysis Bureau | Profile page |
Mike Daly | Department for Work and Pensions | |
Dr Mark Green | University of Liverpool | Profile page |
Professor Vernon Gayle | University of Edinburgh | Profile page |
Claire Harding | Centre for London | Profile page |
Tom McBride | The Behavioural Insights Team | Profile page |
Professor David Manley | University of Bristol | Profile page |
Nick Watkins | Saga | |
Laura Wilson | ONS | |
Dr Keming Yang | Durham University | Profile page |
Policy and Partnerships Forum
The Policy and Partnerships Forum is an advisory group made up of representatives from government departments, charities, business and trade unions. They provide guidance to the Study on maximising the use of data and evidence in policymaking and propose ideas for building partnerships.
Felicity Algate | Director, Digital Markets Unit, Competition and Markets Authority | |
Tera Allas | Director of Research and Economics, McKinsey & Company | Profile page |
Jo Bibby | Director of Policy, Health Foundation | Profile page |
Alex Collinson | Policy Officer (analysis and research), TUC | Profile page |
Liz Hunter | Director of Policy, West Yorkshire Combined Authority | |
Jansev Jamel | Research and Policy Director, Pro-bono Economics | Profile page |
Andrew Leicester | Associate Director, Frontier Economics | Profile page |
Kirby Swales | Policy Deputy Director, Supporting Families, Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government | |
Stacey Warren | Head of Insight and Influencing, Family Action | Profile page |
Data User Group
The Data User Group provides feedback on Understanding Society data before it is released. The group is made up of data users from a range of disciplines. If you would be interested in joining the group, please contact the User Support team.
Andrea Barry | Youth Futures Foundation | Profile page |
Rachel Bennett | University of Gloucestershire | Profile page |
Heather Brown | Lancaster University | Profile page |
Theocharis Kromydas | University of Glasgow | Profile page |
Alexander Labeit | University College London | Profile page |
Katy Morris | University of Lausanne | Profile page |
Matthias Pierce | University of Manchester | Profile page |
Joaquin Prieto-Suarez | London School of Economics | Profile page |
Elizabeth Simon | Queen Mary, University of London | Profile page |
Senhu Wang | National University of Singapore | Profile page |
Mark Williams | Queen Mary, University of London | Profile page |
Baowen Xue | University College London | Profile page |