Research

Explore the research taking place across the School of Law, Politics and Sociology.

Pushing the boundaries

The School of Law, Politics and Sociology is a vibrant research unit. Our academics undertake research on a wide range of topics, working individually as well as with national and international research teams.

Our research takes place across our renowned research centres, including the Sussex European Institute, the Centre for the study of Corruption, Centre for Gender Studies, Sussex Centre for Human Rights Research and the Crime Research Centre.

We collaborate within the UK and internationally, with governmental and non-governmental organisations, with the private sector and the media. We also have strong links with research and community projects, from the local Sussex area to the United Nations.

Postgraduate research

The School has a wide range of research training courses at postgraduate levels. We encourage our students to realise their potential in research to prepare them for professional life after their studies. Find out more about PhD study.

Research blog

Check out the School of Law, Politics and Sociology research blog (LaPSe of Reason) to read the latest posts from our staff and students.

Research Excellence Framework 2021

We're delighted with our performance in the Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF 2021). The vast majority of the overall outputs of all three departments were assessed as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, reflecting the strong focus on the originality, significance and rigour of research in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology.

The School of Law, Politics and Sociology (LPS) made submissions to 3 Units of Assessment: Law (UoA 18), Sociology (UoA 21) and Area Studies (UoA 25).

The Department of Law research was assessed overall to be 34% ‘world leading’ (4*) and 43 % ‘internationally excellent’ (3*). Law is now ranked 15th in the UK for research power in the Times Higher Education rankings.

The Department of Politics’ research was assessed overall to be 42% ‘world leading’ (4*) and 54 % ‘internationally excellent’ (3*), with their impact cases being assessed as very considerable and outstanding. 40 outputs were submitted along with 2 impact case studies.

The Department of Sociology and Criminology’s research was assessed overall to be 45% ‘world leading’ (4*) and 40 % ‘internationally excellent’ (3*) with both of their impact case studies assessed as outstanding (4*), demonstrating the significance of research focused on making a difference in the world. 46 outputs were submitted along with 2 impact case studies.

Across the University of Sussex as a whole, 89% of research activity submitted to REF 2021 was categorised as either ‘world-leading’ (40.6%) or ‘internationally excellent’ (48.4%).

The results of REF 2021 were published on 12 May 2022.

See all REF results and read the stories behind the research we submitted.