As the buzz of autumn activity at the Academy is well underway, I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on the past 12 months, in what has been an incredibly challenging year for many in our community, especially those working in higher education. With many universities facing significant financial pressures, I acknowledge what a difficult and uncertain year it will have been for some colleagues in academic social sciences.
Sadly, in such circumstances, the role of the Academy and its Campaign for Social Science in championing the social sciences is needed more than ever as the policy and operating environments continue to change at pace. Thanks to the fantastic efforts from our dedicated staff team, 2024 and 2025 have been two of the busiest and most fruitful years for the Academy. By the end of this year, we will have published four substantive reports which will contribute significantly to our advocacy for the social sciences. Over the past two years, we have published nine reports. The first 2025 report was published earlier this autumn and showcases – collaboratively with eight Midlands-based universities – the positive impact of social science research taking place in the Midlands region, for the benefit of the Midlands region and its communities. It is an excellent example of the collective positive impact that social science research brings to bear in a regional context. It will be a useful tool for the Academy, and others in the community, for making the case for the innovative, collaborative and multi-disciplinary ways in which the social sciences are working to bring substantial regional impacts at scale. It also ably demonstrates the leadership of social sciences in the civic university agenda.
Earlier this month we launched our Sage Campaign policy report for 2025, The contemporary relevance of the social sciences, which highlights the essential role the social sciences play in harnessing the many opportunities and mitigating the numerous and varied challenges we face in our contemporary human world. The report builds on our recent work to develop a series of core messages on why the social sciences matter, which the Campaign and Academy will be using to support advocacy in the years ahead. It does this through outlining eight principles about the UK’s social science sector, along with supporting evidence and case studies, serving as a user-friendly reference for policymakers, academics and practitioners.
Complementing both of these is a forthcoming research report which shares findings and recommendations from our project examining how the UK Government draws on evidence, particularly from the social sciences, in its policymaking and implementation, to provide better outcomes for citizens.
Our collaborative work with the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and our member social science societies to foster inclusivity in the social sciences at the discipline level has also culminated in a short report detailing the project’s successes since 2022. As part of this work, throughout 2025, we have been engaging extensively with our member societies to share the learnings of the 13 EDI initiatives that this collaboration has funded over the past two years.
Another core part of our work towards our strategic objective to foster strong, skilled and diverse pipelines of social scientists was the launch of our refreshed careers in social science pages, which help promote the skills, knowledge and diversity of careers available through studying social science at school and beyond. Aimed at secondary school students choosing their GCSEs and A Levels, and university students studying social science, the new webpages provide a range of information including a suite of new written and video interviews with professional social scientists across several sectors. We plan to expand this content steadily over time to provide further insights into the wide range of careers the social sciences can lead to.
Spearheading our public engagement work, we released three further seasons of the We Society podcast in 2025. Host, Will Hutton, was in discussion with leading social scientists and public figures on topics ranging from solving the productivity puzzle and improving social mobility to protecting against misinformation and rethinking child poverty policy. We were delighted that the podcast reached the top spot in the Apple Science and Social Science Podcharts once again this autumn, and reached 400,000 all-time listens.
Another milestone for the podcast in 2025 was our collaboration with the Nuffield Foundation and Leverhulme Trust to produce the We Society. All three organisations believe in the importance of promoting the innovative social science research taking place across the UK which benefits people, communities and society at large. Season 8 and 9 of the podcast have been produced through this collaboration thus far and season 10 will launch in the new year. All seasons are available to listen wherever you get your podcasts.
It’s also been a busy year for the Campaign for Social Science which commenced a new programme of work – ‘Good Growth’ – to showcase research and evidence-based insights from the social sciences on how the UK might address its challenges around growth and productivity. The ‘Good Growth’ hub pulls together a range of comment pieces from Academy Fellows and other social scientists and has been extended with collaborative events with Campaign supporters on this theme throughout the year.
Our events programme has seen the Campaign deliver over 20 events so far in 2025, many of which have been in collaboration with our Campaign supporters on a range of topics. As part of this programme, we partnered with the Social Research Association and UK Evaluation Society to deliver a series exploring how we can evaluate, understand, and manage different aspects and uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as it continues to rapidly change our economy and our society. The Campaign’s lunchtime briefing at the Senedd in Wales showcased research by social scientists from Swansea University which offered evidence-led insights into Welsh public policy on the educational experiences of children in care in Wales, and on the efficacy of the Welsh Government’s warm hubs programme.
The summer saw us welcome Professor Mariana Mazzucato FAcSS to deliver the Academy’s 2025 Annual Lecture on the topic of “mission-oriented” growth. Her lecture is available to watch online. And I’m looking forward to hearing this year’s Campaign for Social Science Annual Sage Lecture which will be given by the Honourable Julia Gillard, 27th Prime Minister of Australia and Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership. She will explore the vital role of social science in a divided world. The event is sold out but a waiting list is still open.
Elsewhere, we have continued the Academy’s Forum for Leaders of Social Science in Higher Education Institutions; published and commissioned high-profile issues for our journal, Contemporary Social Science, under the editorship of Professor David Bailey FAcSS and new co-editor Professor Philip Tomlinson FAcSS; and have produced regular policy updates, policy briefings, and responded to selected policy consultations.
Throughout 2025 we have continued to be aware, and where possible to monitor, the outcomes of the significant financial pressures being faced in many UK universities on the social sciences sector. Work to help sustain the health of the social sciences across the UK is a key objective in our strategy and we have advocated for that in a number of our reports and more directly to decision-makers in relation to higher education policy.
We welcomed five new trustees to our council and 127 leading social scientists to our Fellowship this year. Elected for their substantial contributions to social science, our Fellows highlight the importance, breadth and relevance of the social sciences to tackling many of the pressing issues facing society today. This year also saw us award the first Honorary Fellowships of the Academy of Social Sciences. We were delighted to recognise Gerald Chan, Professor Sir Cary Cooper CBE, Dame Carolyn McCall OBE and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in this way.
As I reflect back on all we have achieved so far this year, against a challenging backdrop, I’m incredibly proud of the hard work put in by our small, dedicated team, and appreciative of the huge support, collaboration and contributions from our Fellows, member social science societies, Campaign sponsors, other donors, trustees and committee members. I especially wish to thank our outgoing members of Council for all of the time, effort and guidance they have provided throughout their tenures as trustees and in additional roles: Professor Bobby Duffy as Chair of the Campaign for Social Science, Professor Judith Philips as Honorary Treasurer, Professor Tony McEnery as Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, Stephen Aldridge as a member of the Nominations Committee; Professor Eileen Green as a member of the Audit and Risk Committee, and Professors Tim Allen and Sally Power.
We have laid strong foundations to our 2024-2029 strategy and are currently starting to plan our 2026 work. This will continue to balance four key pillars: our promotion of the value and positive impact the social sciences bring to our contemporary human world; the need to safeguard the social sciences and enhance their inclusivity in a time of change; our work in collaboration with, and support of, the learned societies; and our own sustainability including that of our Campaign for Social Science.
Rita Gardner
Chief Executive