Oxford University Social Policy and Intervention

25/06/2026

As the UK's heatwave continues, Dr Chloe Brimicombe, postdoctoral researcher at DSPI, explains how people can stay safe during heatwaves and why policies must go further to prepare for rising temperatures.

Read her Expert Comment for the University of Oxford:

22/06/2026

🔎 New interview in Handelsblatt on the .

Interviewed by Christian Wermke about the Far Right, DSPI’s Professor Tim Vlandas and University of York's Professor Daphne Halikiopoulou drew on their report ‘Understanding Right-Wing Populism and What to Do About it’, to discuss the drivers of far-right support and the implications for democratic politics and public policy.

🔗Read the article: https://f.mtr.cool/jkpwoamzwn
🔗Read the research: Understanding Right-Wing Populism And What To Do About It
🔗Read policy brief: https://f.mtr.cool/foqdiiouhv

Publikationen der Stiftung. Five far right voter groups progressives can sway : a core-periphery strategy for winning back voters / Daphne Halikiopoulou, University of York - Tim Vlandas, University of Oxford ; issuing department: FES Regional Office for International Cooperation, Democracy of the ...

18/06/2026

In light of the government’s recent announcement on restricting social media access for under 16s, courses such as DSPI's Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation (EBSIPE) are more important than ever.

Over the course of the year, our Master's and MPhil students have developed the skills to synthesise evidence, critically evaluate sources, and respond thoughtfully to rapid policy change. They put these skills into practice during a three-day policy exercise focused on a timely and widely debated policy question: should social media be banned for under 16s in the UK?

Their analysis highlighted concerns around equity, autonomy and implementation, drawing on evidence from Australia where similar policies have proven difficult to enforce consistently among young people. The students' ability to assess the proposed ban from multiple perspectives in a short timeframe demonstrates the value of evidence-informed policymaking and rigorous policy analysis.

🔗Find out more about their findings: https://f.mtr.cool/qsljcvnyjf
🔗Find out more about studying at DSPI: https://f.mtr.cool/uozrwydpaf

You may already be an experienced practitioner wanting to become more skilled in the use of high-quality research methods to inform your decisions. Whatever your background, you will become an important part of our community.

17/06/2026

From wastewater analysis to epidemiologists, our MSc students are finding out about innovative ways to understand and address social challenges.

Hear from three DSPI students about the most surprising things they've learnt during their studies.

🔗 Find out more about our Master's programmes in Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation (EBSIPE) and Comparative Social Policy on our website: www.spi.ox.ac.uk/master

17/06/2026

What happens when a country ages rapidly in the context of deep social and territorial ?

New research, co-authored by DSPI’s Dr Ismael Guillermo Muñoz and published in The Gerontologist, examines population in , bringing together demographic trends, public policy challenges, and inequalities in ageing.

The study highlights how ageing in Peru is unfolding unevenly, raising major challenges to:

- Pensions
- Healthcare access
- Long-term care provision
- Poverty
- Regional inequalities

🔗 Read the research ‘Aging across unequal landscapes in Perú: demographic transition, diverging paths, and policy challenges’ in full:

Abstract. Perú, a middle-income country in South America with a population of approximately 34 million, is experiencing a demographic shift toward an aging

11/06/2026

Research by DSPI’s Professor Tim Vlandas is cited in the latest HM Treasury guidance on policy evaluation, contributing to a framework for applying open science principles in government evaluation.

The guidance highlights the importance of transparency in evidence-based policymaking.

“Multiverse analysis. A multiverse analysis is an approach that identifies all reasonable analysis choices and then systematically produces and reports results for every possible combination of these choices. It is an alternative to reporting a single, potentially arbitrary, analysis accompanied by a small, arbitrary set of robustness checks.”

Read the research in full in PNAS: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2414926122

Read the HM Treasury’s guidelines: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-magenta-book/transparency-in-government-evaluation-research-t-i-g-e-r-html

Assessing model uncertainty is crucial to quantitative political science. Yet, most available sensitivity analyses focus only on a few modeling cho...

11/06/2026

🙌 Congratulations to DSPI’s Dr Ismael Guillermo Muñoz on receiving a 2025 IPUMS Research Award for outstanding published research using IPUMS Global Health data.

The award recognises the paper, ‘Grandparental Co-residence, Grandchildren Nutrition, and the Role of Demographic and Health Regimes’, which explores how grandparents influence child nutrition across Africa.

Drawing on IPUMS DHS data from 29 African countries and applying multilevel regression analysis, the study reveals how the benefits of grandparental co-residence vary across different demographic and health contexts.

Key findings
▶️ Living with a grandmother is, on average, associated with lower stunting rates among grandchildren
▶️In countries with high fertility and mortality rates, living with grandparents – especially grandmothers – is linked to substantial nutritional benefits for children.
▶️ These advantages tend to diminish in countries further along the demographic and health transition, where grandparents are typically older and chronic illness and disability become more common.

The research highlights the value of combining individual-level survey data with broader population-level indicators to better understand child wellbeing across countries.

Commenting on the award, Dr Muñoz said:
“We are grateful to IPUMS for this recognition. At a time when the future of key global data infrastructures such as The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) is being actively challenged and redefined, their continued availability (together with IPUMS’ harmonization efforts) remains crucial for advancing research on health and inequality across different contexts.”

🔗 Find out more https://f.mtr.cool/llotclkugk
🔗Read the paper (co-authored by GuillermoGómez, Clara Bueno, Néstor Aldea, Michael Lund, and Alberto Palloni): https://f.mtr.cool/vedqzihawr

In many modern populations, grandparents are increasingly becoming the primary caregivers of their grandchildren. This phenomenon has renewed interest in the role that grandparents play in within-fam...

10/06/2026

🙌 Congratulations to Bridget Steele who was named winner of the University of Oxford Vice-Chancellor's 2026 Breakthrough Researcher Award for Leadership in Preventing in

Commenting on her work, Dr Steele said:

'Sexual violence is detrimental to health, well-being, educational and economic outcomes, yet most incidents are never reported to law enforcement. This means prevention and response cannot depend on the criminal justice system alone.

'In the UK, over half of young people attend higher education, coinciding with a formative period in which risk and vulnerability to sexual violence are heightened, and social norms, attitudes, and behaviours are also still being shaped. This makes universities strategically important sites for prevention.'

🔗Find out more:

How DSPI is leading research on sexual violence in higher education on national and international scale

08/06/2026

ICYMI ⤵️

What is David Attenborough’s legacy on climate communication as he turns 100?

In an article in The Conversation, DSPI’s Dr Chloe Brimicombe explores whether David Attenborough could have started talking earlier about climate crisis and how his work has helped shape real policy discussions and changes around climate change

“Attenborough may have been late in communicating specifically on climate change. But, in recent years he has changed to being a strong advocate. Now, it’s time to make sure that message is heard and acted upon so that the world’s wonders remain for many generations to come.”

🔗Read the full article:

Attenborough has influenced everything from conservation and documentary production to the communication of the biggest story of all – climate change.

04/06/2026

🎓 Trinity Term Seminar Series | Upcoming Talk
🗓 Date: 11 June
⏰ Time: 4-5:30pm
🎙 Mona Lena Krook (Rutgers University)

Join us next week when Mona Lena Krook will present 'Elect Women for a Change: The Path to Gender Parity in Politics', making the case for why gender parity in politics matters and how it can be achieved.

Drawing on research from around the world, Mona will go beyond counting women to focusing on power, voice and diversity, and identifying the structural barriers that hold women back and the practical strategies that can move democracies closer to parity.

Find out more: https://events.ox.ac.uk/oxford_event/e6caf857-0434-f111-88b5-7c1e52046959

Note: Booking is required for people outside of the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI).