News30 January 2024
ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK), in collaboration with TASO and other co-funders, is awarding grants to two projects to develop self-sustaining, thriving, and well-networked communities of researchers, with each project focusing on a specific theme.
This programme of work, granted as part of the ADR England Research Community Catalyst Awards, will advance the use of administrative data for public good research and drive up the use of ADR England flagship datasets. The award holders will provide strategic leadership, build research capacity and develop diverse, cross-sector research communities.
ADR England Research Community Catalyst for Youth Transitions
Along with the Youth Futures Foundation, TASO is co-funding the ‘ADR England Research Community Catalyst for Youth Transitions’ project.
Existing data allows us to map young people’s journeys through school, further and higher education, or other institutions (including care or prison) and onto their next steps. However, the quality and accessibility of this data is variable, and it is not widely used. And currently, there is no cross-sector strategy outlining the requirements for usable datasets or future data linkages.
This project aims to map the data sources, identify potential avenues for better data linking, and create a community of data users to answer important research questions. Improving the research landscape in this way will help answer pressing questions about what works to support youth transitions and reduce inequalities.
“TASO is pleased to be co-funding this important project with ADR UK and Youth Futures Foundation. Improving the mapping and linking of data is vital to help reduce inequalities for young people as they progress through education – including transitions into higher education. This is particularly important for young people who come into contact with early intervention services or social care.”
— Dr Omar Khan, TASO Chief Executive Officer
ADR England Research Community Catalyst for Children at Risk of Poor Outcomes
The programme is also funding ‘ADR England Research Community Catalyst for Children at Risk of Poor Outcomes’. The data landscape for children who come into contact with early intervention services or children’s social care is patchy. This limits its potential to drive policy, practice and research that improves children’s lives. In recent years, there has been a lot of progress in making valuable national datasets available but researchers are still not making sufficient use of them.
Currently, knowledge is fragmented; there is no clear sense of research gaps or priorities, and where evidence exists, it often gathers dust on a shelf. Researchers in the field have varying levels of connectivity and support.
The ADR England Research Community Catalyst for Children at Risk of Poor Outcomes aims to address these issues by building a community of data users. This community will provide strategic leadership for administrative data and research, focusing on children and young people supported by early intervention services or children’s social care.
The project is co-funded ADR UK with Foundations – What Works for Children & Families. The project will be co-led by Dr Lucy Griffiths of Swansea University and Professor Karen Broadhurst, of Lancaster University.
Cross-cutting themes supported by invested co-funders
The two research community catalyst teams will map and appraise the existing knowledge, identifying research gaps and priorities. They will also publish relevant materials for each theme on the web, to actively engage with a diverse research community. Community building will be supported by a curriculum of events that facilitates knowledge sharing. Each project will also fund a Research Fellow to address the research priorities.
The themes for this new pilot initiative were selected because they are cross-cutting, in terms of government departmental boundaries and existing relevant ADR England flagship datasets. They also have the potential to make a considerable contribution to social science, policy and practice. Through these awards, the community catalysts will create the opportunity for collaborations across government and research disciplines, and to consider more holistic perspectives on pressing societal issues.
If you are interested in joining these research communities, please complete an expression of interest form. Please subscribe to the TASO newsletter for all the latest updates.