Supporting academics and policymakers in sharing evidence-based research and ideas on the major social, cultural and economic challenges facing society regionally, nationally and beyond. Our over-arching vision is to share the University’s independent expertise with policymakers so they can make informed decisions about the most effective and sustainable ways to tackle these challenges, now and in the future.


The EU-UK vaccine row has repoliticised the Northern Ireland Protocol and damaged the prospects for its smooth implementation says Professor David Phinnemore.

This blog by Milena Komarova, Katy Hayward and Ben Rosher, is the first of a series that will be published every other month as part of a ‘temperature gauge’ of Brexit and the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, with a particular focus on its impact on borders and cross-border cooperation. The research behind it is funded…
In this episode of LawPod, PhD candidate Paula Shilliday talks to Professor Heather Conway about the intersections between the COVID-19 pandemic and the laws of death and burial.

In the second of his two-part series, Alan Whysall argues that a majority for unity is probably not imminent; a fixation on the ‘union versus unity’ debate may be profoundly damaging; and that whatever the preferred constitutional outcome, the key requirement now is to revive the Agreement, and people in Northern Ireland need to take…

In Northern Ireland’s centenary year, the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement settlement may, suggests Alan Whysall, be under its greatest threat to date, as the Northern Ireland Protocol engages. In the the first of a two-part series, Alan examines the changing political landscape of Northern Ireland.

The Slides and recording of the first Post-Brexit Clinic of 2021 are now available.

Guest contribution by Dr Graham Gudgin comparing living standards in Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Dr Jamie Pow looks at how the DUP’s position has reverted back to one of resistance towards the new reality of life post-Brexit,

Lisa Whitten looks at recent developments in the Northern Ireland and UK political landscapes following the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Dr David Courtney asks whether the new variants of COVID-19 are more lethal or more transmissible than the original virus.