Formation | 1982 |
---|---|
Type | Learned society |
Headquarters | 33 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AG |
President | Sir Ivor Crewe |
Chief Executive | Rita Gardner |
Website | acss.org.uk |
The Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS) is a representative body for social sciences in the United Kingdom. The academy promotes social science through its sponsorship of the Campaign for Social Science, its links with Government on a variety of matters, and its own policy work in issuing public comment, responding to official consultations, and organising meetings and events about social science. It confers the title of Fellow upon nominated social scientists following a process of peer review. The academy comprises over 1000 fellows and 41 learned societies based in the UK and Europe.
The academy's origins lie in the formation of a representative body for the social science learned societies in 1982, the Association of Learned Societies in the Social Sciences (ALSISS). From 1999 to 2007 it was called the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences before changing to its current name. [1] The academy is run by a council of 21 members, with Professor Roger Goodman FAcSS as its current chair, and Professor Sir Ivor Crewe FAcSS, Master of University College, Oxford, as its current president. Seven council members are elected by the academy's fellows, 7 by its learned societies and seven are appointed. [2] Since 2019, its chief executive has been Rita Gardner FAcSS. [3]
The academy advocates social science by interacting with Government and other organisations, and co-ordinates the responses of social scientists to Government consultation documents. Past consultations include:
The academy also puts forward suggestions to the Government about which social scientists should carry out its Foresight research projects, [8] which look at important issues and how these might change over the next 20 to 80 years.
A developing part of the academy's work is to bring researchers and organisations using research closer together to improve the evidence upon which public policy is based and to increase the impact of research.
The academy has produced a series of "Making the Case for the Social Sciences" booklets which give examples of important social science research which has made a difference to policy or practice. These are: Wellbeing; Ageing; Sustainability; the Environment and Climate Change; Crime; Sport and Leisure; Management; Scotland; Longitudinal Studies, Mental Wellbeing, Wales and Dementia. Further titles are in preparation. The academy also publishes a cross-disciplinary peer-reviewed journal, Contemporary Social Science. The academy holds regular events, such as conferences on the ethics of social media research and the future of the Research Excellence Framework. It holds an annual lecture each summer, and its President's Lunch each winter. It also arranges (with the British Library) a public lecture series Enduring Ideas. [9]
Part of the academy's work is to recognise social scientists who are held in esteem by their peer group and whose life and work have had an impact in advancing social science. They are nominated and the nominations are then subject to peer review. Fellows are academics, policy-makers and practitioners, and are entitled to use the letters "FAcSS" after their name. In November 2014 there were 1000 Fellows, just over 1% of the 90,000 total membership of the 41 learned society members of the academy.
Fellows were previously known as academicians and used the post-nominal letter "AcSS". This was changed in July 2014 to bring the academy in line with other British learned societies. [10]
The Academy launched the Campaign for Social Science in January 2011 to advocate social science to Government and the general public. The Campaign is self-funded. It has campaigned for the restoration of the post of Government Chief Social Scientific Adviser, [11] promotes social science in the media and on the web, and organises roadshows around the country to emphasise the value and importance of social science.
The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spanning all disciplines across the humanities and social sciences and a funding body for research projects across the United Kingdom. The academy is a self-governing and independent registered charity, based at 10–11 Carlton House Terrace in London.
Bhikhu Chotalal Parekh is a British political theorist, academic, and life peer. He is a Labour Party member of the House of Lords. He was Professor of Political Theory at the University of Hull from 1982 to 2001, and Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Westminster from 2001 to 2009. He served as president of the Academy of Social Sciences from 2003 to 2008.
Matthew Taylor is a British former political strategist and current Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, having previously led the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in the United Kingdom between 2006 and 2021. In 2005, he was appointed by incumbent Prime Minister Tony Blair as head of the Number 10 Policy Unit. He is a writer, public speaker and broadcaster who has been a panellist on BBC Radio 4's Moral Maze since 2008. In October 2016, he was appointed Chair of the Review of Modern Employment established by Prime Minister Theresa May; the Taylor Review report Good Work was published in July 2017.
Dame Frances Anne Cairncross, is a British economist, journalist and academic. She is a senior fellow at the School of Public Policy, UCLA.
Miriam E. David FRSA FAcSS is a British educator. She is Professor of Education at the Institute of Education, University of London and Associate Director of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme.
Richard Rose is a political scientist, author, and academic whose comparative studies in social science have significantly influenced political science and public policy in both practice and theory. He is a Professor and Director of the Centre for the Study of Public Policy at the University of Strathclyde (UOS) in Scotland, and is a Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
Sir John Kevin Curtice is a British political scientist and professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde and senior research fellow at the National Centre for Social Research. He is particularly interested in electoral behaviour and researching political and social attitudes. He took a keen interest in the debate about Scottish independence.
Claire Tyler, Baroness Tyler of Enfield, is a Liberal Democrat life peer in the House of Lords.
Colin John McInnes FLSW is Pro Vice Chancellor at Aberystwyth University and holds a personal professorial chair in the Department of International Politics there, where his research focuses on global health politics. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts. In 2014 he was appointed by the Secretary of State for International Development as a Non-Executive Director of the UK National Commission (UKNC) for UNESCO, with special responsibility for the Social and Human Sciences, and represents the UK on UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Commission. He was elected Chair of the UKNC in 2019 and in this role works closely with the British government, UNESCO designations and UNESCO HQ in Paris. In 2017 he received the Special Achievement Award at the inaugural Wales Social Research awards, for his 'outstanding personal achievement in research'. In 2022, he was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.
Sir Ian David Diamond FLSW is a British statistician, academic, and administrator, who served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen until 2018. He became the UK's National Statistician in October 2019.
The Campaign for Social Science was launched in 2011 to advocate social science to the UK Government and to the public, at a time of significant change in the higher education system. It campaigns for the restoration of the post of Government Chief Social Science Advisor, promotes social science in the media and on the web, and organises roadshows and other events to emphasise the value of social science.
The School of Social and Political Science (SSPS) at the University of Edinburgh is a unit within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Its constituent departments conduct research and teaching in the following disciplines:
Ray Hudson, FBA, FAcSS is a British academic. He holds the degrees of PhD and DSc from Bristol University and. DLitt from Durham University. He was Professor of Geography and deputy vice-chancellor at Durham University. From 2014–2015 he was acting Vice-Chancellor and Warden of Durham University. Currently he remains as Emeritus Professor of Geography.
Jane Isobel Millar, OBE, FBA, FAcSS is Professor of Social Policy and was previously the Pro-Vice Chancellor Research, University of Bath. Her research focuses on policy, families, and social security. She is a member of the Council of the Academy of Social Sciences.
Gillian Douglas,, FLSW is a British legal scholar who specialises in family law. She was dean of The Dickson Poon School of Law at King's College London. She undertook the first empirical study into access to fertility treatment under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's Code of Practice.
Alan Christopher Walker, CBE, FBA, FRSA, FAcSS is a British academic, social scientist and public health administrator. Since 1985, he has been Professor of Social Policy and Social Gerontology at the University of Sheffield.
Kenneth George Young FAcSS FRHistS was a British political scientist and historian who was Professor of Public Policy at King's College London in its Department of War Studies. Earlier he was instrumental in the creation of the Department of Political Economy at KCL in 2010, and was its founding head of department.
Sharon Fae Witherspoon, Lady Jowell is a British statistician, serving as Head of Policy of the Academy of Social Sciences and the Campaign for Social Science, and as a member of the Review Body on Senior Salaries of the British government. She is also Vice President for Education and Statistical Literacy of the Royal Statistical Society.
Anant B. Parekh is a British physiologist who is professor of Physiology at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford.
Christina Anne Boswell is a political scholar. She is a Professor of Politics and Vice Principal for Research and Enterprise at the University of Edinburgh.