Participating Departments
The Department of Geography
The Department of Geography at Durham is one of the leading centres of geographical scholarship in the world. With 58 academics, 31 researchers, 16 professional support staff, 33 administrative and technical staff, 123 postgraduates, and 579 undergraduates, we teach and research across the discipline from Antarctica to Bangladesh, from spatial theory to flood modelling, and from GIS to the social economy. Our aim is to create and sustain a world class research and teaching environment with top class laboratories and IT facilities in a supportive and collegial atmosphere. The Department was founded in 1928 and remains among the strongest in the country. It was ranked joint first nationally in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise and the quality of our teaching has been rated ‘excellent’ by an external Quality Assessment Audit. Our success in marrying research and teaching excellence is reflected in the most recent university guides, which consistently place the Department of Geography at Durham in the top flight. Our strength lies in all the people who work in the Department and in the students who study here.
The Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience
The Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience is harnessing the capacity of researchers from across Durham University to make a difference to how we live with emerging hazards and risks.Making a difference means moving beyond what we already do, to challenge the core assumptions, scientific, economic and social, about how we live with hazard and risk. This can only be done through critical engagements that bring together researchers from across the Natural and Social Sciences, Engineering, Health and Humanities. We are championing key research programmes in hazards, vulnerability and frontier knowledge.Our Graduate Programme, training students to both Masters and Doctoral level, is equipping the next generation of researchers to address some of the fundamental challenges of the 21st Century. Our activities are housed in a purpose-built building with a dedicated staff, generously funded by private benefactions and University investments, as well from industry, government, NGOs and research councils.
The School of Applied Social Sciences
The School of Applied Social Sciences is a multidisciplinary School, with highly-ranked subject specialisms in Sociology, Criminology, Sport, Social Work, and Community and Youth Work. The quality of our research in the School of Applied Social Sciences has been formally recognised by the Research Assessment Exercise 2008 - a rigorous procedure designed to assess research activities at every UK university. In the recent exercise, 90% of research in the School was rated as of international significance with 60% being internationally excellent or of world leading originality, significance and rigour in its Unit of Assessment (Social Policy and Social Work). The School's "excellent active and vital research culture" was highlighted, along with our outstanding international collaborations, interdisciplinarity and impact on policy and practice.
The School of Government and International Affairs (SGIA)
The School of Government and International Affairs (SGIA) is one of the finest and fastest growing departments of Politics and International Relations in Europe! It combines a long tradition of expertise in a wide range of fields in politics, political theory, political economy, and international relations with a depth of specialisms in regional expertise - Europe, East Asia, the Middle East and wider Muslim world. SGIA provides a unique environment for learning, training and research.