A celebration of work – and a meeting of minds
Categories: Blogs, Events, ADR UK Partnership
4 February 2025
In this blog, Dr Emma Gordon, Director of ADR UK, reflects on the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)’s first regional engagement event.
In celebration of their 60th Anniversary, the ESRC hosted their first regional engagement event on 21 January, focusing on the “world of work” research theme. Poised to engage with the southwest region, the University of the West of England kindly hosted this event, bringing together speakers and attendees representing a range of interests across - but not limited to - the ESRC’s funded programmes.
Stian Westlake opened the event with an inspiring address, emphasising the importance of the ESRC for social science research. Stian also reminded us of ESRC’s foundational mission: to fund research that realises meaningful benefits for wider society.
Showcasing the ESRC’s commitment to research on the world of work
Diana Martin set out ESRC’s policy scene and introduced the audience to the their Work, Education and Skills Portfolio, explaining relevant programmes. Importantly for the research community, she further identified key funding opportunities available to drive innovative research.
We also heard from The Productivity Institute, with Kate Penney and Professor Palie Smart outlining the scope of actions going forward. They identified how The Productivity Institute is using ESRC funding to work within their community of universities and, together, frame the productivity narrative. Kate further spoke of plans to work with firms in identifying and overcoming obstacles to productivity, considering factors at the individual, institutional, and business levels.
Smart Data Research UK (SDR UK) is a relatively new but substantial investment for ESRC. Sam McGregor outlined the programme’s key aims and methods of enabling data, generated through everyday interactions with digital systems, to be used in research that serves the public good.

Chairing the ADR UK session
Across the ADR UK partnership, we are also making meaningful investments in research relevant to the world of work. I chaired the afternoon session, in which we heard from Karen Powell, Head of Research Strategy and Commissioning for ADR England. Karen outlined how relevant ADR UK flagship datasets can be (and have been) used to support pioneering research in this area.
This event created the opportunity for two ADR UK research fellows, Drs Ezgi Kaya and Damian Whittard, to demonstrate the power that administrative data has – not just in informing research, but also in addressing societal problems when we think about the world of work. Damian introduced The Brunel Centre, an innovative university-business partnership funded by Research England and launching in April this year. Ezgi showed how she has used the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings linked to Census 2011 dataset to inform the nexus between immigration, integration and labour market outcomes. In the same manner as Ezgi, Neha Agarwal talked about the breadth and depth of the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset. Neha then spoke for a second time, offering the audience an insight into the ADR England Research Community Catalyst: Youth Transitions, which is part of our new initiative for driving research agendas. Neha highlighted the work the Youth Transitions Community Catalyst has undertaken to identify knowledge gaps and direct further research within this sector.

Engaging breakout discussions
Attendees had the opportunity to participate in a variety of breakout sessions:
- The Department of Work and Pensions delivered insights into the Registration and Population Interaction Database (RAPID), a linked dataset with information on benefits and income. This will soon be available for researchers to access via the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service.
- The Wage and Employment Dynamics (WED) project was represented by Dr Van Phan and Professor Felix Ritchie. They showed how the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings dataset is being linked with Pay-As-You-Earn and Self-Assessment data from HM Revenue & Customs. Attendees of this breakout session unpacked some potential research agendas.
- Dr Lola Brookes, Senior Research Manager at ADR UK, led an interactive session on supporting researchers to use administrative data, and invited participants to contribute ideas for further improvements and actions.
The future of our regional engagement
All in all, the day was a great success!
ADR UK is very proud to be part of the ESRC community and remains committed to regional engagement. We look forward to future events where we can continue to showcase cross-partnership achievements and support our colleagues across the ESRC.
Stay tuned for more updates on our regional engagement initiatives.