University of Oxford
Department of Social Policy and Intervention
Search

Articles

george and teresa smith award winners: Leah Ennis, Nandini Kapoor, and Vivian Gu

George and Teresa Smith Awards winners 2024-25

11 November 2025
Awards acknowledge academic achievement on Comparative Social Policy and the Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation (EBSIPE) courses at DSPI.
ACAMH logo

DSPI researchers receive awards for outstanding contributions to child and adolescent mental health

10 November 2025
Professor Frances Gardner CMG was awarded the ACAMH President's Medal for Lifetime Contribution to Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Dr Gabriela Pavarini received the ACAMH Digital Innovation Award for Research on Digital Impact.
Dr Bedük has short dark hair. He is wearing a light blue shirt and grey jumper.

Job loss costs UK families three times as much as Europeans

27 October 2025
Research led by Dr Selçuk Bedük shows that UK families' efforts to fill income gap fall short due to weak labour market and meagre benefits.
Mona Ibrahim has long curly dark hair. She is smiling broadly, standing in front of a bouquet of flowers and an 'Impact Awards' banner

DSPI researcher highly commended for work on conflict-sensitive recovery in Sudan

06 October 2025
Collaboration of wide range of individuals and organisations is key to effective social assistance.
Maria has long black hair and is smiling at the camera. She is wearing a multi-coloured jacket over a black top.

New research finds behavioural factors directly affect engagement with digital health tool

06 October 2025
Research exploring how users engage with ParentText, a chatbot-led public health programme.
David N. Kershaw Award logo

Professor Zachary Parolin wins prestigious David N. Kershaw Award

01 October 2025
Professor Parolin is recognised for his public policy contributions toward reducing poverty and expanding economic opportunity.
Fran is wearing glasses and is resting her head on her hand

Fran Bennett joins Social Security Advisory Committee

25 September 2025
During her five-year term, Fran will take part in the Committee's functions of advising on social security and related matters.
Zach Parolin has short brown hair. He is wearing a blue shirt and dark blazer, standing against a dark background. He is facing the camera and smiling.

Professor Zach Parolin to lead research on economic inequality at DSPI

15 September 2025
Professor Parolin will be teaching, advancing research, and bringing fresh perspectives to public policy at the department.
reusilience logo

Research outlines 15 policy guidelines to help tackle child poverty

08 September 2025
Policy recommendations to help families deal with difficult and sometimes unexpected circumstances that threaten their resilience.
Four young adult students sat in a row at a desk, holding pens and looking at textbooks.

Global study reveals how expanding education is changing generational opportunity

21 August 2025
A new study by Dr Mobarak Hossain and Martina Beretta explores patterns of educational mobility across both high-income and low- and middle-income countries.
Red writing 'Protagonistas' in various graphic fonts on a yellow background

Interactive storytelling chatbot for adolescents in Brazil to boost youth participation and school mental health

05 August 2025
The Protagonists project assesses the effectiveness of a digital intervention to equip young people in Brazil with skills to provide mental health and wellbeing (MHWB) support.
Four people smiling outdoors in front of greenery, standing side by side smiling at the camera.

How AI is reshaping how we understand parent-child interactions

10 July 2025
Hosted by DSPI, the GPI webinar bought together researchers to explore how scalable, ethical and accurate AI tools are in understanding parent-child interactions.
Neftalem Emanuel is wearing a blue jumper and light blue shirt. He has dark hair and a short beard.

Barnett Prize winner 2025: Neftalem Emanuel

08 July 2025
Neftalem Emanuel awarded the Barnett Prize 2025 for his outstanding contribution to evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation.
dspi flowmark oxford blue

Event recap: Symposium for Early Researchers in Social Policy & Intervention

02 July 2025
Over 80 students and faculty members gathered at St. Hilda's College for the annual Symposium for Early Researchers in Social Policy & Intervention (SERSPI).
Man with curly dark hair and beard and wearing dark rimmed glasses and grey shirt

New research proves two freely available tools can be used to assess mental health and depression in multiple countries

26 June 2025
Study shows DASS and CABI are effective tools for low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).
Man with light brown hair and gold rimmed glasses, wearing a white shirt and dark suit

Even when researchers play by the rules, how stable are their findings? New study shows how and why even honest research findings can flip and what to do about it

24 June 2025
New research addresses a fundamental challenge in empirical social science: the extent to which published findings depend on modelling decisions.    
Smiling woman with long brown wavy hair and is wearing a grey dress and silver necklace.

Professor Lucie Cluver awarded King's Birthday Honour in recognition of services to children's wellbeing and to global public health

14 June 2025
Professor Lucie Cluver has been appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the King's Birthday Honours list 2025.
Smiling woman with light brown hair, wearing a patterned dress and standing in front of a dark blue door

Professor Frances Gardner awarded King's Birthday Honour in recognition of services to reducing violence against children

14 June 2025
Professor Gardner has been appointed as a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG) in the King's Birthday Honours list 2025.
Navy blue graphic with bright blue curved lines across the top. White text reads 'DSPI contributes to WHO guide'

DSPI researchers help develop new World Health Organization guide on parenting interventions for policymakers

09 June 2025
Five researchers from DSPI were part of the core team from Parenting for Lifelong Health that produced WHO's new guide on parenting interventions for policymakers, practitioners and stakeholders.
Our Space Project

University of Oxford strengthens collaborative efforts on sexual misconduct prevention and support

27 May 2025
On 18 March, the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI) hosted an event to share the findings of the OUR SPACE 2024 survey and qualitative interviews.
10 people, including panellists and students, who took part in the policy exercise, looking directly at the camera.

Should smartphones be banned in UK schools? DSPI students apply learning and present recommendations to local policymakers and government

22 May 2025
25 students from the Department took part in a three-day Integrative Policy Exercise (IPE) examining whether smartphones should be banned in UK schools.