ARK (the Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive), a collaboration between the University and QUB, has been awarded £3 million from The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). 

The £3 million is the largest ever grant award for funding work in the social sciences to the universities in Northern Ireland.

Established in 2000, ARK makes social science information on Northern Ireland available to the widest possible audience including researchers, policymakers, journalists, community and voluntary groups, schoolchildren and their teachers.

Well-known resources provided by ARK include CAIN (Conflict Archive on the Internet) - the internationally recognised definitive website for information about the NI conflict; the annual Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey and Young Life and Times Survey which provide up-to-date information on the social attitudes of adults and 16 year olds in Northern Ireland, a comprehensive Elections website which is currently running a popular poll contest and SOL or Surveys Online which holds information on other important surveys in NI.

UU's Professor Gillian Robinson, Director of ARK said: “It is so important for public debate in a civil society that people understand the social and political issues and that they have full access to accurate, impartial and factual information. The ARK website and the services we offer are about providing this in a digestible way.”

For QUB,  Professor Robert Miller, Deputy Director of ARK said: “Here in Northern Ireland key social surveys are carried out that carry messages of huge importance to us all. ARK’s aim is to convey these messages to the widest possible audience, including the general public and those in government.”

The Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Barnett, said: “It is particularly pleasing to us that ESRC acknowledges the need to build a resource that bridges the gap between the academic world and the general public.”

Professor Peter Gregson, Vice-Chancellor of Queens University, added: “ARK’s work is well known in Northern Ireland and beyond. I welcome this funding from ESRC which will enable ARK to further extend its scope and influence based on high quality research.”

Further information on ARK, which also provides an outreach programme to schools and a seminar series which provides an important forum for debate in social topics in Northern Ireland, can be found at www.ark.ac.uk

Notes:

ARK (Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive) is a wide-ranging collection of information and research resources run in collaboration by staff located at Queen’s University and the University of Ulster.  Its mission is to make social science information on Northern Ireland easily available to the widest possible spread of people located in Northern Ireland and further afield.  ARK’s constituent parts include:

·       The CAIN (Conflict Archive on the Internet) web site that is internationally recognized as the definitive website for information about the Northern Ireland conflict;

·       The Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey (NILT) and the Young Life and Times Survey (YLT).  These annual surveys provide up-to-date on the social attitudes of the adult population and on 16 year-olds.  A feature of the surveys is that the data are made freely available via the Internet to anyone within six months of the completion of fieldwork;

·       ORB, an abstracting service that gives direct access to the summaries of hundreds of reports and research articles on social issues in Northern Ireland;

·       Help with learning in information held by other important social surveys in Northern Ireland through Surveys Online (SOL) and special help with the Northern Ireland Household Panel Survey;

·       An Elections website that has comprehensive information about all of Northern Ireland’s elections, which also hosts a popular poll contest during election time;

·       An ARK Research Centre that provides practical assistance to large and small organizations with carrying out research and analyzing data, including free, pro bono help to smaller groups;

·       A developing archive of qualitative research material that includes a searchable index of sources of qualitative data on the Northern Ireland conflict and material on ageism.

For further information please contact  David Young, University of Ulster, Press Office. Tel: 028 90 90366074, or Lisa Mitchell, Queen’s Communications Office. Tel: 028 90 97 5384.

For further information, please contact:

David Young
Telephone: 028 90366074
Email: David Young