As part of its activities, CREST identifies and funds innovative and forward-looking economic, behavioural and social science research that contributes to our understanding of contemporary security threats. These commissioned projects run for a maximum of twelve months. They become part of CREST’s larger research programme, benefiting from resources for translating and communicating evidence for impact, and opportunities for sustained interaction with stakeholders.
The projects below were commissioned in our second call and commence this year (subject to contracts being finalised).
- Dr Joel Busher at Coventry University, The internal brakes on violent escalation
- Professor Fiona Gabbert and Dr Gordon Wright at Goldsmiths, University of London, Quantifying the effectiveness of an evidence-based rapport-building training programme for use in information-gathering contexts
- Professor Martin Innes at Cardiff University, Soft Facts and Digital Behavioural Influencing
- Professor Ashraf Labib at University of Portsmouth, Taking Decisions about Information Value
- Professor Wendy Moncur at University of Dundee,Keeping Secrets Online
- Dr Nick Neave at Northumbria University, The Cybersecurity Risks of Digital Hoarding
- Professor Math Noortmann at Coventry University and Professor Juliette Koning at Oxford Brookes University, Imaginative scenario planning for law enforcement organisations
- Professor Rosalind Searle at Coventry University, Assessing and mitigating the impact of organisational change on counterproductive work behavior: an operational (dis)trust based framework
The projects below were commissioned in our first call and commenced in 2016.
- An Exploratory Study of Expertise and Inertia in Emergency Service Responses in a counter-terrorism Live Exercise – led by Professor Laurence Alison at the University of Liverpool
- How Does Isis’ Online Propaganda Demonstrate Mechanisms of Radicalisation? Assessing Cognitive Mechanisms of Radicalisation With A Quantitative Analysis Of Isis’ Online Propaganda – led by Dr Stephane Baele at the University of Exeter
- Differences in the Ability to Spot Rare, Non-salient or Hidden Targets – led by Professor Nick Donnelly at the University of Southampton
- Why Do People Adopt Conspiracy Theories, How Are They Communicated, And What Are Their Risks? – led by Professor Karen Douglas at the University of Kent
- Learning and unlearning terrorism: The transition from civilian life into paramilitarism and back again during the conflict and peace process in Northern Ireland – led by Professor Neil Ferguson at Liverpool Hope University
- Applying Criminological Paradigms to Terrorist Decision Making Regarding Security and Risk – led by Dr Paul Gill at University College London
- Minimal Social Exclusion: A Means to Increased Information Gain in Human Intelligence Interviews? – led by Professor Par Anders Granhag at Gothenburg University, Sweden
- From the Diasporisation to the Transnationalisation of Exile Politics: Understanding When Extremism Gives Way to Moderate Politics – The Case of Sri Lanka, 1983-2016 – led by Dr Christopher McDowell at City University, London
- Ethno-national, religio-cultural or anti-Muslim? Investigating Sikh radicalisation in Britain – led by Dr Jasjit Singh, University of Leeds
- Community Reporting Thresholds: Sharing information with authorities concerning violent extremist activity and involvement in foreign conflict: A UK Replication Study – led by Professor Paul Thomas, Huddersfield University and Professor Michele Grossman, Victoria University, Australia