Alison Park
Deputy Executive Chair ESRC, part of UKRI. Research (esp social science & interdisciplinary) and data (survey, admin, smart & data infrastructure … ), visualisation. Harringay, London.
All views my own.
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- A blog from me on why social science infrastructures matter. I talk about the value of social science data collections & data services (especially @ukdsimpact.bsky.social), current opportunities and challenges (including AI, the growth of TREs & training), & what we're doing about them at ESRC.
- 🎉New on the Data Impact blog🎉 Professor Alison Park (@parkali.bsky.social), from ESRC, discusses the importance of UK social science data infrastructures and outlines some of the opportunities and challenges they face in our new Data Impact blog. blog.ukdataservice.ac.uk/park-esrc-da...
- Absolutely delighted that ESRC and UKRI are funding this new study - and great to hear one of its leads, Pasco Fearon, discussing its value just now on BBCR4 Today. Also led by @clscohorts.bsky.social.
- One for anyone with an interest in the research potential of administrative data! The 2025 @adr-uk.bsky.social conference will be in Cardiff on 17-18 September. Full details including keynote speakers & the ministerial address by Rt. Hon Mark Drakeford MS (Member of Senedd) in the thread below.
- Reposted by Alison Park🌳 Nature remembers. 🌿 Happy to share our new paper showing that where species live today isn't just about where habitats are - it's also about what happened there before. 🕰️ rdcu.be/eiVZE @watts-km.bsky.social @stir.ac.uk @tfinch.bsky.social @forestresearchuk.bsky.social
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- Astonishing fact on #bbcr4today earlier, discussing the Heathrow power failure. Heathrow requires 41MW; a new data centre nearby needs 150MW. Stark illustration of the underpinning energy consequences of data storage.
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- Great lecture by @hetanshah.bsky.social today on #AI. A key message: AI depends on data (quality, coverage, access, linkage) but not enough focus upon it; “data is the unsexy cousin of AI”. Vital we keep focused on AI AND data, and on ensuring the public have a voice within discussions about both.
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- ESRC recently collaborated with Wellcome on the UK National Data Library Technical White Paper Challenge. Five submissions were successful and have now been published - do take a look: wellcome.org/what-we-do/o...
- Reposted by Alison ParkLovely article about me, my new book, and my home in today’s FT Weekend on.ft.com/3PtDGxU
- In case you missed it - cohort studies got a mention on Call the Midwife last Sunday (specifically the 1970 Birth Cohort Study)! A bit cheesy I know, but good to see these essential data resources, & the unique insight they make possible, get the attention they deserve. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
- Reposted by Alison ParkNew PhD position on my UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship project on political polarization: fully funded + ~20k tax free yearly stipend. Deadline: Feb 14th! Link to apply: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DLI246/p...
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- It's ESRC's 60th birthday in 2025 - keep an eye out for how we are planning to celebrate! In the meantime, if you're interested in how our history connects to our current strategic thinking take a look at @stianwestlake.bsky.social's blog below.
- “These models can see patterns humans cannot, but not all patterns they identify are meaningful or reliable” … AI not immune to the correlation and causation challenge.
- Interesting @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social FT Data Points today - does the apparent rise in the UK’s illness-related activity say as much about incentives in the benefit system as the nation’s health? Good to see (ESRC funded!) Understanding Society - UKHLS - as a key data source.
- Delighted the ECHILD team, funded by ADR UK, has been awarded the ONS Research Excellence Award 2024 in the category of Secure Data Creation. ECHILD is a pioneering linked data resource that integrates administrative data across sectors from health & education. Find out more - www.echild.ac.uk
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- Good article about many challenges in collecting accurate employment data - & importance of improving access to other sources (eg private sector & admin data). Good too to see some of the hidden challenges acknowledged - inc losing data savvy staff to tech firms. londonherald.co.uk/fuzzy-job-nu...
- Reposted by Alison ParkUKRI is recruiting a Director to lead work on R&D and Place. A great opportunity for an action-oriented leader who wants to tackle the many well-documented issues of the geography of R&D in the UK! careersportal.taleo.net/careersectio...
- Fantastic night last night at the ESRC Celebrating Impact Prize awards. There was a particularly strong legal and justice theme this year with winners including ... 1/3 More details: www.ukri.org/news/esrc-an...
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- Congratulations to @richardmoorhead.bsky.social & the postofficeproject team for being worthy winners of the ESRC societal impact prize. Particularly struck by Lord Arbuthnot's comment towards the end of the video about the "forensic, humane, academic brilliance" of the work - high praise indeed.
- On a packed train to Oxford and everyone seems to be staying on for Moreton in the Marsh? I remember Moreton being a sleepy little town, what changed?!
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- Delighted to see HM Treasury has published its Areas of Research Interest - which set out their key questions within the following areas - growth, labour market, financial sector, international, fiscal policy, tax, and public spending/services.
- Really recommend this - astute observations and some very interesting research questions.
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- With the National Police Chiefs’ Council, UKRI is funding 9 Policing Academic Centres of Excellence to improve connections between researchers & research users in policing & help research users identify the best research evidence, science, technologies & postgraduate training. See: orlo.uk/1O9u8
- New £11.5m call to develop & administer a global evidence synthesis infrastructure to provide policymakers with access to accurate, up-to-date, & accessible syntheses of existing scientific evidence in key policy areas. Background & more helpfully set out here: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- Great illustration at the start of this about the difference between sample size & representivity (in relation to stats about millionaires in the UK) podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...
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- This year’s finalists for ESRC’s Celebrating Impact Prize were announced today. All very impressive examples of how excellent social science can make a genuine difference to the world. www.ukri.org/who-we-are/h...
- The @britishelectionstudy.com team is celebrating the study's 60th anniversary today - 6 decades on from the 1st British Election Survey in 1964 & all the insight that has resulted since. V proud of the role that ESRC has played in supporting the study & research over those decades.
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- Blog by my boss, Stian Westlake (Executive Chair of ESRC but writing in his own capacity) setting out his thoughts on research & innovation capacity to deliver Government missions, with a particular focus on the role of social science & the importance of better data. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
- Excellent essay - "Harder, better, faster, stronger - will AI improve public policymaking?". Delighted to see proper recognition of the centrality of data - "any AI tool is only as good as its data, and novel forms of AI are still haunted by old data problems". 👋👋
- Administrative Data Research’s (ADR) Annual Report published today, illustrating the progress they have made in generating data-driven insights that help drive improvements in policy & practice, & tackle pressing global challenges. reports.adruk.org/annual-repor...
- Good blog by Emma Gordon, ADR UK, about the Labour manifesto pledge to create a National Data Library and what needs to happen next. Great to see recognition of the value of linked data, but vital to build on existing successes - we do not need to start from scratch here. t.co/7HYMta50Hv
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