Research and innovation

Our researchers work at the forefront of global agendas, leading the way in finding solutions to major social and environmental challenges. Through interdisciplinary research, our expertise influences key decision-makers shaping environmental protection, public health and the economy. 

We have a strong track-record of collaborations with academic institutions, businesses, NGOs and governmental bodies around the world. Our researchers have leadership roles in major international initiatives and projects, such as ForestPlots.net, Rainfor, PeatDataHub, BESTMAP, Euro-FLOW, Contested Cities network, Contested Territories, and CongoPeat.

We also have leadership roles in national excellence centres including the Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme (iCASP), the ESRC Consumer Data Research Centre, the Alan Turing Urban Analytics programme, the Methane Observations and Yearly Assessments (MOYA) project, SIPHER consortium, and the Sustainable Microgrids project.

We work extensively with other schools and centres across the University, steering cross-faculty initiatives such as the Priestley International Centre for Climate, Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, water@leeds, the Global Food and Environment Institute, and Cultural Institute. We also have strong links with the Leeds Social Sciences Institute and Leeds Migration Research network.