University of Oxford
Search

COVID-19

How are social sciences making a difference?

To play the video, you need to accept cookies for videos.

COVID-19 has wrought unprecedented disruption around the world. From exacerbating social and economic inequalities, and destabilising billions of children's education, to threatening global progress on climate change: no sector of society has remained untouched by the pandemic.

Researchers across Oxford's Social Sciences Division mobilised rapidly to confront these complex challenges. Here you can discover the latest COVID-19 research news, explore the vast range of social sciences research taking place across our departments, watch interviews and conversations with social scientists across the Division, and explore highlights of our researchers' expert commentary and analysis in the media.

COVID-19: The impact of social sciences research

    

Watch more

Explore the role of social scientists in Oxford's pandemic response

A photograph of a biomedical scientist in a white lab coat and inspecting a vial is superimposed by a white banner with blue text that reads "Oxford 2020: Meeting the Pandemic Challenge"

Find out more...

COVID Conversations banner

COVID Conversations

Social scientists are among the hundreds of researchers at Oxford driving forward research into COVID-19. Hear them discuss their work and answer viewers' questions in COVID Conversations.
Leadership in Extraordinary Times graphic

Oxford Answers: Leadership in extraordinary times

A series of virtual events from the Saïd Business School, helping leaders respond to the unprecedented period of turmoil caused by COVID-19.

Insights, news, and expert opinion from Oxford's social scientists

melinda mills

We need to define the rules of a post-pandemic world

11 February 2022
A black and white image of a medical professional, who is wearing gloves, preparing a patient's arm for an injection

Cash incentives for vaccination could be an effective long-term strategy - here's how to fund it

25 January 2022
A red speech bubble, under which is written The Conversation

When will life return to normal after the pandemic?

02 December 2021
Taken from the back of a classroom, where a primary school teacher reads from a book to a room full of young children, with their backs to the camera. All the children are watching as she holds the book facing outwards, so they can all see the pages

Thousands of primaries benefit from Oxford oral language programme

27 April 2021
Unfocussed photo of green grass covered in rain drops caught in the sunlight

Are we on track for a green recovery? Not Yet. Hundreds attend Oxford-UN eco event.

10 March 2021
A black and white photo of two small children walking down a track, away from the camera. The bigger child has their arm around the smaller one, as if comforting them.

Thousands of children have not seen parents for a year: hidden impact of COVID on prisoners' families

15 March 2021
A pile of blue, medical grade face masks

The pandemic's mortality impact in England and Wales: 63,000 more deaths and a year off life-expectancy

27 January 2021
Photo of a bus window reflecting people walking and a bus and cars driving through a street. The image is slightly blurred and gives the impression of movement.

Oxford COVID-19 Monitor reveals January lockdown has a third less national impact on movement than March shutdown

12 January 2021
A man and woman, both wearing facemasks, are busy in a workshop

New £2m global policy project to address social impacts of COVID-19

03 December 2020
A black and white image of a medical professional, who is wearing gloves, preparing a patient's arm for an injection

COVID-19 vaccine: reliable communications needed to beat 'infodemic' of misinformation

10 November 2020
A facemask made from the American flag, showing the stars and stripes

United States' COVID-19 response cost more American lives than World War I

02 October 2020
A young woman sits in a dark room with her head in one hand, leaning over a cup of tea

Study finds 'significant increase' in child-to-parent violence in lockdown

20 August 2020
A young boy sits on his father's shoulders. The father is holding the boy's ankles to stabilise him while the boy has his hands in the air.

The parenting support that works - around the world

18 August 2020
A young girl wearing a face mask

Progress against the multiple dimensions of poverty was made before the pandemic - but now it is at risk

21 July 2020
A man wearing a face mask, standing outside an office building in London

Oxford COVID-19 study: face masks and coverings work

16 July 2020
NHS nurse in personal protective equipment

COVID-19 and the post-Brexit immigration system

01 July 2020
A busy street full of people

Oxford dashboard highlights potential future COVID-19 virus hotspots

30 June 2020
A cartoon adult and child sitting on a sofa

Parenting in a pandemic: resources have helped over 50 million families so far

30 June 2020
A wall of recycled plastic bottles

Why the pandemic could slash the amount of plastic waste we recycle

22 June 2020
primary 01

COVID-19 in care homes: What happened and how should we go forward?

17 June 2020
A father and son do some gardening together

How has behaviour changed under the COVID-19 lockdown?

05 June 2020
A young man sits in front of his computer screen, his hand held up to his head

International lawyers: Time's up for global cyber hackers

05 June 2020
Friends sit on park swings

Strategic distancing: the middle-ground between isolation and re-opening society

05 June 2020
Crowds of people on a sunny beach

Why coronavirus death rates won't fall as quickly as they rose

05 June 2020
A mother feeds her child

Lockdown gender gap remains firm

04 June 2020
Government advice poster in front of an empty children's playground_jordan hopkins xxgpojrufbc unsplash

COVID-19 Government Response Tracker extends to economic and testing measures

01 June 2020
Workers commute on the London Underground

COVID-19 lockdown data shows men travelled 48% more than women

28 May 2020
Young Lives banner

Young Lives study to provide rapid new insights into COVID-19 impacts

27 May 2020
A young child washes their hands

Social Sciences awards over £210,000 to projects addressing social, economic, cultural, & environmental impacts of COVID-19

28 May 2020
A child does his maths homework with a paper and pencil

Coronavirus school closures impact 1.3 billion children - and remote learning is increasing inequality

21 May 2020
Windfarm

Green COVID-19 recovery packages can boost economic growth and help tackle climate change

06 May 2020
A Samsung Galaxy Tab S and Google Pixel 3XL show Coronavirus information

Social Sciences COVID-19 projects awarded funding

30 April 2020
Crowdless app

OXFO venture 'Crowdless' app helps avoid lockdown crowds

29 April 2020
A baby holds an old lady's hand

Demographic science aids in understanding the spread and fatality rates of COVID-19

27 April 2020
A group of people scrolling through their devices

New factsheet identifies types, sources, and claims of COVID-19 misinformation

22 April 2020
Empty London underground platform

New Covid-19 Impact Monitor reveals UK population moves drops by 98%

15 April 2020

How are social sciences making a difference?

Jamie Lachman, Lucie Cluver, and colleagues smile as they hold their Impact Awards winners certificate, in front of the O2RB Excellence in Impact Awards event branding

Reducing violence against children through evidence-based parenting resources during COVID-19

Dr Jamie Lachman and Professor Lucie Cluver
Professor Melinda Mills, Dr Jennifer Beam Dowd, and colleagues from the LCDS team smile as they hold their Impact Awards winners certificate, in front of the O2RB Excellence in Impact Awards event branding

Data driven policy interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic

Professor Melinda Mills, Dr Jennifer Beam Dowd and team
The words Celebrating Impact Prize 2021 are written in gold across a dark blue background, with the UKRI ESRC logo in the top left corner

Refugee-Led Social Protection During COVID-19

The words Celebrating Impact Prize 2021 are written in gold across a dark blue background, with the UKRI ESRC logo in the top left corner

COVID-19 Parenting Emergency Response

COVID-19 research, collaborations, and intiatives across the Social Sciences Division

IPPO spelled out in blue capital letters

International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO)

Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the IPPO a collaboration between the University of Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government, UCL, Cardiff University, Queen's University Belfast, and the University of Auckland, together with think tanks including the International Network for Government Science and academic news publisher The Conversation.
Saïd Business School and University of Oxford logo lock-up

Oxford Answers: Business insights and COVID-19

A series of virtual events from the Saïd Business School, helping leaders respond to the unprecedented period of turmoil caused by COVID-19.
Screenshot from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index, showing a map of the world coloured in differing shades of blue, green, yellow and white according to COVID19 restriction stringency

Oxford Covid-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT)

Governments are taking a wide range of measures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This tool aims to track and compare policy responses around the world, rigorously and consistently.
The words Oxford Martin Programme on Pandemic Genomics are superimposed in white text on a blue, graphic depiction of the coronavirus

Oxford Martin Programme on Pandemic Genomics

Producing an analytical framework for emerging infections for the 21st century.
A Samsung Galaxy Tab S and Google Pixel 3XL show Coronavirus information

The UK COVID-19 news and information project

Analysis of how the British public navigates information and misinformation about coronavirus and about how the government and other institutions are responding to the pandemic.
COMPAS Centre on Migration, Policy & Society written in blue and orange capital letters, with a star-shaped series of dots on the right

The Coronavirus and Mobility Forum 2020

How can a mobility perspective shed light on the current COVID-19 crisis, and what can we learn about mobilities throughout the pandemic and for the future?

In the media

ITV News logo superimposed in white on a teal background

Social costs of pandemic will be felt for a decade, report suggests (ITV News)

BBC Radio 5 Live logo on a white background. The 5 is in white superimposed on a blue circle.

Melinda Mills addresses vaccine concerns on BBC Radio 5Live

New Statesman written in red capital letters on a white background

Carl Benedikt Frey: Covid-19 will accelerate automation

Hindustan Times logo

Covid-19: Rise in kids attacking parents in UK lockdown

the guardian logo

Philip N Howard: ‘Social media need a radical rebuild’

Peach-coloured square containing the initials FT, with Financial Times written to the right-hand side of it

Researchers turn to wearable tech in race to track Covid-19

A red speech bubble, under which is written The Conversation

How the pandemic has affected periods