Institute for Social, Policy and Enterprise Research (iSPER)
Transforming society, influencing policy, and supporting enterprise through outstanding inter-disciplinary research

The Institute for Social, Policy and Enterprise Research (iSPER) brings together academics from across the University of Plymouth and supports them in delivering high quality and impactful social, enterprise and policy research. We work to promote collaboration with academics from other institutions, as well as stakeholders outside the academic community, at a regional, national and international level. In particular, we encourage and facilitate multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research to make a real impact on academia, businesses, communities and public policy.
To find out more about iSPER and our research please scroll down to access links to our projects, publications and impact case studies.
Professor Rod Sheaff, Director, iSPER
Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Business
Call us
Email us
Sign up to our newsletter
Follow us on Twitter
Call us at: +44 1725 585587
Contact us at: isper@plymouth.ac.uk
Stakeholders, businesses and local authority representatives joined academics at the University on the 8 November 2017 for an iSPER event on the implications, opportunities and challenges with Brexit and more specifically what it means for the South West.
Find out more about the event and access the speaker presentations
iSPER's key research strengths are reflected in its Themed Research Groups (TRGs), which bring together academics from across different disciplines who have a shared interest in a specific research theme:
Our TRGs provide an ideal vehicle for interdisciplinary collaboration not only across the social sciences and business and management disciplines but also with academics outside our core disciplines, including those in the natural sciences and arts. Further details on each of the Themed Research Groups can be found below.
In addition to the TRGs, iSPER also has two standalone Research Initiatives which specialise in delivering research excellence in new, emerging and niche areas of research:
While extolling the need for improved conditions and greater voice, Professor Richard Saundry argues it fails to deliver the radical change needed.
Since the British public voted to leave the European Union, there has been widespread conjecture as governments across Europe and beyond try to assess the political and social ramifications of the result.
As such, policy makers face a number of challenges in light of the increased responsibility placed on them – as areas of legislation previously under EU competence will soon be decided nationally.
In a new project led by the Institute for Social, Policy and Enterprise Research (iSPER) leading academics across a range of fields will attempt to shed light on how the referendum result might affect their areas of expertise.
The need to do more to improve the UK’s export competitiveness was discussed at a recent trade summit at Plymouth University organised by the Institute of Export (IoE) in partnership with iSPER.