Kingston University carries out a wide range of research and offers a wealth of expertise. Many of our researchers have common or complementary interests and work together in teams.
We also have many active research centres, groups, institutes and clusters. Some of these carry out very specialist research and sit within larger centre structures; others are more fluid in nature. Groups of researchers may come together to work on particular projects or to pursue emerging areas of enquiry. Over time a grouping may grow and become recognised as a Centre of Research Excellence.
- Aerospace Research Group (ARG)
The Group carries out research across the full range of issues related to the design, manufacture, use and performance of air and space vehicles.
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- Asia Business Research Centre
The Centre specialises in internationalisation strategy and wider international business research in Asia.
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- Behaviour and Practice Research Group
The Behaviour and Practice Research Group is interested in the development of interdisciplinary theoretical and conceptual insights that emphasise the social dimensions of the shaping of behaviour and practice; and the development, implementation and evaluation of new interventions that employ these insights. The group works across a range of domains, including public policy (energy consumption, sustainability, healthy lifestyles and flood risk); social marketing, marketing and consumer issues; and the business and commercial sector.
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- Bioimaging Group (BIG)
The Group is interested in using light microscopy and image analysis to understand cell function and dynamic processes in cells.
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- Bioinformatics and Genomic Signal Processing (BioGSP)
The Group is interested in the analysis of genomics and proteomics data using statistical, machine learning and signal processing techniques.
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- Business Modelling and Analysis Group
The Group develops analytical and computer-based models to solve a range of complex industrial, financial and business management problems.
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- Cancer Research Group (CRG)
Through interdisciplinary research the Group aims to improve our understanding of carcinogenesis, the early detection of cancer, patient treatment and quality of life.
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- Centre for Earth and Environmental Sciences Research (CEESR)
The Centre covers three research areas - geodynamics and crustal processes; environmental change; and agriculture, people and place.
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- Centre for Fire and Explosion Studies (CFES)
CFES is recognised internationally for its work in the development and application of advanced computational fluid dynamics models for fire and explosion studies.
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- Centre for GIS
The Centre specialises in geographical information science and staff are world-renowned experts in their field.
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- Centre for Health & Social Care Research
Research staff in the Centre for Health & Social Care Research undertake research, support research degree students and lead on the Faculty of Health, Science, Social Care and Education’s Clinical Academic Career Pathway, including our Clinical Practice MRes.
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- Centre for Research in Employment, Skills and Society
This multidisciplinary Centre carries out research into employment and the organisation of work. Researchers have backgrounds in psychology, the sociology of work, industrial relations and public policy.
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- Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP)
The Centre has in international reputation for research and publication in the field of post-Kantian European philosophy, characterised by an emphasis on broad cultural and intellectual contexts and a distinctive sense of social and political engagement.
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- Centre for the Historical Record
The Centre promotes collaborative research, knowledge exchange and discussion between historians, archivists, curators, heritage providers and the public.
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- Clinical and health research group
Research in the group focuses on drug and alcohol misuse and addiction, anxiety disorders and how fear-related beliefs and behaviours are acquired, bullying between peers and siblings, the psychological development of premature infants and children, post-traumatic stress disorder in children, impulsivity and risk-taking in clinical and non-clinical groups, the psychological consequences of early pregnancy loss, the neuropathology of schizophrenia.
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- Cognition and Perception Research Group
Research expertise in the group spans visual perception, attention and memory in healthy and neuropsychological patients, choice preferences, reasoning and decision-making in risky environments, as well as creativity and problem solving.
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- Complex Flow Systems Research Group (CFSRG)
The Group conducts multi-disciplinary research on a wide range of topics, including aerodynamics, thermo-fluids, energy system and granular flow.
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- Component and Distributed Systems Research Group (CODIS)
The Group is interested in software architectures supporting component-based and distributed applications, with a special focus on generic, extensible and flexible systems.
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- Computational Language, Acoustic and Speech Processing Group (CLASP)
The Group links people with interests in various aspects of spoken, written, printed and electronically-stored natural language, and the processing of sound signals.
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- Constructional Materials & Sustainable Technology
This group is concerned with the properties, application and durability of concrete, masonry and other constructional materials, as well as with sustainability, recycling and reuse of waste materials, risk assessment and materials whole-life cost analysis.
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- Consumer Research Group
The Group conducts research on consumer behaviour, which both extends theoretical knowledge and has commercial relevance.
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- Contemporary Art Research Centre (CARC)
The Centre provides an intellectual and creative milieu for innovation in contemporary fine art.
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- Criminology and sociology research
Criminology and sociology research at Kingston has expanded significantly over the last five years, attracting staff and students with a wide range of interests and expertise in both theoretical and applied research. Broad shared research themes include abuse and trauma; life span and the aging population; social space and communities; and youth.
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- Cultural Histories @ Kingston
Centred around the concept of the 'cultural text', the group includes scholars from the fields of literature, film, media, history, music, dance, performance, and journalism, who are brought together by a shared interest in the way in which narratives – written, visual, and performative – shape and have shaped individual and communal experience, material culture, and everyday life.
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- Decisions, Attitude, Risk and Thinking (DART)
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- Design for Body and Material
This industry-facing research and enterprise Group fashions innovation through both traditional craft and future science.
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- Design for Communication and Image
The Group links research practice in Communication Design and Digital Media.
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- Designed Environments
The Group links research practice in the Schools of 3D Design, Communication and Architecture.
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- Developmental Psychology Research Group
The group investigates the development of reading and language abilities; cognitive development in autism, Williams syndrome and Down's syndrome; the development of numeracy during infancy and people's beliefs and experiences concerning facial appearance.
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- Diabetes and Cardiovascular Research Group (DCRG)
The Group brings together diabetes and cardiovascular disease researchers with the aim of improving patient treatment and quality of life through interdisciplinary research.
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- Digital Information Research Centre (DIRC)
The Digital Information Research Centre is dedicated to the advancement of the theory and applicability of computer science to enable internationally leading work in the field of informatics, addressing the needs of society in the thematic areas of health, communications, security and data.
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- Digital Media for Healthcare
The Digital Media for Healthcare Group conducts multidisciplinary research that addresses major problems and immediate healthcare challenges that are facing humanity today.
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- Diversity and Inclusion Research Unit (DIRU)
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- Drama research
Research in drama has practice at its heart. Research is organised into two key areas - theatre history and historiography; and practice as research (research into performance practice and through performance practice itself).
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- Drug Discovery, Delivery and Patient Care (DDDPC)
The group's interdisciplinary research aims at improving quality of life by providing safe, effective, and innovative products and services.
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- Environmental Change Research Group
The Group's core interests are in environmental geochemistry and palaeo-environments, with a special focus on environmental geomorphology.
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- Film, television and new broadcasting media research
Research in film and television ranges from traditional film studies to film making and practice-research. Research interests include media fandom and popular icons; early cinema; British, European and American cinema; and contemporary American television; as well as intersections with philosophy, literature, theology, aesthetics and the visual arts.
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- Geodynamics and Crustal Processes Research Group
The Group is interested in processes that have controlled the evolution of the Earth's crust, its mineral potential, and its relationship to the mantle.
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- Helen Bamber Centre for the Study of Rights, Conflict and Mass Violence
The Centre provides a focus for research and teaching in two related areas - human rights and international conflict.
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- Human Body Motion Group (HBM)
The Group is interested in the extraction, analysis and synthesis of human motion using video footage and motion capture data.
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- Industrial Control Research Group (ICRG)
The Group carries out research in control engineering and related fields, such as modelling and simulation of dynamical systems; condition monitoring ; and manufacturing management.
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- Infection and Immunity Research Group (IaI)
The Group exists to foster knowledge exchange and expand collaborative research within the areas of microbiology, parasitology, and virulence.
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- Institute for Leadership and Management in Health
The Institute carries out research in health management, including leadership, technology management, outsourcing, management of remote staff, self-care, clinical networks, decentralisation and performance, and medical regulation.
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- Interdisciplinary Hub for the Study of Health and Age-related conditions (IhSHA)
The Hub promotes and expands interdisciplinary research within Life and Health Sciences in order to form key sustainable research strengths.
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- Iris Murdoch Archive
This established Centre has research interests in the life and work of Iris Murdoch, with associated archives.
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- Kingston Writing School
English literature and creative writing is a large and vibrant research unit covering a range of areas including 19th and 20th century British and American fiction; critical theory; Modernism; life narratives; suburban studies; and the writing/creative processes.
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- Knowledge, Process and Project Management Group
The Group studies the management of knowledge and business processes by undertaking studies to evaluate the impact of information systems and technology on people and society.
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- Learning and Teaching Enhancement Centre (LTEC)
The Centre aims to make academic practice at Kingston University increasingly professional through accreditation and robust research, in line with priorities identified in Led by Learning and the University Education Strategy.
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- Learning Technology Group (LTG)
The Group is interested in improving learning and teaching through the investigation, development and use of IT technologies.
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- Life Narrative Research Group (LNR)
This highly interdisciplinary Centre studies the experience, methodology and formats of life narratives across written, visual and virtual cultures.
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- London Graduate School
The London Graduate School is a doctoral programme, postgraduate seminar and series of events in contemporary critical theory offered in central London and Kingston University.
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- Longitudinal Statistics Group (LStats)
The Group is interested in the analysis of longitudinal data to applied statistics in medical and healthcare fields
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- Materials and Composites Research Centre (MCRC)
MCRC houses research groups working on theoretical and applied mechanics, molecular electronics and photonics, and constructional materials and sustainable technology.
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- Medical Information and Network Technologies Research Centre (MINT)
MINT conducts research on the application of mobile technologies to healthcare systems by addressing bio-information systems, network security, quality of service and location-based services.
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- Modern Interiors Research Centre (MIRC)
The Centre's work focuses on the design and meaning of interiors from 1870 to the present.
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- Molecular Electronics and Photonics Group
Research interests range from the design and synthesis of liquid crystals and electronic polymers to the processing and device applications of commercial optical and electronic materials.
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- Music research
Music research is primarily focused on intermedia research; history, analysis and criticism; and applied music.
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- Operations Research and Management Science
The Operations Research Group (ORG) was established to develop and extend the research and application of operations concepts and principles in both the private and public sectors, and to draw upon the expanding interest in issues relating to operations management within Kingston Business School.
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- People, Place and Environment Research Group
The Group studies the human, environmental and policy dynamics of rural systems, with a primary emphasis on the contested transition towards post-productivist and multi-functional agriculture. New avenues of research concern interactions between people and the environment (eg in the areas of agri-environment and household waste management), population dynamics and identity and nationalism.
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- Political Economy Research Group
The Group considers economic processes as embedded in social relations, analysed in the context of historical considerations, power relations and social norms.
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- Practice Research Unit
The founding aim of Kingston University's Practice Research Unit is to look at contemporary aspects of practice as research (practice led and practice based) within drama and performance, film, music, fine art, dance, and creative writing, with a view to sharing the latest and best ideas in terms of standalone research and research-led pedagogy.
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- Project Kingston Africa
Project Kingston Africa is a network of practitioners, curators and academics whose aim is to create opportunities for interaction between Britain and Africa, particularly across craft, design and curating.
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- Radon and Health in the Natural and Built Environment
Radon research at Kingston University is carried out as part of a wider research group that specialises in radon and health issues in the natural and built environment. This research is partly focused at health bodies to encourage the development of new strategies to reduce the dose to humans in such environments.
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- Responsible Innovation Sustainability Entrepreneurship (RISE)
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- Robot Vision Team (RoViT)
The Group is interested in distributed intelligence using robotic platforms.
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- Scientific Analysis and Visualisation Centre (SAVIC)
The Group is interested in developing techniques for the analysis of diverse image and signal data.
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- Small Business Research Centre (SBRC)
SBRC is one of the UK's longest established research groups in the field of small business and entrepreneurship.
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- Social Psychology Research Group
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- Sport, Exercise, Nutrition and Public Health Research Group (SENPHRG)
Research at the group aims to investigate the impact of sport, nutrition and exercise on health, wellbeing, disease and human performance as well as the influence of human behaviour and public health initiatives on long-term health through interdisciplinary research.
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- Suburban Studies @ Kingston
This highly disciplinary Centre takes a socio-cultural approach to the study of suburbia and suburban life.
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- Sustainability Hub
The Hub acts as a focal point for all aspects of sustainability within the University; and works to develop local, regional, national and international networks to further the sustainability agenda.
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- Sustainable Technology Research Centre (STRC)
STRC is a multidisciplinary centre researching sustainable and cost-effective construction techniques; environmentally-friendly sustainable construction materials; and the recycling of waste materials for reuse.
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- Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Group
The Group studies problems of granular materials, fracture mechanics, auxetics and solid polymer foams.
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- User Experience (Ux)
The Group develops and applies the models, methods, rules and tools necessary to create user interfaces with great user experience.
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- Vision, Cognition and Neuroscience (VCN)
The Group applies basic science to sensory work on cross-disciplinary projects that investigate the ageing of the eye and higher order sensory functions. Expertise includes the optics of the eye, vision science, the higher visual processes and cognition.
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- Visual and Material Culture Research Centre (VMCRC)
The Centre provides a focus for interdisciplinary research in visual and material culture and the histories of art, design and architecture.
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- Visual Surveillance Research Group (VSRG)
The Group has interests in monitoring, classifying and reasoning about people and vehicles in public environments.
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- Wellbeing at Work (WWK)
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- Wireless Multimedia and Networking Research Group (WMN)
The Group carries out fundamental and applied research on wireless communications, networking and media streaming.
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