Building the UK’s Behavioural Research Capabilities: A scoping study and strategy from the Behavioural Research UK Leadership Hub

Behavioural research (BR) plays a critical role in understanding and addressing complex societal challenges, from health and sustainability to economic behaviour and public policy. However, the extent, distribution and type of behavioural research activity across the UK has not been systematically mapped, nor is it clear how well-equipped researchers and organisations are to translate this research into real-world impact. This report seeks to fill that gap. It presents a comprehensive overview of the current state of behavioural research in the UK and offers guidance for strengthening the field moving forward. Drawing on
multiple approaches including national mapping, strategic document analysis, stakeholder surveys, and expert workshops, this report identifies both the existing strengths and persistent barriers within the behavioural research ecosystem and outlines future national priorities.

Key Findings Strengths: The UK has a vibrant and growing behavioural research ecosystem. Notable strengths include strong postgraduate training, interdisciplinary applications, and evidence of impact across public health, sustainability, technology, and policy development.

Barriers: Significant challenges persist. These include fragmented collaboration across sectors, limited funding models, underuse of emerging technologies like AI, lack of training opportunities beyond postgraduate level, and organisational uncertainty around where BR fits within structures. There is also a need for more diverse and inclusive approaches and clearer ethical and methodological standards. Sector-specific challenges: Startups and scaleups face unique barriers including resource constraints, lack of dedicated roles, limited access to participants, and undervaluation of qualitative insights. Nonetheless, they show strong motivation to integrate BR when leadership is engaged and relevance to product outcomes is clear.

Future priorities: Our findings suggest that the most pressing societal issues which need addressing through behavioural research sit within the broad topic areas of population and planetary health. To enable the behavioural research community to address these pressing issues our findings point to key capability priorities focusing on advancing research methods and approaches, and in developing our skills in these through a range of training and networks and building behavioural research into broader leadership training to ensure the value of behavioural research is clear to leaders across sectors, to champion its integration and application. To address these priority societal issues, BR-UK will deliver an ambitious capability-building programme over the next three years t. Our strategy outlines how we aim to drive the national capability forward with a focus on advancing behavioural research methods, strengthening cross-sector collaboration, and expanding training and leadership opportunities across regions and career stages. This strategy will be supported by rigorous
research and evaluation, including regular surveys, rapid evidence reviews, secondary data analysis, and participatory design methods to ensure relevance and responsiveness. As a national leadership hub, BR-UK is uniquely positioned to drive this work forward, helping to unlock the full potential of behavioural research in responding to today’s most pressing societal and economic challenges.