About our work
Research at The National Archives spans a variety of disciplines and a range of research interests. We collaborate on research projects with a number of different partners, and we welcome suggestions for new projects and collaborations. Our research-active staff regularly contribute to and lead pioneering inter-disciplinary research projects, publish in peer-reviewed journals, speak at academic conferences, and participate in postgraduate teaching and supervision.
The National Archives is recognised as an Independent Research Organisation by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. This means that we collaborate with international partners to conduct world-class interdisciplinary research projects and that we are eligible to apply to any of the UK’s seven research councils for funding. This webpage outlines the work of the Research and Academic Engagement Team and research-active staff at The National Archives.
If you are looking to conduct your own independent research rather than collaborate and learn about our projects, visit the ‘Help with your research’ section of our website in the drop down menu above. It may be helpful to begin with our Research guides.
Interested in what we do or looking to collaborate? Email research@nationalarchives.gov.uk with your query and we will point you in the right direction. Email us to be added to our research newsletter mailing list, and keep up-to-date with research activities, events and opportunities at The National Archives. If you do not already have a named contact at The National Archives, we will either respond to you directly or refer you to one of our colleagues.
Please contact us at an early stage if you want to explore whether to work in partnership with us. Partnerships can take time to develop, and we appreciate having as much notice as possible before the deadline for a funding bid. Alternatively, you may prefer to browse our staff research profiles to find out which colleagues have expertise in particular areas.
We have set out a code of conduct relating to research. It reflects the principles of the RESPECT project (Code of Professional Conduct in Socio-Economic Research), which seeks to ensure respect for research ethics, intellectual property, confidentiality, professional qualifications, professional standards and research users. Read the Code of Conduct (PDF, 0.05 MB).
Research team members
- Pip Willcox, Head of Research
- Dr Eirini Goudarouli, Head of Digital Research Programmes
- Dr Jenny Bunn, Head of Archives Research
- Dr John Moore, Head of Emerging Technologies Research
- Dr Kaja Marczewska, Head of Collections Research
- Mark Bell, Senior Digital Researcher
- Bernard Ogden, Research Software Engineer
- Hazel Jell, Agile Delivery Manager
- Dr Andrew Bewsey, Research Software Engineer
- Waltteri Nybom, Research Software Engineer
- Harshad Gupta, Research Software Engineer
- Dr Valentina Vavassori, Digital Scholarship Researcher
- Dr Rachel Smillie, Head of Academic Partnerships
- Dr Louise Seaward, Academic Engagement Manager
- Mollie Clarke, Academic Engagement Manager
- Liz Fulton, Academic Communications and Impact Officer
Our partnerships
We work with a wide variety of research organisations, specialist interest groups and representative bodies in the pursuit of our joint research aims.
We are working with Research Libraries UK (RLUK) and Jisc on a number of initiatives, including the Discovering Collections, Discovering Communities conference series and a number of pieces of joint research. These are covered by a Memorandum of Understanding between both organisations.
Other partnerships include:
- The Royal Historical Society and the Institute of Historical Research to deliver the annual Gerald Aylmer Seminar
- The Thames Consortium (The National Archives, National Portrait Gallery and National Maritime Museum) on our Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships
Much of our current research is delivered in partnership with other bodies. We also work with partners to deliver our leadership role for the archive sector.