GambleAware to tnvest $5.4 million into UK’s first gambling harm academic research hub

GambleAware announced Tuesday that it has begun an eight-month grant award process to establish the first Academic Research Hub in Great Britain, which specializes in gambling harms research. 

A select number of universities have been invited to apply for the grant and were chosen based on multiple rankings, including those rated highly for research areas relevant to gambling behaviour and harms prevention. 

Even though the grant will be awarded to a single university, it is expected the institution will take a collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach both endogamically and externally with other academics and partners.

GambleAware is encouraging applications from those with a strong academic track record in adjacent disciplines, including but not limited to public health, mental health, health inequalities, health economics, epidemiology, clinical health and/or psychology.

The Hub will contribute to GambleAware and help deliver the charity’s objective to actively build academic research capacity. It is also expected it will secure alternative funding to allow continued growth and development beyond the initial grant award. 

The Hub intends to seek a new social science perspective that will broaden out the range of academic disciplines engaged with gambling harms research in Great Britain. With the application of a public health lens, the successful institution will dictate its own research focus and will support and inform the wider system of treatment providers, organizations, and agencies working to prevent and reduce gambling harms.

In an official press release, Research Director (Interim) at Gamble Aware, Alison Clare said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for a British university to develop and innovate in a relatively under-researched field, bringing to bear a much wider range of academic disciplines than are currently engaged in gambling harms research. With this significant investment, a British university and its partners will have the chance to create a step change in building knowledge in an area which links and overlaps with many other subjects and fields.

“It’s a different type of grant award to the smaller projects and programmes in our current research portfolio, with GambleAware taking a much more arm’s length approach in guiding the area of research focus. Our main criteria is that universities apply a multi-disciplinary, public health lens in setting out the rationale for their chosen research area. From our early discussions with selected universities, we’re expecting some very creative and innovative proposals at the initial Expression of Interest stage”, she concluded.