Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) are lists of policy issues or questions. They are a way for Select Committees to express interest in seeing more research evidence in certain topics. ARIs, and the research and insights that you contribute in response to them, help to support committees' scrutiny of government.
An inquiry into the effectiveness and influence of the Select Committee system by the 2017–19 House of Commons Liaison Committee made several recommendations on how to improve the use of research evidence in select committees. One recommendation was for committees to develop and publish Areas of Research Interest (ARIs).
ARIs are not an exhaustive list of all areas in which Parliament may be interested in research evidence in the future. Parliamentary priorities are driven by elected representatives responding to current affairs. In particular, select committees issue calls for evidence based on their current priorities; ARIs do not replace these calls for evidence. However, ARIs may be used by parliamentarians and by parliamentary staff in POST, the Libraries and select committee teams to scope and/or inform future work. They may also contact you when they are seeking experts to contribute to the committee’s work.
Register your interest and expertise.
The House of Commons International Development Committee has updated its Area of Research Interest to support the Committee’s scrutiny of the UK’s international development strategy and funding. The ARI includes several specific areas of interest to further break down the broad area and focus the responses received from the research community
The Women and Equalities Committee and Home Affairs Committee have published a joint Area of Research Interest on ‘Violence against women and girls’ to help support their ongoing scrutiny in this topic area. The ARI comes with several specific areas of interest aiming to further break down the broad area and focus the responses received from the research community.
Registration for these ARIs has closed.
The House of Lords Adult Social Care Committee has published an Area of Research Interest on ‘Unpaid carers’ to support the Committee’s scrutiny of adult social care services in England. The ARI comes with several specific areas of interest aiming to further break down the broad area and focus the responses received from the research community.
The International Trade Committee has published five Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) for 2021 to help support the Committee’s scrutiny of UK trade policy. Each ARI comes with a series of questions aiming to further break down the broad areas. The ARIs focus on UK trade policy and include: Trade negotiations, Gender and trade, Food standards, Developing countries, and Foreign Policy and Trade.
An inquiry into the effectiveness and influence of the Select Committee system by the 2017–19 House of Commons Liaison Committee made several recommendations on how to improve the use of research evidence in select committees. One recommendation was for committees to develop and publish areas of research interest (ARIs). The House of Commons Scrutiny Unit, with the support of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), is trialling select committee ARIs as a pilot exercise to better understand and assess how they can support parliamentary scrutiny.
