There is an active and developing research culture in psychology, and a strong commitment to the production of innovative, high quality, socially relevant research. Many psychology staff based in the Faculty of Social Sciences play an active role in one of the three University Centres of research excellence: 

• The International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research (ICCCR)
• Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance (CCIG)
• The Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technology (CREET)

The Open University’s Psychology Unit of Assessment was awarded a 4 in the last research assessment exercise and since then has expanded and strengthened its research base and continues to do so.