The Defence Academy’s Research & Assessment Branch (R&AB), provides for the harvesting of ideas, expertise, experience and evidence relevant to defence and security from across a broad and multi-disciplinary field to provide relevant and timely research of high quality to the Ministry of Defence and other government departments.

Using its own resources, and by engaging practitioner and assessment communities worldwide, R&AB provides research, advice and education for decision takers and policy staffs delivering focused and timely products that address future and current defence, national, international and transnational security challenges.

R&AB conducts its activity using both the exceptional expertise of its scholar-practitioners, and thematic 'research clusters' of knowledgeable people from a wide range of backgrounds. 

A Research Cluster is an administrative mechanism that enables knowledgeable people to interact and enrich the potential for organisational learning among R&AB’s stakeholders.  Clusters are established to reflect the needs and priorities of the MOD, of other government departments with security interests, and of the Colleges of the Defence Academy.  They serve as the mechanism for detecting challenges and identifying sponsors for projects that merit targeted research and assessment. Their composition is reviewed every six months, and amended as necessary to reflect changing needs and requirements.

Working from unclassified sources, R&AB surveys research activities and engages with political, economic, socio-cultural and military thinking via both formal and informal channels. R&AB is constantly seeking innovative ways to enhance access to knowledge, to accelerate organisational learning, and to benefit the education process either within or beyond the Colleges of the Defence Academy.

R&AB’s contribution to public service comes from linking research-innovation-education together. This work helps inform policy-making and encourage public debate in the UK and abroad and supports organisational learning in the face of immediate and enduring defence and security challenges.