Aneta Piekut

Dr. Aneta Piekut is a Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Social Sciences at the Sheffield Methods Institute, part of the School of Education at the University of Sheffield. She joined Sheffield in 2014 after working at the University of Warsaw (2005-2009), and Leeds and Sheffield Universities (2010-2014). As Co-Director of the Migration Research Group, she leads interdisciplinary research across the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Her research spans multiple areas of social science with a focus on ethnic diversity, socio-spatial segregation, social cohesion, and attitudes towards immigration and ethnic minorities. She specializes in survey methodology, particularly examining item nonresponse in migration-related surveys. Her work employs mixed methods approaches to understand the complex relationship between diversity and social dynamics in urban contexts.

Piekut's recent publications reveal strong trends in migration studies, survey methodology, and spatial analysis. Her work increasingly focuses on the impacts of Brexit, the methodological challenges of measuring attitudes toward immigration, and the application of innovative digital research methods. She has made significant contributions to understanding how social boundaries and spatial segregation affect intergroup relations in European cities.

Among her notable scientific achievements:

• SAGE Prize for Innovation and Excellence from the British Sociological Association (2017)
• TIER Fellowship for Teaching Integrity in Empirical Research (2020/21)
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2017
• Completion of the UK Reproducibility Network Train-the-Trainer Programme (2023)

Piekut actively supervises PhD students including Chandima Arambepola and Eleanor Bale, while previously guiding Natalie Bennett and Ben Gardner to completion. She has secured over £2.5 million in research funding, including major grants like the £1M 'Life at the Frontier' project and the £300,000 ESRC study on 'Health, social, economic & cultural impacts of Covid-19 on migrant essential workers in the UK.'

As an active member of the Sheffield Open Research Working Group and the UK Reproducibility Network, she champions transparent and reproducible research practices. Her work with the Migration Research Group and the Centre of Migration Research at the University of Warsaw demonstrates her commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration across European institutions.