Niamh O'Brien

Niamh O'Brien serves as Associate Professor of Social Inclusion and Young People at Anglia Ruskin University's Faculty of Health, Medicine and Social Care, School of Allied Health and Social Care. She holds dual affiliations as Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2022-present) and Research Fellow at the UNESCO Chair on Tackling Bullying in Schools and Cyberspace through the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre at Dublin City University (2017-present).

Her educational background includes:

• PG Cert Higher Education with Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (ARU, 2022)
• PhD: To 'Snitch' or Not to 'Snitch'? Using PAR to Explore Bullying in a Private Day and Boarding School (ARU, 2016)
• MSc: Child Development, Research and Policy (ARU, 2008)
• BA (Hons) Applied Social Studies in Social Care (Waterford Institute of Technology, 2001)

O'Brien specializes in participatory research methodologies with children and young people, focusing on school bullying dynamics and care-experienced youth perspectives. Her work employs critical frameworks that challenge traditional power structures in research, emphasizing youth agency through Participatory Action Research (PAR). Current projects examine migration-bullying intersections and pandemic impacts on vulnerable youth populations, with methodological innovations in co-designing research questions with young co-researchers.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals three dominant thematic strands: (1) Ethical and practical implementation of youth-led research methodologies, (2) Complex bullying dynamics in specialized educational settings (boarding schools, migrant populations), and (3) Systemic support failures for care-experienced youth during crises. Her work consistently bridges theoretical frameworks with actionable policy recommendations, particularly visible in her leadership of TRIBES Working Group 4 on pupil voice.

Key professional recognitions include:

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Aurora Women in Leadership Programme alumna (2018)
• Managing Editor for International Journal of Bullying Prevention (2023-present)

As an active research supervisor and grant leader, O'Brien has secured over £330,000 in funding since 2013, including Department for Education projects examining care leavers' pandemic experiences (£23,760) and SEND youth support systems (£7,040). Her leadership extends to organizing the National Centre for Research Methods Collaborative and Participatory Methodological Special Interest Group, fostering cross-sector methodological innovation. Current initiatives focus on developing the Dual-axis Model of Participation through her work with the UNESCO Chair and COST Action TRIBES consortium.