This report presents the results of research into how the concept of ‘transformation’ is understood within the social sciences, which was conducted in support of the research framework of the School of the Humanities and the Social Sciences at the University of Cambridge (University of Cambridge, 2023). Beyond the School’s research framework, transformation has become increasingly prominent with both scholarship and policy as part of a discursive response to major societal challenges including climate change (Feola, 2015; Vogel and O’Brien, 2022). As a central concept within UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) 2022-2027 strategy Transforming tomorrow together (UKRI, 2022), momentum is growing behind transformation discourse as a driver of interdisciplinary and policy-focused research (Hölscher et al., 2021; Moser, 2016; Schneider et al., 2019; Torrens et al., 2021). This research has focused on how the concept of transformation is understood and operationalised within social sciences research. It has drawn on an academic literature review, a review of grey literature including government policy and research strategy, and the reflections of academics working with the social sciences at the University of Cambridge.
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