Intelligence Research at Brunel and its Impact: ESRC Festival of Social Sciences 2012
Once shrouded in secrecy, over the last decade intelligence has become an
increasingly central feature in the public’s understanding of government and
politics. At the same time, once an esoteric subject, the study of
intelligence has grown to be one of the fastest growing and most productive
fields of social science scholarship in the UK and globally. In 2003
Brunel University stole a march on the rest of the field by setting up the UK’s
first dedicated academic centre on intelligence scholarship, the Brunel
Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies (BCISS). Taking an
interdisciplinary approach to the subject, BCISS has been a source of leading
research on the subject, the base for the largest single postgraduate taught
degree in Social Sciences at Brunel, and the standard port of call for British
and international journalists seeking insight and comment on intelligence issues
that appear in the headlines.
In late 2009 BCISS was approached by the Ministry of Defence Development,
Concepts and Doctrine Centre to assist in the development of a new edition of
its military Joint Intelligence Doctrine (JPD 2-00 Understanding and
Intelligence Support to Joint Operations). Doctrine manuals are the
standard guides to professional practice and operational procedure for the armed
services, and JDP 2-00 the common doctrine for all three armed services
and civilian Ministry of Defence personnel for the conduct of ‘Intelligence,
Surveillance, Target-Acquisition and Reconnaissance’ (ISTAR). This was the
first time academics have ever been called upon to contribute to
an intelligence doctrine. BCISS was also called upon to contribute to
an additional doctrine on military understanding for operational commanders (JDP
04 Understanding). BCISS scholars also conduct research relevant
to the professional practice of analysts more widely in the intelligence
community in the UK and abroad.
The Event
Intelligence Research at Brunel and Its Impact is an open, public
information event intended to give the local communities in Uxbridge,
Northwood and Northolt and neighbouring environs a better understanding of our
research, a better understanding of contemporary defence and military
intelligence (ISTAR), and to the contributions of the BCISS team’s research to
the ISTAR professional community. Also intended to increase local
awareness of defence history in the Uxbridge area, the event will be held at the
11 Group Ops Room facility, better known as the Battle
of Britain Bunker, on the grounds of the former RAF Uxbridge. The
event will be a mix of static displays in the Bunker’s above ground building and
talks by BCISS academics and associate members as well as current and former
ISTAR practitioners held in the Bunker’s seminar suite in the actual underground
bunker. The event will also feature guided tours of the bunker, its Operations Room
and museum.
For further information, please email
BCISS Director Dr. Philip H.J.
Davies (philip.davies@brunel.ac.uk).
Above Ground Displays:
Poster and static displays on:
1. BCISS
2. Research by BCISS PhD Students
3. Imagery Analysis and the Analysis of Piracy in East Africa
4. Raytheon UK and ISTAR Systems
Presentations In the bunker*:
Schedule†:
1000: Doors open at Battle of Britain Bunker
1030: Dr. Philip H.J. Davies, BCISS Director: 'Intelligence Scholarship and
Intelligence Doctrine: Theory and Professional Practice Converge'
1100: Guided Tour of the Bunker and Museum
1140: Lt. Cdr. Doc Cox, Royal Navy: 'ISTAR in the Contemporary Maritime
Environment'
1210: Guided Tour of the Bunker and Museum
1300-1400: Lunch
1400: Gp. Capt. (Ret). Geoffrey Oxlee OBE, BCISS Senior Research Fellow:
'Imagery Intelligence and Academic Research'
1430: Guided Tour of the Bunker and Museum
1510: Chris Pocock, local journalist and writer: 'Recollections and
Reflections on Writing About Air Reconnaissance'
1540: Guided Tour of the Bunker and Museum
1620: Dr. Stephen Marrin, BCISS: 'Theory, Practice and Scholarship on
Intelligence Analysis'
1700: Close
* Please note that there is no wheelchair access to the Battle of Britain
Bunker’s underground seminar room, museum or Operations Room.
† Please note that space in the Bunker seminar facility is limited to 60; attendance will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.
A pdf on Brunel's Intelligence Research is available here.
