Mark Simpson is a Senior Lecturer in Law and Research Director for Law at at Ulster University and a world-leading interdisciplinary researcher on social security and poverty.  He is currently co-investigator on the £1.1 million Nuffield Foundation-funded study 'Social security in a devolved UK: realities, risks & opportunities for families'.

As a member of Ulster's Social Justice Observatory, Mark undertakes interdisciplinary research in social justice, with a focus on social security law in its social and political context. His book, Social citizenship in an age of welfare regionalism: the state of the social union (Hart, 2022), examines both the impact on social security law and the constitutional tensions that result when the welfare state ideology  of devolved governments conflicts with that of the UK Government. 

Previous research in this field includes a participatory study on universal credit in Northern Ireland (funder: Joseph Rowntree Foundation), an exploration of how Scotland’s recently-devolved social security powers might be used to protect the dignity of claimants (funder: Equality and Human Rights Commission) and legal issues associated with poverty and destitution (funders: Joseph Rowntree Foundation/Legal Education Foundation). This work has had extensive impact on the early development of the Scottish social security system and resulted in appointments to the Scottish Commission on Social Security, independent review of welfare mitigations and independent review of discretionary support.

Mark's secondary research interest is in environmental law. In this area he has completed the only comprehensive academic study of recreational access to the countryside in Northern Ireland and exploratory research on the legal protection of biodiversity in Northern Ireland (funder: Royal Town Planning Institute).

Outside Ulster, Mark has been an active member of the Socio-Legal Studies Association and Social Policy Association. He was lead organiser of the SLSA annual conference in 2023, having co-founded and for seven years co-convened the conference stream on Social Rights, Citizenship and the Welfare State. Previously, he was a member of the organising committee for the SPA conferences 2015 and 2016

Prospective PhD students with projects in the fields of Law and Social Justice (social security law/welfare reform, citizenship rights, poverty and destitution), Public Law (devolution and equality law) or human rights law (equality and socio-economic rights) are invited to make contact to discuss their ideas.

Previously, Mark studied Law with Politics at undergraduate level at Queen’s University Belfast, where he also completed a MA in International Politics and LLM in Environmental Law and Sustainable Development. He arrived at Ulster as a PhD candidate in 2012, graduating in 2016, and was subsequently appointed Lecturer in 2016, Senior Lecturer in 2021 and Research Director in 2023. He is author or co-author of four research outputs and one impact case study included in Ulster University's submission to the Research Excellence Framework 2021, which assessed 46% of the Law unit's outputs and 50% of its research impact as world leading.