BRAINS
Welcome to BRAINS – Behavioural Research Alliance for Impact and Networks at Sheffield
About BRAINS
The Behavioural Research Alliance for Impact and Networks at Sheffield (BRAINS) is an interdisciplinary research network at the University of Sheffield dedicated to understanding and influencing human behaviour for societal and organisational good.
Launched by the Faculty of Social Sciences, BRAINS unites scholars from Economics, Management, Psychology, and Sociological Studies to address real-world challenges in decision-making, sustainability, inclusivity, and wellbeing. Building on Sheffield’s long-standing excellence in behavioural and experimental research, BRAINS serves as an interdisciplinary platform for generating high-impact insights, shaping policy, and developing innovative applications locally, nationally, and globally.
Director: Prof. Subhasish M. Chowdhury (Economics).
Co-Director: Dr. Ozlem Arikan (Management).
- Steering Committee
What we do
Our mission
BRAINS aims to make the University of Sheffield a leading hub for behavioural research by:
- Fostering interdisciplinary collaboration across the social sciences and beyond.
- Creating partnerships with public, private, and voluntary sector organizations.
- Developing major research grants that address real-world problems through behavioural science.
- Supporting early-career researchers through mentoring, collaboration, and visibility.
- Embedding Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in all aspects of our work.
Our activities
BRAINS coordinates a wide range of activities to connect people and ideas:
- Online seminars bringing together leading academics and practitioners in behavioural science.
- In-person workshops and symposia for networking, knowledge exchange, and project development.
- Grant scoping and writing support that identifies opportunities and builds teams for large interdisciplinary funding bids.
- Collaborative projects that apply behavioural insights to policy and social challenges.
Events
Find out about our upcoming events:
BRAINS Webinar Series: Platform Self-Preferencing and Consumer Behaviour: Experimental Evidence from Korea
Speakers:
- Professor Sang-Hyun Kim, School of Economics, Yonsei University; Director, Economic Analysis Division, Korea Fair Trade Commission
- Dr Euncheol Shin, Associate Professor of Economics, College of Business, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Title: Platform Self-Preferencing and Consumer Behaviour: Experimental Evidence from Korea
Date: Tuesday 17 November 2026
Time: 09:00–10:00 UK time
Format: Online
Abstract: On October 16, 2025, the Korean Supreme Court remanded the Naver Shopping self-preferencing case (Supreme Court Decision 2023Du32709), holding that adjusting a search algorithm is unlawful only where it deceives consumers in a manner likely to impair their rational choice. Direct evidence on whether rankings have this effect is scarce. In this paper, we conduct a lab-in-the-field experiment that measures how ranking manipulation affects consumer choice. In collaboration with the Korea Fair Trade Commission, we recruited 3,072 Korean adult online shoppers with equal quotas by gender and age. Each participant shopped twice in a mock online marketplace, once in each of two randomly assigned product categories. The first round used the unmanipulated ranking and served as a within-subject baseline. In the second round, duplicates of lower-ranked products, identical except for a 10 percent higher price, were placed at the top of the default ranking. In a 2×2 design, we also randomized a promotional badge on the duplicates and a disclosure that the ranking reflects the platform’s commercial interests. At baseline, 75 percent of participants never changed the default order, and 52 percent of purchases came from the top five positions. The purchase share dropped substantially between the first and second positions and declined more gradually across lower positions. On mobile, 61 percent of first-page purchases came from the left column, which holds the higher rank in each row. In the second round, 39 percent of participants purchased the costlier duplicate. Moving a product to the top raised its purchase share by 31 to 35 percentage points relative to the original listing at baseline. Only 11 percent of participants shown the disclosure opened it, and neither intervention reduced purchases of the duplicates. Purchasers of duplicates reported the same satisfaction as other participants. Finally, drawing on the criteria the Supreme Court applies to consumer surveys, we propose standards for using experimental evidence in litigation and discuss its limitations.
All are welcome. Please feel free to forward this to interested colleagues and students.
Get involved with the network
BRAINS welcomes academics, practitioners, policymakers, and research students interested in behavioural research and its applications.
Members gain access to:
- a cross-disciplinary network for collaboration.
- regular events and seminars.
- opportunities to engage with external partners and develop new projects.
- support for grant applications and research impact.
Collaborate with us!
Whether you’re a government body, NGO, business, or public service provider, we’re eager to collaborate. Find out how your organisation can work with BRAINS on behavioural insights and interventions.
Contact details
If you would like to join or collaborate with BRAINS, please contact Prof. Subhasish Chowdhury by emailing subhasish.chowdhury@sheffield.ac.uk