The Scottish Centre for Work and Health (SCWH) is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional research collaboration dedicated to advancing understanding of the relationship between work and health in Scotland.

Established in 2024, SCWH brings together academics, clinicians, and researchers from eight Scottish universities, four NHS boards, and the Institute of Occupational Medicine — spanning disciplines including epidemiology, occupational medicine, public health, psychology, economics, and environmental health science.

Scotland faces distinct challenges when it comes to work and health. Higher rates of chronic conditions and economic inactivity, the realities of rural employment, cities still navigating the legacy of heavy industry, and communities facing the energy transition — all of these make Scotland a place that deserves dedicated, locally grounded research.

Our work is organised around four key themes: understanding the changing nature of work; supporting healthy working lives across the life course; helping people with long-term conditions remain in work; and preventing work-related ill-health. With generous pump-prime funding from the Colt Foundation, we are currently developing pilot projects in each of these areas, building the evidence base needed to compete for larger future grants.

We work in close partnership with government departments, employers, trade unions, patient and public partners, and other research centres — ensuring our findings are both scientifically rigorous and practically relevant to the people and communities they aim to benefit.