Institute for Jewish Policy Research


The Institute for Jewish Policy Research, founded as the Institute of Jewish Affairs, is a London-based research institute and think tank. It specializes in contemporary Jewish affairs, with a particular focus on Jews in Britain and across Europe. It is responsible for most of the recent data that exist on Jews in Britain, and one of its reports is a study of Jews in Britain based on the 2001 UK Census data, an analysis of the attitudes of Jews in Britain towards Israel, an extensive study of child poverty and deprivation in the British Jewish community and the first National Jewish Student Survey. Its activities have included "Res Publica: The European Common Good," and "New Conceptions of Community." JPR also runs a public education programme, and has hosted lectures from Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, James Wolfenson, Professor Jonathan Sarna and Professor Zygmunt Bauman.
Its current programme includes a National Jewish Community Survey in the UK, and a European Union sponsored study of Jewish perceptions and experiences of antisemitism across Europe.
The Institute was founded in New York in 1941, under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Congress. It moved to London in 1965, and was refounded as the Institute for Jewish Policy Research in February 1996.
It is a registered charity under English law and it exists to provide "policy-related research and analysis for individuals and organizations concerned with the enhancement of contemporary Jewish life." Its honorary president is Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, its chairman is Stephen Moss, and its executive director is Dr Jonathan Boyd. Previous directors of the institute include Professor Barry Kosmin, and Antony Lerman.