2014 – 2018

Funders: 
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL)
Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI)

Value: £1,068,070 

Partners:  
University of Bath 
University of Exeter 
Northumbria University 

Website: https://lida-project.org/about/ 

Loneliness in the Digital Age (LiDA) (September 2014 – June 2018) was a multi-partner, multi-disciplinary, UK national research project which investigated how people who found themselves temporarily isolated or disconnected from their close relations and families experience loneliness, and the role that digital technologies might play in both amplifying and counteracting such experiences. The project involved a combination of primary qualitative and quantitative research on the experiences of specific groups of people (Informal Carers, Lone Workers, University Students, Refugees and Asylum Seekers and First-time Mothers) identified as ‘at risk’ of loneliness, as well as applied design and human-computer interaction research where new technologies would be prototyped and evaluated. 

The LiDA project is one of several projects funded through the EMoTICON network, which is funded through the following cross-council programmes: the Partnership for Conflict, Crime and Security Research (led by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)); Connected Communities (led by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)); Digital Economy (led by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)); and in partnership with the: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl); and the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI).