This data collection consists of 22 interview transcripts with leading researchers on topics relating to the interface between religion and security conducted in 2013. Most of the interviewees were funded under the RCUK Global Uncertainties programme. The research project examines the development of the concept of martyrdom and sacrificial death in Britain and Ireland since the outbreak of the First World War. It proceeds through archival, library and web-based research on historic sources, including books and pamphlets, newspapers and online databases, supplemented as necessary by site visits. There were also be a series of semi-structured interviews with political and religious activists, carried out in partnership with the Belfast-based Institute for Conflict Research, in four contrasting locations in Britain and Ireland, Belfast, Bradford, Dublin and London. Transcripts from these interviews are also deposited with the UK Data Service in the collection 'Religion, Martyrdom and Global Uncertainties - Part 2: Martyrdom interviews' (see Related Resources). The leadership activities sought to integrate key insights from other relevant GU projects, exploring both various understandings of religion and quasi-religion, and weighing their importance against other non-religious factors. Work proceeded by means of telephone interviews with researchers leading to an initial working paper. User responses were gathered through two seminars and the project website; and selected researchers atttended a symposium intended to distil insights and implications for users and to present them in an accessible form. A widely-circulated hardcopy summary of the outcomes (an e-copy is available in the ReadMe folder) together with online video resources was made available to users, who were invited to attend one of a series of dissemination seminars to be held at various locations around the UK.

The interviews were conducted between March and July 2013, initially with 18 researchers funded under the RCUK Global Uncertainties programme. The sample was weighted towards researchers whose projects explicitly related to religion, but also included a few (eg Cameron, Farrell, Freedman) for whom the relevance of religion was more implicit than explicit. The final 4 interviews were then added to include more research relating to Ireland and to Christianity in order to address an imbalance in the initial sample which arose from the predominant focus on Islamic communities and related issues within the Global Uncertainties programme. The interviews typically lasted 20 to 30 minutes and were conducted over the telephone using a semi-structured format. Interviewees were given an indication of the main questions in advance. (The briefing document and consent form together with a list of interviewees is a available under Documentation).