The IRR’s reputation is built on its investigations and analyses into pressing issues of contemporary racism.

These investigations in the UK have covered such areas as racism and the press, police racism, exclusions from school, deaths in custody, the plight of asylum seekers, anti-Muslim racism, the impact of anti-terrorism legislation, attacks on multiculturalism and the impact of austerity measures.

The IRR also conducts research on racism in other European countries, examining the rise of racial violence and extreme-right parties, asylum and immigration policies, human rights violations, policing and security policies and changing policies on multiculturalism and integration.