Scottish Alcohol Research Network

Bringing together those with the vision, passion, and commitment to drive forward alcohol research in Scotland.

The Scottish Alcohol Research Network (SARN) is a network of researchers, practitioners, third sector partners, policymakers, and those interested in alcohol research.

The aim of SARN is to promote a strong collaborative research forum for those with an interest in responding to alcohol-related harm in Scotland, enabling us to co-ordinate and foster meaningful collaborations locally, nationally and internationally.

Along with regular network meetings, SARN hosts a number of events throughout the year, including an annual early-career researcher event. In partnership with Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), who support the network, we co-host an annual four-part ‘Alcohol Occasionals’ online seminar series.

If you have an interest in the field of alcohol-related harm please join us.

View our introductory video

Latest Alcohol Publications

“I just saw the alcohol brand, I never really thought of the zeros”: Young people’s views of NoLo and alibi alcohol sponsorship

Added in Jan 2026

Purves, R.I., Martin, J.G., Teodorowski, P. and Brown, O., 2026. “I just saw the alcohol brand, I never really thought of the zeros”: Young people’s views of NoLo and alibi alcohol sponsorship. International Journal of Drug Policy, 148, p.105108.

How should public health respond to rise of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks?

Added in Jan 2026

Holmes, J., Kersbergen, I., Critchlow, N. and Fitzgerald, N., 2026. How should public health respond to rise of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks?. bmj, 392.

Characteristics of alcohol care teams in England: results of the ProACTIVE National Survey

Added in Jan 2026

Case, P., Wilkinson, M., Foote, G., Kalk, N., Angus, C., Canvin, K., Cohen, J., Drummond, C., Masson, S., O’Donnell, A. and Uhm, S., 2026. Characteristics of alcohol care teams in England: results of the ProACTIVE National Survey. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 61(1), p.agaf082.

Applying an intersectional lens to alcohol inequities: A conceptual framework

Added in Jan 2026

Bright, S., Buckley, C., Holman, D., Squires, H., Greene, N., Mulia, N., Kilian, C., Probst, C., Angus, C., Holmes, J. and Constante, H.M., 2025. Applying an intersectional lens to alcohol inequities: A conceptual framework. Addiction, 120(12), pp.2585-2598.

The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of population-level policies to reduce alcohol use: A systematic umbrella review

Added in Jan 2026

Guindon, G.E., Li, C., Trivedi, R. et al. The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of population-level policies to reduce alcohol use: A systematic umbrella review. Can J Public Health 116, 951–984 (2025). https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-025-01013-9

Applying social marketing techniques to reduce problematic drinking among UK university students: a quasi-systematic review

Added in Jan 2026

Mugambi, L.K. and Howcutt, S.J., 2026. Applying social marketing techniques to reduce problematic drinking among UK university students: a quasi-systematic review. Journal of Social Marketing, pp.1-26.

Up Next

SARN Members’ Meeting

5th March 2026

Upcoming Events

SARN and its partners host a number of conferences and seminars throughout the year, including quarterly Network meetings.

Through these events we aim to co-ordinate and foster meaningful collaborations locally, nationally and internationally.

Latest News

Call for abstracts – SARN Early and Mid-Career Research Event

Posted on 29th Nov 2024

The Scottish Alcohol Research Network (SARN) Early and Mid-Career Alcohol Researcher event is taking place on Tuesday 11th March 2025 at the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh. The event will take place in-person from 10:30-14:30 GMT and will provide PhD students, early career researchers, and mid-career researchers with an opportunity to present their work and discuss future projects, whilst networking with colleagues from...

Call for Abstracts – Alcohol Occasionals 2025

Posted on 29th Nov 2024

Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) and the Scottish Alcohol Research Network (SARN) invite researchers to submit their research proposals for the 2025 SHAAP/SARN Alcohol Occasionals series. We are interested to hear from researchers from any discipline who wish to share their research relating to alcohol. We welcome presentations from new and early career researchers and/or international researchers. Seminars take...

SARN Blog

Posted on 27th Mar 2024

“You’re not working class anymore” – Following the yellow brick road of first year Beth Meadows, PhD Researcher For many years Dorothy dreamed of somewhere over the rainbow. It was a world she couldn’t relate to from her humble Kansas farm. But, when presented with the opportunity to access this new world in all its mystical glory, there were some...

Alcohol Occasionals 2024

Posted on 1st Feb 2024

SHAAP/SARN Alcohol Occasionals 2024 Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) and the Scottish Alcohol Research Network (SARN) are pleased to invite you to the 2024 series of the Alcohol Occasionals around the theme: Transforming Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol. The webinar series will be hosted online using Zoom, and registrants will receive a link to join. Registration will...

Alcohol Occasionals 2024 – Call for research proposals (theme: Transforming Scotland’s Relationship with Alcohol)

Posted on 6th Nov 2023

Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) and the Scottish Alcohol Research Network (SARN) invite researchers to submit their research proposals for the 2024 SHAAP/SARN Alcohol Occasionals series. Last year’s Alcohol Occasionals series was based on the theme of ‘Alcohol in a changing world’ and attracted 532 registrations across the 4 seminars. On Twitter, our live threads were seen a total...

Alcohol Occasionals 2023: Gendered alcohol brand marketing in a changing world: exploring the targeting and representation of women, & the implications.

Posted on 7th Jul 2023

The event recording from the third Alcohol Occasional of 2023 is now available. This event was held online on Tuesday 20 June. Dr Amanda Atkinson presented findings of a mixed methods ESRC study that explored how women are targeted and represented by alcohol brands, how this has changed over time, and how such marketing is experienced, viewed and interpreted...

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