Ben Ruisch

Ben Ruisch is the Head of Behavioural Science at NatCen and co-leads NatCen’s Ignite Innovation Platform. He specialises in applying cutting-edge behavioural science to complex policy and organisational challenges. His work spans climate and energy, tax compliance, digital transformation, financial decision-making, and public trust in institutions, with a focus on developing innovative analytical and behavioural tools that help organisations better understand and influence human behaviour.

Alongside his role at NatCen, Ben is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Kent. Before joining NatCen, he led major social research programmes on political behaviour across institutions in the UK, the US, and the Netherlands. His work has shaped contemporary understanding of how people form beliefs and make decisions in complex social environments. He brings this expertise to NatCen to ensure that behavioural science is both rigorously evidence-based and directly responsive to the needs of government and the third sector.