Matthew Francis holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of Leeds. His interests lie in the beliefs, practices and impact of sacred ideas in contemporary society in both religious and non-religious settings. He has written and spoken about the role of radicalisation and founded a website to make high-quality academic research on radicalisation and extremism available to a broad audience.
Prior to coming to Lancaster he was an Assistant Research Officer with Inform, a British Home Office-funded charity that researches and provides information on new religious and political movements. His specialist areas were on new Islamic and Far-Right movements.