On 15 April, colleagues from WISERD and the Cardiff Business School came together in sbarc | spark, to launch an exciting new publication for scholars and students of sociology, political science, employment studies, and business and management. The Handbook on the Sociology of Work presents an overview of current research and thinking within the sociology…

New research from the ADR Wales team based within WISERD, at Cardiff University, has uncovered important insights into how pupils in Wales make post-16 subject choices, and what drives their academic success.  Drawing on data from more than 8,000 sixth form pupils, the research examined links between GCSE attainment and AS-level (first year of A-level) subject choices and outcomes. The findings reveal that…

Groundbreaking research pioneered in Wales is transforming how childcare provision is understood and delivered across England, as new evidence shows the UK’s most detailed analysis of ‘childcare deserts’ and ‘childcare oases’ is built on methods developed by Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD) academics. The researchers at WISERD – a collaboration…

ADR Wales has published the first in a series of Data Insights providing new evidence on Welsh language ability, how it is transmitted across generations and how it influences education and early career outcomes. Carried out by the ADR Wales Skills and Employability team using census and linked administrative data, the research seeks to inform key policy…

We are delighted to announce that the Call for Papers is now OPEN for the WISERD Annual Conference 2026 at Cardiff University – Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 July.   In Pursuit of Sustainable Futures It has been over a decade since the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 came into force. Widely regarded…

Our emerging research findings are published in two new non-technical briefing papers that reveal issues around indigenous peoples’ citizenship rights in India and the contemporary challenges they face in safeguarding their land, culture and languages. The research team comprises (L-R, front) Dr Reenu Punnoose (Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad) and Dr Muhammed Haneefa (Indian Institute…

WISERD is playing a central role in a project to map and support the green transition on the Isle of Anglesey and beyond. The Public Map Platform (PMP) is entering a second phase after securing a £3.12m Green Transition Ecosystems grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). This follows an initial £4.63m awarded…

The Analytical Services division of the Department for the Economy at the Northern Ireland Government will host a launch event for the Northern Ireland findings of the Skills and Employment Survey (SES). Professor Alan Felstead and Rhys Davies from the SES research team will present the results from their forthcoming report, Going Beyond Pay: Job Quality in…

Young men, masculinities, education and employment are gaining increasing societal attention. On 17 October in sbarcIspark, we launched an important new publication in this field of research by Dr Richard Gater, a research assistant at the Centre for Adult Social Care Research (CARE) and previously a postdoctoral research fellow at WISERD. Dr Gater’s timely new…

It began with a few small projects—data cleaning, pilot surveys, and summer internships. But today, those pieces form part of a much bigger picture: a growing partnership and a movement with a royal seal of approval that is reshaping how we understand and prevent youth homelessness across the UK. For several years, Professor Pete Mackie…

ADR Wales and Shelter Cymru are delighted to announce a new and innovative secondment that sees Ffion Chant from Shelter Cymru join the ADR Wales Housing and Homelessness research team until 2026. This collaboration is momentous in being the first time someone from a third sector organisation has been seconded into ADR Wales with the aim of acquiring and…

The ADR Wales team within the Welsh Government has been shortlisted for a Civil Service Award, one of the most respected honours recognising excellence across the UK Civil Service. The Civil Service Awards celebrate outstanding achievements across government showcasing inspirational individuals and innovative projects that deliver real benefits for citizens. ADR Wales has been recognised…

A new book by Professors Paul Chaney and Sarbeswar Sahoo was published on 26 September by Policy Press, an imprint of Bristol University Press. Civil Society Activism and Animal Welfare Rights provides a timely and in-depth analysis of the evolving landscape of animal rights and governance. The new volume argues that despite increasing legal recognition…

A history of deprivation in the South Wales Valleys has shaped its young men’s aspirations and views of masculinity, Cardiff University research shows. Dr Richard Gater conducted in-depth interviews with young men aged 13-21 who were living in the Aber Valley, in the borough of Caerphilly. The study explored their transition from school to work…

In an exciting new collaboration, WISERD’s UnionMaps data has been integrated into Strike Map,  a worker-powered and funded map of industrial action, which has mapped 230,000 strikes since 2020. The combined functionality of both platforms will allow users to see union strength in the areas where industrial action is happening. Rhys Davies, WISERD co-director and…

ADR Wales has been awarded almost £26million to continue its ground-breaking work using administrative data to inform public policy and improve lives across Wales. The funding will run from 2026-2031 and was officially announced today by the Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS during his address to delegates at the ADR UK Conference in Cardiff. Following…

UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has awarded more than £1m to a research team from Swansea and Aberystwyth universities to lead the Welsh Election Study 2026 (WES 2026), a four-year project that will provide high-quality, impartial survey data on political attitudes and voting behaviour in Wales. The collaboration brings together Professor Matt Wall…

On the 30 June and 1 July, the 15th WISERD Annual Conference took place at Aberystwyth University, welcoming over 130 delegates. The agenda comprised 14 paper sessions, two panels, and three symposia and workshops under the theme of ‘Participation and partnership in a time of precarity and polarisation’. For the first time, this year’s agenda…

From 8 to 11 July 2025, the WISERD Politics and Governance Research Network held a four-day Quantitative Methods Bootcamp at Swansea University. This intensive course was led by Dr Kevin Fahey, Assistant Professor in Politics at Nottingham University and included lectures, practical demonstrations, hands-on practice and group work. Its aim was to provide essential training…

The WISERD Annual Conference 2025 took place at Aberystwyth University on Monday 30 June and Tuesday 1 July. Scroll through the gallery below to see some of our favourite moments from the event.        

We are delighted to announce that the keynote speaker for the WISERD Annual Conference 2025 is Professor Irene Hardill from Northumbria University. Professor Hardill’s keynote address will explore how the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the crucial role of civil society and charities in addressing inequality and unmet needs. It will also explore research examining voluntary action…

We are pleased to announce that the website for booking your free tickets for the WISERD Annual Conference 2025 is now LIVE! The conference is taking place on Monday 30 June – Tuesday 1 July at Aberystwyth University. Book here: WISERD Annual Conference | Prifysgol Aberystwyth University Please select the ticket option ‘2025 Attendees’ –…

Research explores how communities can work together to bring about positive change. Academics will investigate how citizens, civil society organisations and policymakers are collaborating to tackle some of society’s most pressing problems. WISERD has secured £1.6m of funding from the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for the three-year research programme, ‘People, Places, and…

The monograph, Cultural Cold Wars and UNESCO in the Twentieth Century, by W. John Morgan, Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow at WISERD, Cardiff University, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Nottingham, has been nominated for the 2025 Wayne S. Vucinich Book Prize in the United States. Established in 1983, the Wayne S. Vucinich Book Prize is…

On 13 May 2025, Dr Sophie Bartlett, an ADR Wales research associate based at WISERD, at Cardiff University, presented education research at ‘Science and the Senedd’, the Royal Society of Chemistry’s 20th annual event held at the Senedd and the Pierhead in Cardiff Bay. The event was sponsored by the Deputy Presiding Officer of the…

Based on his previous research on working at home – some of which has been published by WISERD – Professor Alan Felstead has submitted written evidence to the House of Lords  Committee on Home Based Working. This follows Professor Felstead’s invitation to give oral evidence to the first session of the Committee in early March….

Horserace Politics (HRP) offers a pioneering platform that enables users to predict the outcomes of political events in a competitive, gamified environment. HRP is led by WISERD academics Drs Matthew Wall and Louis Bromfield (both at Swansea University’s Department of Politics, Philosophy and International Relations) in collaboration with Focus Games Ltd. – a commercial partner…

A child’s characteristics and family background provide important indicators of whether they are more likely to have special educational needs (SEN), a Cardiff University study concludes. Academics analysed data from 284,010 pupils attending schools in Wales. Males, pupils of White ethnicity, pupils who were persistently absent, those from households with a lower socio-economic background all…

Half of people working at home are doing so in the kitchen, on a dining table or in the corner of a room used for other purposes. This is one of the results from the Skills and Employment Survey 2024, the longest-running and most detailed academic study exploring UK workers’ experiences. Bringing together academics from Cardiff…

On Monday 10 March, Professor Alan Felstead – Emeritus Professor and former WISERD co-director – gave oral evidence to the Home-Based Working Committee in the House of Lords. His evidence was broadcast live on parliamentlive.tv. The House of Lords Select Committee on Home-Based Working was appointed on 30 January 2025 and is chaired by Baroness…

We are pleased to announce that cultural sociologist, Professor Michèle Lamont, of Harvard University will be visiting WISERD from 24 – 26 of March, as part of her Leverhulme Visiting Professorship. The programme of events will comprise an evening talk and workshop at Cardiff University, before Professor Lamont travels to Bangor University, where there will…

Dr Anwen Elias, WISERD co-director based at the Centre for Welsh Politics and Society at Aberystwyth University, is lead author of the latest report by the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA): Fostering Democratic Innovations in Wales: Lessons From Around the World. Dr Elias will be in conversation with IWA co-director, Joe Rossiter, on Tuesday 4…

This year’s WISERD Annual Conference will take place at Aberystwyth University on Monday 30 June and Tuesday 1 July 2025. The theme of the conference is ‘Participation and partnership in a time of precarity and polarisation’. The theme for the WISERD Annual Conference 2025 talks to widespread concerns regarding the form and function of civil…

A new Data Insight from the ADR Wales Housing and Homelessness research theme presents findings from research into the underlying causes of death among people experiencing homelessness in Wales. Currently, the main source of information on this topic in Wales comes from annual estimates produced by the Office for National Statistics. The purpose of the analysis in this Data…

The latest book in WISERD’s Civil Society and Social Change series with Policy Press has been published today, entitled Commons, Citizenship and Power: Reclaiming the Margins. Since the 2010s, populism and illiberal politics have been on the rise. Demagogue leaders preach simplified rhetoric to vilify the powerless, polarising city and rural areas and sparking such…

A Special Edition of the Mug of Research short films has been released on ‘How to achieve impact and ensure policy change’. In celebration of its publication, the full Mug of Research series has been re-released with updated edits. They are available here on the Aberystwyth University YouTube channel. Mug of Research is a video…

A new book review of The Russo-Ukrainian War, by W. John Morgan, Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow at WISERD was published in the Journal of Eurasian Geography and Economics earlier this year. Professor Morgan has himself published regularly on the Soviet Union and on contemporary Russia. He has an honorary doctorate from the Institute of Sociology, Russian…

Sarah Murphy MS, the Welsh Government Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing recently visited sbarc|spark to gather the latest research insights. WISERD researchers presented findings on how parents of neurodivergent children experience the school exclusion process and how we can use administrative data to improve education outcomes for children with additional learning needs. Excluded Lives…

Congratulations to WISERD co-director, Dr Anwen Elias, based at Aberystwyth University, who has been appointed by the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies, as chair of a new Innovating Democracy Advisory Group. The Innovating Democracy Advisory Group has been created following a recommendation in the Independent Commission…

Trade unions across the globe face a range of disruptions that are destabilising traditional structures, practices and strategies. A new book, Experimenting for Union Renewal, which includes a chapter by WISERD researchers on the international garment sector, sets out a novel approach centred on experimentation in response to these disruptions. Drawing on in-depth analysis of…

Drawing on their written evidence submissions Professors Melanie Jones and Victoria Wass gave oral evidence to the Equality and Social Justice Committee on the barriers to employment for disabled people. During the discussion they highlighted the recommendations in the Disability Employment Charter, called for monitoring and analysis of broader measures of disability inequality in the…

The 7th Foundational Economy Conference, entitled ‘Making things work: social innovation for liveability’ was held at sbarcIspark on the 10th and 11th of September 2024. It brought together researchers and practitioners in themed sessions that explored foundational issues and interventions from Wales, the rest of the UK and all across Europe. Our challenge is making…

The UK’s new government has promised to take action to prevent homes ‘turning into 24/7 offices’.  The risk of ‘always on’ working has grown since the pandemic with the boundaries of home and work blurred for many more working people. Around a quarter of workers, for example, now report working some of the time at…

In June, Welsh Higher Education Brussels (WHEB) hosted a group of early and mid-career researchers from WISERD, as part of their work in supporting researcher networking for future funding bids to Horizon Europe and other funding programmes. The group, from Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, Cardiff University and Swansea University, had meetings with key European organisations,…

During the General Election campaign, there was a deluge of political information, leaving many confused about which best fits their views. To tackle this issue, a project co-led by Swansea University and sponsored by WISERD created a new online voting tool. WhoGetsMyVote allows voters to match their positions on key policy issues to those of…

On the 3rd and 4th July, we held our WISERD Annual Conference 2024 at the University of South Wales and welcomed over 140 delegates from across the UK and beyond. Over 100 excellent posters and presentations come together under this year’s theme of ‘Aspiring to achieve a fairer society’. Professor Martin Steggall, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research)…

On the 3rd and 4th July, we held our WISERD Annual Conference 2024 at the University of South Wales. Here are just some of the photographs taken throughout the event by Michael Hall.

The official launch of Cymru Wledig LPIP Rural Wales, the Rural Wales Local Policy and Innovation Partnership, took place at the Senedd on 10 July, marking the start of a new three-year project, that will use research and innovation to address the challenges facing rural Wales. The project is hosted by WISERD and the Rural…

New study shows 60% of state school teachers always come home from work exhausted, compared to 37% of teachers at ‘top’ private schools State school teachers more likely to be working at ‘very high speed’ with less autonomy State schools have lost over 15,000 teachers to private schools since 2014 State school teachers in England…

A new research article by W. John Morgan, Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow at WISERD and Honorary Professor at Cardiff University with colleagues, Dan Liu from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and Qiuxi Liu from Hunan Agricultural University, has been published in the latest edition of Population, Space and Place. The article, ‘Why do Chinese overseas doctoral…

A new monograph by W. John Morgan, Honorary Professor at Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences and Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow at WISERD, will be published later this year. He is also Professor Emeritus in the School of Education, University of Nottingham, where he held the UNESCO Chair of the Political Economy of Education; and Honorary…

Wales’ former First Minister will discuss the constitutional future of Wales at a talk at Aberystwyth University later this month. Dr Anwen Elias and The Right Honourable Carwyn Jones will consider the work of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales and the recommendations set out in its final report. The dialogue between…

Here, we provide a summary of key findings from our 11th survey (2022-23). Topics include trust in schools, pupil confidence, the Welsh language, school uniforms, climate concerns, pupil’s views on politics and the monarchy, recent strikes and protests, missing out on school trips, and pupils’ aspirations.                  …

Professors Paul Chaney and Sarbeswar Sahoo (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi) have secured a new Global Challenge grant from the Academy of Medical Sciences and are commencing a project examining civil society and indigenous languages and cultures in India. They will be working in association with Dr Reenu Punnoose (Indian Institute of Technology, Palakkad). The…

The pressing political question of the United Kingdom’s survival will be the subject of a public lecture at Aberystwyth University. ‘Fractured Union’ will be delivered by Professor Michael Kenny, an expert on the UK constitution, national identity, and territorial politics. The lecture will be hosted by Aberystwyth University’s Centre for Welsh Politics and Society as…

On 2nd March 2024, the 40th anniversary of the coal miners’ strike was marked with a WISERD conference at Cardiff University’s Bute Building, attended by campaigners, trade unionists, researchers and filmmakers. The conference began with a showing of the film, Breaking Point, made and introduced by the acclaimed Swedish director, Kjell-Åke Andersson. The film was made…

A selection of photos from our recent anniversary event ‘The past in the present: Reflections on coal mining and the miners’ strike 1984-85’ taken by Natasha Hirst. These include banners from NUM lodges around the South Wales coalfield (loaned by the South Wales Miners’ Library).

Dr. Amy Sanders has published the paper: A Welsh Innovation in Inclusive Governance. Examining the Efficacy of the Statutory Third Sector-Government Partnership for Engaging the Third Sector in Policymaking. This journal article examines how well the Welsh government’s partnership with the third sector works. This partnership, an innovation of devolution, gives the third sector a…

First Minister Mark Drakeford’s government’s decision making during the pandemic was under scrutiny last month at the Covid-19 Inquiry in Cardiff. This newly published paper highlights the failures of state decision making in exacerbating older people’s health and social care conditions, which before the COVID-19 pandemic already put them at risk of harm and indignity….

In February 2024, WISERD co-directors, Professor Alan Felstead and Rhys Davies hosted hackathons in Sheffield and Belfast for human resource managers interested in improving job quality for their teams. Organised by the PrOPEL Hub and attended by nearly 100 managers from a range of private, public and third sector businesses, including government departments, social care…

On 17 January, following a two-year national conversation, the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales published their report. The publication outlined three potential options for Wales’s constitutional future: enhanced devolution, a federal UK and an independent Wales. WISERD Co-Director, Dr Anwen Elias, is a member of the Commission and part of the Centre…

A team led by WISERD-CWPS Co-Director Michael Woods has been awarded over £5m by UKRI to establish Cymru Wledig LPIP Rural Wales, the Rural Wales Local Policy and Innovation Partnership. The partnership includes CWPS members Lowri Cunnington Wynn and Rhys Jones as well as researchers at Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff and Gloucestershire universities and non-academic partners…

On 25 January, WISERD and Welsh Higher Education Brussels (WHEB) hosted a workshop for policymakers in Brussels and made a case for civil society research being put at the heart of plans for the European Union. Later this year, members of the European Council will meet to agree the Strategic Agenda for the European Union…

The Isle of Anglesey is the focus of a research project which aims to measure the knowledge and impacts of climate change on local communities. Cardiff University academics are part of the team, led by Cambridge University in collaboration with Wrexham University, which will create a model for gathering localised data which could inform and…

On 30 November, Professor Mitch Langford, a WISERD co-director based at the University of South Wales (USW), presented WISERD research from the ESRC-funded project, ‘Inequalities, civic loss and well-being’, to the Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee at the Senedd. The Senedd’s Areas of Research Interest (ARI) event comprised a series of speed talks made…

Last year, on the 30th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, the Special Rapporteur on Minority Rights, Fernand de Varennes, called for a new treaty to better recognize and protect the rights of minorities. On behalf of the Coppieters Foundation, Dr. Anwen Elias has written…

Professor Michael Woods gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee in early December on their inquiry on the Impact of Population Change in Wales. He presented findings from the Survey of Young People in Rural Wales. Read the survey report here.

Earlier this year, the IDEAL team performed The Bridge, a new one-act opera about the experience of living with dementia. One audience member wrote that the opera was “excellent, thought-provoking and needs to be broadcast further.” The IDEAL team have recently launched the film of the English language performance. Watch The Bridge As part of…

A recently published paper by Dr Andrew Price and Professors Gary Higgs and Mitchel Langford at the University of South Wales has drawn attention to geographical variations in access to warm spaces in Wales. Warm spaces provide an opportunity to help households try to minimise the impact of rising energy bills in the winter months…

Professor W. John Morgan, Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow, at WISERD, has been elected an Honorary Professor, School of Educational Sciences, University of Jordan. This is in recognition of his contribution to comparative and international education and social development. Among his several appointments, Professor Morgan has been Chair of the United Kingdom’s National Commission for UNESCO; a member…

A wealth of social science research expertise has helped Cardiff become the UK’s first UNICEF Child Friendly City (CFC). The prestigious status has been awarded to the city in recognition of the steps Cardiff Council and its partners, including Cardiff University, have taken over the past five years to advance the human rights of children…

New research argues Plaid Cymru downplayed its demands for Welsh independence to prioritise vote-seeking goals between 2003 and 2015, and foregrounded calling for independence after 2019, with the new party leadership spurring this shift in the dramatically changed political context of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Demands for independence have increased across parts of…

A year into the mass vaccination programme, people who experienced homelessness in Wales had rates of Covid-19 vaccine uptake that were almost 20% points less than people of similar characteristics. The study, led by Dr. Ian Thomas, also found that the rate at which the Covid-19 vaccine was provided was slower for people with recent…

A new paper by Professor Michael Woods has been published in The Geographical Journal. The paper proposes the adoption of a spatial justice approach to understanding the multiple crises facing rural Britain and developing policy responses. It outlines the key dimensions of rural spatial justice and considers its application to analysis of challenges in the…

Our new WISERD video provides a fresh introduction to WISERD, including our research networks, collaborative projects with partners and our commitment to capacity building and training. It also gives a brief insight into some of our current research and its impact for society, and our vision for the future.   Full-length video     Teaser…

Flexible working needs to be available for all to avoid widening inequalities, a report from academics at Cardiff University concludes. The findings, from work and employment group ReWAGE, which includes one of the co-authors Professor Alan Felstead of the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD), set out the current and potential…

A new paper by Samuel Brown at Swansea University and Melanie Jones at Cardiff University explores the extent to which the well-established ‘disability voting gap’ in the US, where disabled people are less likely to vote in elections relative to those who are not disabled, is evident in the UK. Such a voting gap has…

On the 28th and 29th of June, over 120 delegates, presenters and exhibitors gathered at Bangor University for this year’s WISERD Annual Conference. This year’s theme was ‘Civil society and governance in an age of crisis’. Colleagues from across WISERD’s five partner universities and more came together, and over the course of two busy days,…

Professor W. John Morgan’s book, on the celebrated Austrian Jewish philosopher and educator Martin Buber, Buber and Education: Dialogue as Conflict Resolution,  (with Alexandre Guilherme), Routledge, 2014, has been translated into Portuguese and published in Brazil by the PUCR University Press, Porto Allegre, with the support of the Brazilian National Commission for UNESCO. Martin Buber…

John Morgan, Honorary Professor and Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow at WISERD, based at Cardiff University has written a book review essay which has been published in the journal, Eurasian Geography and Economics. Professor Morgan says: “There is now an extensive literature on the related concepts of soft power and modernity” and this essay reviews some notable…

Teachers in England who are expecting an Ofsted inspection in the coming 12 months have worse job quality and a higher work intensity, according to a report. The study from academics at Cardiff University and University College London (UCL) also showed that the conditions for teaching professionals have barely changed since the pandemic and have,…

Professor Michael Woods, Professor Alan Renwick and Dr Anwen Elias. The Centre for Welsh Politics and Society at Aberystwyth University hosted its Annual Lecture on the prospects for democratic reform in the United Kingdom. Leading academic Professor Alan Renwick, Deputy Director of the Constitution Unit at University College London, delivered the lecture entitled “Do the…

At the end of the 2021-22 school year, we surveyed young people in Years 8, 10 and 12 about their experiences of returning to school. The pandemic has contributed to a high number of school absences and challenging behaviour in the classroom and we asked the pupils about issues relating to absences and how they…

In a new ADR Wales Data Insight, researchers Dr Katy Huxley and Rhys Davies looked at the transitions to post-compulsory education in Wales. The team linked Welsh education data sources, allowing them to identify characteristics associated with those who do, and do not, transition to further learning. The linked datasets included the Welsh National Data Collection…

Recent analysis from ADR Wales’ researchers used administrative data to estimate career progression and pay differences among female and male teachers and school leaders in Wales. Using anonymised administrative data from the 2019 and 2020 School Workforce Annual Census (SWAC), ADR Wales education researchers found that 77% of the qualified teacher workforce was female, however: 15% of male…

The prospects for political reform in Britain will be discussed at Aberystwyth University this month, when Professor Alan Renwick delivers the annual Welsh Politics and Society Lecture. The lecture, ‘Do the UK Public want Democratic Reform?’, will be held on Thursday 25th May at 6pm in the International Politics Main Hall, Penglais Campus. Entry is…

In a new, open access paper, Rhys Davies and Professor Alan Felstead share insights from quiz data collected before and after Covid-19 to examine what short-term effects the pandemic has had on job quality in the UK. The results show that non-pay-related job quality has improved, differences between occupations have shrunk and the growth of…

Principal Research Fellow, Dr Igor Calzada has been awarded a Learned Society of Wales grant to take forward his transdisciplinary social sciences research on Wales and Basque Country cooperation with an online workshop on 5 May. Wales and the Basque Country share some interesting commonalities in their development, allowing for opportunities to discuss devolution and…

The role of voluntary organisations in tackling polarisation in local communities will be discussed by the Future Generations Commissioner in Aberystwyth next month. Aberystwyth University academics from the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD) will jointly host a symposium with partners from the Voluntary Sector Studies Network on Wednesday 24 May…

Exhibition held at the Bandstand, Aberystwyth 13 –15 April 2023 This exhibition was the first related to our ongoing project that uses photography to understand how people think about independence in Wales, Scotland and Catalonia. For these nations, becoming independent would mean leaving the state which they are currently a part of (the UK and…

Migration Research Wales Network is pleased to announce a one-day symposium for postgraduates and early-career researchers (self-defined) working on aspects of migration in Wales or based at Welsh institutions. The aim of the online symposium is to provide a supportive environment for researchers to share ideas on draft work and receive constructive comments. Each contributor…

On Wednesday 12 April, Dr Dan Evans will be launching his new book: ‘A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Unstoppable Rise of the Petty Bourgeoisie’ at Waterstones, Cardiff. Dan will be in the store discussing his book, which will be available to purchase on the day. Tickets for the book launch are available on the Waterstones website….

Katy Huxley, Alan Felstead (WISERD) and Francis Green (UCL) presented the first results of their research on the changing job quality of teachers to a fringe event at the National Education Union (NEU) annual conference in Harrogate today (3 April 2023). The evidence is based on a research project carried out by WISERD at Cardiff…

The relationship between voter discontent in rural areas and support for disruptive political movements in Europe and the United States will be explored in a major study by a Aberystwyth University professor, following the award of a prestigious grant. Professor Michael Woods has secured funding of nearly €2.5 million from the European Research Council (ERC)…

It probably comes as no surprise to hear that you can travel further in less time when travelling by private transport, such as in a car, than by public transport using a bus or a train. However, have you ever wondered what this difference looks like visually for the place where you live or work?…

A new paper by Professor W. John Morgan, Honorary Professor, School of Social Sciences, and Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow, WISERD, at Cardiff University, considers the life and career of the prominent Welsh adult educator, civil servant, and cultural diplomat, Sir Ben Bowen Thomas (1899-1977). Professor Morgan was Chair of the United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO,…

14-16 September 2023 University of Technology, Vienna (TU Wien), Austria Call for Papers and Contributions From the 14-16 September 2023 we welcome the 6th Foundational Economy Conference in the heart of Vienna! During the course of our conference there will be keynote speakers and plenary sessions, parallel sessions as well as working groups and city…

Many congratulations to WISERD Co-director Mitchel Langford who has been successful in the latest Higher Academic Awards appointments Mitchel Langford has been conferred the title of Professor in Spatial Analysis and Geo-informatics at the University of South Wales. Mitch’s research interests include geographical accessibility modelling and geospatial analysis in the fields of healthcare, social inequality…

New research carried out by ADR Wales has examined the effectiveness of careers guidance in supporting participation in post compulsory education and training and how careers guidance is prioritised. The work, which was undertaken by ADR Wales researchers Dr Katy Huxley and Rhys Davies, used anonymised Careers Wales data to examine how the provision of careers support to key stage…

Since April 2017, UK employers with over 250 employees have been required to annually report their gender pay gap to the public. The introduction of pay transparency legislation is undoubtably one of the most significant policy developments aimed at tackling the gender pay gap worldwide. The original publication comprised 10,000 organisational gender pay gaps, attracting…

Dr Igor Calzada, Principal Research Fellow at WISERD, has completed his role as Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence (S-I-R) 2022-23 at California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) via the US-UK Fulbright Commission. Dr Calzada was formally welcomed by the university during a reception on 10th October 2022 (you can read the interview conducted before the event, watch the video…

On December 19th, the 2022 Wales Housing Research Conference took place at Cardiff University’s Glamorgan Building, allowing delegates to come together and share research evidence relating to some of the most pressing Welsh housing issues. Co-hosted by WISERD’s Wales Housing Research Network, the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence, and Shelter Cymru, this year’s conference…

The experiences of workers will be investigated as part of a major survey led by Cardiff University and funded mainly by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The Skills and Employment Survey 2023 (SES2023), which also involves researchers at UCL, the Universities of Oxford and Surrey and the National Centre for Social Research, will…

A new WISERD paper by Andrew Price, Mitchel Langford and Gary Higgs at the University of South Wales has recently been published in the journal, Case Studies on Transport Policy. Using sports facility data from Sport Wales and open-source data on green spaces, the team examine variations in potential access to recreational opportunities by different…

Professor Michael Woods presented findings from the CWPS-WISERD-led Horizon 2020 project IMAJINE to the Third Joint EU Cohesion Policy Conference in Zagreb in November. Jointly organized by the European Commission Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG-Regio), the Regional Studies Association and the Croatian Government, the conference brought together 150 academics, EU policymakers and member…

As part of WISERD’s ESRC-funded Civil Society Centre research programme, a team of WISERD researchers have published a new report on the process of developing and implementing the North Wales Growth Deal (NWGD), based on observations from a series of interviews with stakeholders between July-December 2021. Fifteen remote interviews were conducted by three researchers: Dr…

With over 40 delegates and more presenters and delegates joining online, the hybrid conference launched the Foundational Alliance project of building alliances for change and foundational renewal in Wales. A combination of presentations and workshop discussions highlighted foundational objectives and ways of working which can sustain household liveability and responsible providers within planetary limits.

CWPS-WISERD Co-Director Professor Michael Woods has published an open access paper in the Journal of Rural Studies which examines the settlement of refugees and asylum seekers in three small towns in Wales and Ireland, including Aberystwyth and Newtown. The paper builds on an earlier article that introduced the idea of ‘precarious rural cosmopolitanism’, arguing that…

ADR Wales has today (Thursday 1 December) unveiled its Planned Programme of Work that will help to provide an insight on the key issues facing Wales and the UK. The ADR Wales Planned Programme of Work 2022-2026 outlines the ten thematic areas that the ADR Wales team will focus their research on to help government…

In early November 2022, we were delighted to welcome Professor Charles Sabel from Columbia Law School as WISERD international visiting scholar. Professor Sabel joined us in sparcIspark for a week of events and discussions about his work on experimental governance. The visit kicked off with an intensive workshop addressing “Industrial Policy for Climate Change and…

A new paper in the Journal of Rural Studies reports on research from the ERC Global-Rural project led by CWPS-WISERD to examine the industrial transformation of a village in eastern China in the context of globalization. Co-authored by CWPS-WISERD Co-Director Professor Michael Woods with former CWPS-WISERD post-doc Dr Francesa Fois (now at Salford University), Professor…

To celebrate 20 years of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Festival of Social Science, WISERD hosted two events at this year’s Festival, which aimed to highlight one of our ongoing education research projects and a useful data tool that helps us to better understand our towns and local areas. We began with a…

A new book edited by Paul Chaney and Ian Rees Jones presents original findings and brings together core strands of theory to highlight some of the pressing challenges facing civil society. It is the latest edited volume to be published as part of the Civil Society and Social Change book series with Policy Press and highlights…

Dr Amy Sanders of Aberystwyth University has created a series of bitesize videos aimed at practitioners that share her research on the relationship between the voluntary sector and Welsh Government in the time that is takes to have mug of tea. Amy’s background in the third sector has always been important to her during her…

CWPS-WISERD Co-Director will discuss how to strengthen democracy in Wales at a high-profile media conference this week. ‘Citizens’ Voices, People’s News: Making the Media Work for Wales’ takes place at the Institute of Welsh Affairs in Cardiff on Thursday 17 November, and features keynote speeches from Welsh Government Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn…

On the 28th and 29th September, delegates from civil society organisations attended our event at Bangor University, exploring Roma, Gypsy and Traveller experiences and challenges in Europe today. Over the course of two days, this event brought together civil society organisations, academics policymakers and community members. We were very pleased to welcome two keynote speakers…

A prototype website has been developed by WISERD researchers based at the GIS Research Centre at the University of South Wales (USW) which examines access to key services in Wales. This is part of an ongoing research programme investigating geographical access to services in Wales. The website allows users to see indicators of accessibility to…

A new book features research by WISERD co-director, Professor Paul Chaney on the impact of devolution on social policymaking in Wales. “Social policy” here refers to government policy interventions to improve social well-being. It includes most of the policy areas devolved to Wales under successive devolution Acts since 1998, including health, housing, education, youth justice, social…

A recent report published by Welsh Government highlights the benefits and limitations of enhanced data utilisation to deliver careers services in Wales.   Welsh Government commissioned ADR Wales researchers to undertake a study to examine the policy and legislative context within which the national careers provider, Careers Wales operates, the utility of data holdings of Careers Wales and other organisations,…

Led by academic partners at Exeter University, IDEAL (Improving the experience of dementia and enhancing active life: living well with dementia) is a large-scale dementia research project which began in 2014 and ends in 2023. WISERD has contributed to the IDEAL study, with the aim of understanding the reasons why particular social and psychological factors…

A new Global Labor Organization (GLO) discussion paper by Melanie Jones and GLO Fellow Ezgi Kaya has been published. The paper finds that large firms have smaller within-firm raw gender pay gaps and similar unexplained gender pay gaps when compared to smaller firms. Read more and download the paper on the GLO website.

Three Aberystwyth University academics have written chapters in a new book that celebrates Professor Colin Williams’ contribution to the field of language policy and planning. Language, Policy and Territory contains 18 chapters by Williams’ former students, colleagues and collaborators. These include Professor Rhys Jones, Dr Huw Lewis and Dr Elin Royles, who are based at…

Today (23rd September) marks the launch of a documentary film about dementia and communication called ‘The World Turned Upside Down’. The film comes from a large-scale dementia research project called IDEAL (Improving the experience of dementia and enhancing active life: living well with dementia), which WISERD has been involved in since its beginnings in 2014….

On the 6th and 7th of July, over 140 delegates, presenters and exhibitors from across WISERD’s five partner universities and beyond gathered at Swansea University to hold the first WISERD Annual Conference since the start of the pandemic. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Civil society and participation: issues of equality, identity and cohesion in…

A recent paper by Professor Gary Higgs, Dr Andrew Price and Dr Mitchel Langford of WISERD and the GIS Research Centre published in the Journal of Rural Studies has highlighted the need to consider the transport options available to access services for those dependent on public transport. By drawing on a spatial analysis of the…

A new Data Insight from Dr Alexandra Sandu and Dr Jennifer May Hampton from the WISERD Education Data Lab and produced by the ADR Wales education research team is now available: Engagement with the Hwb virtual learning environment during Covid-19 school closures. This report outlines preliminary findings on engagement with the Hwb virtual learning environment…

A new, open access journal article on measuring accessibility to banking services by Dr Mitchel Langford, Andrew Price and Professor Gary Higgs from the University of South Wales, has been published in the ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. The article demonstrates how accessibility can be measured to bank branches by different times of day and…

Cardiff University researcher, Dr Nick Hacking, along with members of the Barry Citizen Science Group, recently oversaw the installation of a high-quality air pollution monitor from Think Air Ltd, which marked a new stage in the group’s investigations of local air quality. This ongoing investigation by the local community group is the focus of a…

New research from the Clean Clothes Campaign and WISERD at Cardiff University reveals the urgent need for expansion of the International Accord in Pakistan, a legally binding safety agreement to protect workers. 2022 marks 10 years since the horrific Ali Enterprises fire that killed over 250 garment workers in Pakistan yet rights for workers in…

The persistence of inequalities between regions despite over three decades of interventions under the EU Cohesion Policy is a wicked problem for Europe and there is growing appetite to rethink approaches. Over the last six years, WISERD at Aberystwyth University has been leading a major project, IMAJINE (Integrative mechanisms for addressing spatial justice and territorial…

Researchers associated with WISERD working at the Administrative Data Research Centre Wales have been looking at coronavirus infection rates among people experiencing homelessness in Wales. Their research was in response to concerns from the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic of possible high rates of infection, hospitalisation, and death amongst homeless populations. Experiencing homelessness potentially means…

On 11 July 2022, Professor Alan Felstead gave evidence to the Equality and Social Justice Committee on legislation currently before the Senedd. The legislation puts social partnership at the heart of the Welsh government’s approach to how it, and public bodies it supports, promote the well-being of its citizens. This approach follows recommendations given by…

Luminaries from the worlds of social science research, government, industry and the voluntary sector gathered to mark the arrival of sbarc|spark – Cardiff University’s Home of Innovation. Described as a ‘society’s superlab,’ the building locates the research groups and external partners that comprise SPARK – the world’s first social science research park – alongside spinouts,…

Three WISERD professors are among the 66 new Fellows elected to the Learned Society of Wales, representing some of the most highly esteemed figures from across academic and civic life in Wales and beyond. Professor Martina Feilzer FHEA FLSW is a WISERD co-director, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Dean of the College of…

ADR UK recently published strategies from each of the four Administrative Data Research partnerships of the UK. These plans will support their mission to transform the way researchers access the UK’s wealth of public sector data. This is the first time strategies from the partnerships in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have been published. They…

Professor John Morgan makes the plea ‘Sustain our Common Humanity’ in his latest addition to international journal, Weiterbildung. The article considers examples of idealism and realism in international intellectual cooperation and educational exchange. Professor John Morgan will also give a presentation on this subject, on 7th June 2022, as part of the WISERD online seminar…

Dr Igor Calzada has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence (SIR) at California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) for the 2022-2023 academic year by the U.S. Department of State and coordinated by US-UK Fulbright Commission. The Fulbright SIR Program review committee convened by IIE’s Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) and Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB)…

Latest data gathered as part of the WISERD Education Multi Cohort Study (WMCS) reveal the heightened levels of anxiety experienced by young people during lockdown and the ongoing effects of growing up in Wales post-pandemic. Nearly all (93%) of pupils felt the pandemic had affected their learning and over half (57%) think Covid will reduce…

A new WISERD paper draws attention to how geographical approaches can contribute to an understanding of inequalities in access to nursing and residential care places in Wales. This research has been carried out by WISERD co-directors, Professor Gary Higgs and Dr Mitchel Langford, along with WISERD Associate, Professor Mark Llewellyn, Director of the Welsh Institute…

The arrival of Covid-19 to the UK in early 2020 led to rapid and far-reaching changes in the way we live our lives. ‘Lockdown’ led to school closures and working from home became the norm for many workers. And while most shops and businesses closed, ‘key’ workers and services experienced unprecedented pressures. For the last…

A new report from the educational charity Cumberland Lodge calls on police, politicians, and policymakers to take a more joined-up approach to responding to past harms – and place the needs of victims, survivors, and their families at the heart of this. A key recommendation in Towards Justice: Law Enforcement & Reconciliation by Martina Feilzer (WISERD co-director), Professor…

The Migration Research Wales Network held an online symposium on 19th January for postgraduates and early-career researchers working on aspects of migration in Wales or based at Welsh institutions. The theme of the symposium was ‘New Perspectives on Migration’. Presentations covered research areas ranging from Italians in Wales, refugee women and Welshness, and the challenges facing LGBTQ+…

An initiative that has transformed how de-identified administrative data can be securely used to provide insight into social and economic issues in Wales is set to continue thanks to an investment of almost £17 million. Administrative Data Research Wales (ADR Wales) has been awarded £16,985,944 until 2026 as part of the £90 million UK wide Administrative Data…

Dr Igor Calzada has been featured in Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential Academics in Government list. Public servants were invited to nominate the academics who are the most influential to the work of government. Dr Calzada’s work intersects digital, urban, and political transformations, paying special attention to regional governments on 1. smart city citizenship, 2. benchmarking city-regions, and…

Professor Alan Felstead’s book on the changing location of work will be published on 21 January. Working at home has exploded across the world over the last two years as politicians have advised, and sometimes instructed, those who can, work at home to limit the spread of coronavirus. Remote Working: A Research Overview assesses what impact…

We are delighted to announce that the call for papers is now OPEN for the WISERD Annual Conference 2022. WISERD Annual Conference 2022 Swansea University   Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th July 2022 The theme for our Annual Conference is ‘Civil society and participation: issues of equality, identity and cohesion in a changing social landscape’….

The experience of thousands of people affected by dementia has fed into a new resource which aims to be a comprehensive guide to supporting people to live as well as possible with the condition. A wide range of advice, resources, and accounts of people’s own experiences are included in the Living with Dementia Toolkit, which…

Migration Research Wales Network is pleased to announce a one-day symposium (19th January 2022) for postgraduates and early-career researchers (self-defined) working on aspects of migration in Wales or based at Welsh institutions. The aim of the online symposium is to provide a supportive environment for researchers to share ideas on draft work and receive constructive comments. Each contributor will…

In the latest issue of The Welsh Agenda, Dr Anwen Alias, WISERD co-director, Matthew Jarvis, CWPS Executive Board member, and Mike Corcoran and Noreen Blanluet discuss what form a national debate about the constitutional future of Wales should take. The discussion is based on the ‘Constitutional Futures’ project based at Aberystwyth University, led by Dr Anwen…

Dr Anwen Elias, WISERD co-director and expert on territorial and constitutional politics from Aberystwyth University, has been appointed Commissioner to the new Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales. Dr Elias, a Reader in Politics in the Department of International Politics, was among the nine appointed individuals announced by the Counsel General and Minister…

Dr Wil Chivers, recently appointed as a social science lecturer at Cardiff University, has presented findings from his WISERD research exploring the nature of work as a cycle courier in the gig/platform economy, at the Work, Employment and Society Conference 2021. The paper, On your bike: exploring the geography and leisure of work as a…

  WISERD researchers are hosting three ESRC Festival of Social Science events, covering youth unemployment and civil society under devolution, local community food systems and a citizen science project exploring air quality monitoring. Youth unemployment and civil society under devolution: a sub-state comparison 11th November 2021 This online event hosted by Dr Giada Lagana, based…

Professor John Morgan, together with Dr Ana Zimmermann of the University of São Paulo, Brazil, has published ‘No One is an Island at a Time of Pandemic’ in a special issue of Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice on the social and cultural impact of COVID-19. The article considers the fundamental ethical question of…

  Professor Jean Jenkins, WISERD Co-Director and Professor of Employment Relations at Cardiff Business School, has been appointed to lead an independent commission into the future of employment rights and devolution in Wales. The Future of Devolution and Work Commission, established by the Wales TUC, will be tasked with considering the impact that the current…

The WISERD report on Homeworking in the UK: Before and During the 2020 Lockdown has been cited in a government consultation on Making flexible working the default. The open consultation seeks views from individuals and businesses on proposals to reform flexible working regulations (The Flexible Working Regulations 2014). The report, by Alan Felstead of Cardiff…

  A new collection of essays entitled Social Anthropologies of the Welsh: Past and Present, edited by Professor W. John Morgan and Dr Fiona Bowie will be published this month in the Royal Anthropological Institute’s Country Series. The book has its origins in a joint colloquium of the Royal Anthropological Institute, WISERD, the Learned Society…

On 22nd September, WISERD held the first of three workshops organised by the new WISERD Migration Research Wales Network. ‘Achieving Impact Beyond Research’ aimed to provide academics at all stages of their careers with the tools and recommended routes to transfer their expertise and knowledge from academia and a solely academic audience to the policy…

WISERD’s third foundational economy conference, held online earlier this month, brought together researchers and practitioners from across the UK and beyond, to discuss how the foundational economy can be rebuilt, enhanced and sustained in response to new and old challenges magnified by the pandemic. Over three days, an expert panel of speakers and discussants from…

On Saturday 4th September 2021, Professor John Morgan presented a keynote lecture and workshop on Idealism and Realism in Educational and Cultural Exchange: International intellectual cooperation or ‘soft power?’, to the conference: Living together with ambiguities – Different cultures and common values?, organised by the Fondazione Intercultura Onus, Florence, Italy (2–4 September). An outcome of…

Due to Covid-19 restrictions in place at the time, the WISERD Summer Series comprised four online events in place of our usual Annual Conference. These events explored some of WISERD’s established and developing research areas and saw the launch of two new research networks – the Migration Research Wales Network and the Well-being Network. To…

We are delighted to announce the winner of our annual WISERD PhD Poster Competition 2021. Muhao Du from Cardiff University has won the prize for his poster – ‘Finding Harmony in Hardship: experiences of expatriates in subsidiaries of Chinese MNCs in the high technology sector’. Emma Reardon from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David…

  WISERD Co-director Professor Paul Chaney has presented new findings on adult social care delivery during the pandemic at “Transnational and Transdisciplinary Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic – An International Symposium”. The conference was organised by Hong Kong Baptist University’s Department of Government and International Studies in association with the David C. Lam Institute for East-West…

Dr Wil Chivers presented his WISERD research on job quality in low paid sectors at a seminar to the Wales Cooperative. His presentation, with Dr Sarah Jenkins from Cardiff Business School, asked: “Can cooperatives/employee-owned businesses improve ‘bad jobs’?” Job quality has received increased attention from academics and policymakers across industrialised countries. Yet, there has been…

Racial equality in Wales was the focus for the 2021 Centre for Welsh Politics and Society Annual Lecture that over 200 people watched live on Zoom last week. The lecture, Showing true colours: the changing politics of race equality in Wales, was presented by Professor Charlotte Williams OBE, Chair of the recent Welsh Government Working Group…

WISERD Director, Professor Sally Power, has been elected to sit on the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Council. BERA is a membership association and learned society committed to advancing research quality, building research capacity and fostering research engagement. They aim to inform the development of policy and practice by promoting the best quality evidence produced…

  On the 19th of May, WISERD and the Future Economies University Research Centre based at Manchester Metropolitan University, held an online event to launch two books: City Regions and Devolution in the UK and The Political Economy of Industrial Strategy in the UK. The event featured discussion from the authors, alongside commentary from an…

  Professor Kevin Morgan is among this year’s newly elected fellows of The Learned Society of Wales. The Learned Society of Wales was established in 2010 in the absence of a national society of learning in Wales. Its aims are to contribute to advancing and promoting excellence in all scholarly disciplines, which includes providing independent…

On 20 April, Professor W. John Morgan, Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow at WISERD, gave an invitation Zoom lecture on Ben Bowen Thomas, Wales, and UNESCO to the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, a London Welsh learned society founded in 1751. The focus of Professor Morgan’s Leverhulme research is the use of the United Nations and its specialised…

Professor W. John Morgan, Honorary Professor and Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow at Cardiff University has joined the new Editorial Board of the Indian Journal of Adult Education. The journal was founded in 1939 by the Indian Adult Education Association. The Indian Journal of Adult Education is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes research papers, articles on education,…

Over the past decade successive rounds of bank closures and increasing trends towards the provision of fee charging ATMs have attracted widespread media and political attention. WISERD researcher, Mitchel Langford, an Associate Professor at University of South Wales has published a report on access to banking services as a result of his recent Academic Fellowship…

WISERD surveyed young people in Years 7-12 about their home learning experiences during summer 2020, what they missed and whether they should be allowed to see friends. In addition to asking about resources for schoolwork, time spent learning and going to school during lockdown, we asked young people about their worries, how they had been helping…

This week, WISERD, the Institute of Welsh Affairs and the Carnegie UK Trust have launched an update to Understanding Welsh Places. Understanding Welsh Places is a bilingual website that presents information on the economy, demographic make-up and local services of more than 300 places in Wales in a quick and easy format. The site presents…

On 5 November 2020, we launched our new Civil Society book series with Policy Press. This new series provides interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives on the rapidly changing nature of civil society at local, regional, national and global scales.   The first four books draw on research findings from our previous ESRC Civil Society Research Centre….

In September 2020, WISERD held the Foundational Economy Online Series 2020. This series of online events addressed key questions arising from the current COVID-19 crisis and explored the ways in which foundational thinking can contribute to social and economic repair. The series was made up of three online sessions:   Foundational Economy 2.0: building a…

Today sees the launch at Bangor University of the ESRC Civil Society centre: Changing Perspectives on Civic Stratification and Civil Repair. At the launch, Bangor University’s Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research, Professor Paul Spencer and WISERD Director Professor Sally Power, Cardiff University, will talk about WISERD, its role in Wales and the ways in which researchers…

A WISERD Research Team comprised of Professor Paul Chaney, Dr Christala Sophocleous and Professor Daniel Wincott has worked with Wales Council for Voluntary Organisations (WCVA) and The National Library of Wales to create a historically significant digital archive of the Annual Reports of WCVA and its predecessor organisations. We are delighted to make this resource…

The Spectrum Project is a specialist awareness-raising, preventative and bilingual educational programme, delivering sessions on all aspects of Healthy Relationships and VAWDASV (Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence) to pupils and staff in schools across Wales. It links with the priorities of Prevention, Protection and Support outlined in the Violence Against Women, Domestic…

A new ADR-UK Data Insight report by WISERD Co-Director, Rhys Davis, reveals the important role played by Careers Wales in supporting those children most in need of careers guidance within Welsh Schools. Following the withdrawal of funding for the Connexions Network in 2010 – a dedicated careers guidance service for young people – concerns have…

An empirical research study by WISERD Co-Director, Professor Paul Chaney, Dr Christala Sophocleous and Daniel Wincott, presents a new theoretical model for analysing the way that civil society delivers welfare support to citizens in devolved nations. Internationally there is a trend towards decentralised welfare systems. This new research seeks to systematically explore the breadth of factors…

Nine out of ten employees who have worked at home during lockdown would like to continue doing so in some capacity, research suggests. The report, by academics at Cardiff University and the University of Southampton, presents the first analysis of employee survey data focusing on homeworking, which was gathered for the Understanding Society Covid-19 Study. Homeworking…

Survey of 128,000 children across 35 countries raises questions about levels of well-being experienced across different areas of children’s lives in Wales. Children in Wales have some of the lowest levels of well-being amongst children across 35 countries, a team of WISERD researchers has found. The team surveyed over 2,600 children from across Wales about…

New research by WISERD Co-Director, Professor Paul Chaney, Dr Sarbeswar Sahoo (Indian Institure of Technology, Delhi) and Dr Seuty Sabur (BRAC University, Dhaka) analyses civil society organisations’ perspectives on the contemporary situation facing LGBT+ people in Bangladesh. Until now largely overlooked in academic work, it is an issue needing attention because of the country’s poor…

The newly established WISERD Education Data Lab has launched a series of blog posts to share its latest analysis with a wider audience. The lab aims to generate high quality research-based evidence using education administrative data to support the Wales education sector. In order to undertake this work, the WISERD Education Data Lab is using administrative data…

Professor John Morgan‘s recent book Civil Society, Social Change, and a New Popular Education in Russia has been nominated by the publisher Routledge for the Alexander Nove Prize 2020 of the British Association of Slavonic and East European Studies. Professor Nove was a famous economic historian of Russia and the Soviet Union. The book is…

New research by WISERD Co-Director, Professor Paul Chaney analyses civil society organisations’ perspectives on how the UK, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland governments are responding to their international human rights treaty obligations in the formulation and delivery of social policy. This socio-legal study is the first that examines human rights and the territorialisation of social welfare…

The Productivity of Outcomes of Workplace Practice, Engagement & Learning (PrOPEL) Hub launched its website this week, featuring contributions from WISERD staff. Professor Alan Felstead and Rhys Davies are part of the Productivity Outcomes of Workplace Practice, Engagement and Learning (PrOPEL) Hub, a £1.95 million project, which is supported by the Economic and Social Research…

      This report provides an overview of our research activity in 2019 – a year that has marked the end of one chapter and the beginning of another, and has strengthened WISERD’s position as an important national research centre. Read more about our latest income profile, the work we’re doing to strengthen our…

People with dementia living in the community are likely to be disproportionately affected by social distancing, isolation and lockdown measures. WISERD’s Civil Society Centre Director, Professor Ian Rees Jones, is part of the ‘Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life’ research programme (IDEAL project). Based on research findings, the team has recently published…

New research by WISERD Co-Director, Professor Paul Chaney and Dr Sarbeswar Sahoo (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi) analyses civil society organisations’ (CSOs’) perspectives on religious freedom violations in Bangladesh. These have been recently thrown into stark relief following the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 2011 that confirmed Islam as the State religion of the…

WISERD Director, Professor Sally Power, has won the Learned Society of Wales’ Hugh Owen Medal 2020 for her outstanding educational research. Professor Power is a leading education researcher, with a broad focus on policy and inequality. She plays a significant role in supporting education research throughout Wales. The WISERD Education Multi-Cohort Study (WMCS), directed by…

The team of researchers leading WISERD’s foundational economy work has contributed to a COVID-19 report, which makes a case for renewal of the foundational economy, after the immediate public health crisis is over. The crisis demonstrates the importance of the foundational economy, that part of the economy which produces essential goods and services consumed by…

The COVID-19 virus is changing the way we live our lives, and our society and economy is having to adapt. From the closure of schools and the changes to assessment to the role of civil society and the effects on workers, our research can help to make sense of some of these changes. In the…

WISERD researchers based at Cardiff University have joined a network that aims to improve productivity in the UK.  Professor Alan Felstead and Rhys Davies are part of the Productivity Outcomes of Workplace Practice, Engagement and Learning (PrOPEL) Hub, a £1.95 million project, which is supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The three-year…

This week we launched our five-year plan for civil society research at a stakeholder event at the Senedd. Our new research will explore social and economic inequality, migration and multiculturalism, the foundational economy, the changing dynamics of work, and animal rights and A.I. Celebrating Civil Society Research – A New Chapter was attended by over 70…

The Series entitled ‘Civil Society and Social Change’ is published by Policy Press and edited by Professors Ian Rees Jones,  Mike Woods  and Paul Chaney.  This timely landmark will extend the field of knowledge, offering new criticality and providing an original set of perspectives on the challenges facing civil society in the twenty-first century. It…

New research by WISERD Co-Director, Professor Paul Chaney, analyses civil society organisations’ (CSOs’)  perspectives on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Over the past decade, the majority of CIS countries have finally ratified the CRPD, offering new rights for the region’s…

Professor John Morgan’s 2019 book Philosophy, Dialogue, and Education: Nine modern European philosophers (with A. A. Guilherme), Routledge, London and New York, has been translated into Portuguese and published in Brazil by the UNESCO Chair of Youth, Education, and Society, the Catholic University of Brazilia, DF, 2020.

  WISERD is among the nine partner centres who will continue to work with the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) to deliver a new phase of innovative training and capacity-building activities. These will be in the application of core and advanced research methods techniques. This news follows today’s announcement from the Economic and Social…

During November, WISERD hosted a joint conference with the Voluntary Sector Studies Research Network, entitled ‘Civil society in the four UK nations: past, present and future challenges’. The day included a diverse range of papers from academics and third sector organisations. The first session presented research findings on civil society and the state across time…

Professor John Morgan was invited to a symposium on ’Twenty Years of Putin: How has Russia changed’ held at the Russian and East European Centre at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, on 7th December 2019. The invitation symposium brought together Russian and other international experts on contemporary Russia from academia, diplomacy, and international business….

Our recent event, Growing up in Wales: school students’ perspectives and experiences, explored the latest findings to come out of the WISERD Education Multi Cohort Study (WMCS) survey data.  Over the past seven years, the WMCS has made an important contribution to understanding the lives of young people in Wales, by conducting an annual survey…

Professor John Morgan, Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow, gave two seminars in Moscow during October. Professor Morgan, who was on a research visit to the Russian State Library as part of his Leverhulme project on UNESCO and other UN Specialized Agencies and the Cultural Cold War, spoke first at the Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences….

Professor Gary Higgs and his team have received a USW Impact Award for their research which aims to improve mobile cancer services. The research was a collaboration with Tenovus Cancer Care and ensures the provision of cancer treatment closer to patients’ homes by extending the reach of mobile services. Professor Gary Higgs and PhD student,…

This week, Dr Nigel Newton presented findings from our ‘Successful Futures for All’ project to members of the Children, Young People and Education Committee of the National Assembly for Wales. The project explores the way the new curriculum is being developed in Pioneer Schools and the potential impact on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Curriculum for…

Efforts to promote minority languages among children and young people would benefit from improving the way projects are evaluated, and from adequate funding. These are among the key findings of research into minority language promotion activities in the Celtic nations. Academics at Aberystwyth and Edinburgh Universities conducted research into the activities of organisations in Scotland,…

WISERD researchers will continue to support the development of data repositories for strategic use within NGOs, having successfully obtained funding from the ESRC under the NGO Secondary Data Analysis Call. Dr. Jean Jenkins and Dr. Katy Huxley will build on previous work with partners the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), who campaign for decent work and…

  Over the past three years, WISERD has been part of a successful international Newton Advanced Fellowship scheme with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and funded by the British Academy. This has been led by Professor Sin Yi Cheung (School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University), Dr Xiao Lin (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing), Professor Paul…

People working and volunteering in Welsh towns and communities will benefit from a new resource to help them identify opportunities in their areas.  Understanding Welsh Places is a bilingual website built by a team of researchers at WISERD and coordinated by the Institute of Welsh Affairs. It presents information on the economy, demographic make-up and…

New ESRC grant will see first-time multi-disciplinary research conducted on consequences of school exclusions across the UK, led by the Department of Education at the University of Oxford. Professors Sally Power and Chris Taylor are part of a team of researchers operating across Oxford, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Reading and the London School of Economics (LSE)…

Professor Chris Taylor has been appointed as the new academic director of Cardiff University’s Social Science Research Park (SPARK). WISERD is one of 10 research centres due to relocate to SPARK when the new 12,000 sq.m. building opens its doors in spring 2021. As one of the most exciting developments in the UK social sciences…

Dr Stuart Fox (Brunel University London) and Dr Sioned Pearce (Cardiff University) have received an award for ‘Best paper published in 2018’ from the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, an international, peer-reviewed journal that publishes high-quality, original research. The paper, “The generational decay of Euroscepticism in the UK and the EU referendum”, explores…

The WISERD stand attracted much interest from conference-goers. Findings from WISERD’s civil society research featured prominently at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) Annual Conference at Aston University last week (10-11 September). WISERD researchers presented a number of papers, including PhD student Amy Sanders, who shared initial findings from her research on sustaining the…

Today, WISERD launches a new interactive service allowing users to access data on union membership for over 400 unitary authority and local authority districts of Great Britain. UnionMaps allows users to produce area reports of union membership for a particular location or explore how different measures of union membership vary across Great Britain. Since its…

WISERD is one of four social science research centres in the UK to be successful in the highly competitive Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Centres Competition. WISERD will receive £6.3 million as reinvestment into the continuation of its civil society research – the third major funding to be awarded in WISERD’s ten-year history. The…

On Monday 9th September, a team of WISERD researchers from Cardiff University, Helen Blakely, Wil Chivers, Rhys Davies, Steve Davies and Katy Huxley, will share the latest findings from our research on trade union membership in the UK, to the TUC Congress. The 151st annual congress event will take place at the Brighton Centre and attract hundreds of delegates representing every…

  In cooperation with the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh, WISERD recently held a conference attended by 250 delegates on citizenship rights and the Rohingya crisis. This was part of a series of events stemming from a Global Challenge Research Fund project led by Professor Paul Chaney and Professor Nasir Uddin….

On the 3rd and 4th July, WISERD held its 10th Annual Conference in the Medrus Conference Centre at Aberystwyth University. This year’s theme was Civil Society and Participation, and as Wales’ largest social science conference, the event attracted over 100 delegates from across academic, policy, public, private, and third sectors. The conference began with two…

Professor John Morgan has been appointed to the editorial boards of two leading Russian academic journals. He joins Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniia (Sociological Studies), the journal of the Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of Sciences, and Filosofi Zhurnal (Journal of Philosophy), published by RUDN-Russia People’s Friendship University. Earlier this year Professor Morgan published Civil Society, Social Change,…

On 25th July distinguished Visiting Fellow, Dr Sarbeswar Sahoo from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi gave an informative seminar presentation entitled: ‘“The Lord Always Shows the Way!” Women’s Narratives on Conversion and Social Transformation in Rural India’. In the presentation Dr Sahoo analysed why, in today’s India, a large number of tribal women convert…

In two weeks’ time, WISERD will be holding its Annual Conference in the Medrus Conference Centre at Aberystwyth University. This year’s theme is Civil Society and Participation. Delegates will have the opportunity to discuss cutting-edge, inter-disciplinary research from Wales and beyond, focusing on approaches to civil society and participation that have been adopted in a…

  Professor Kevin Morgan from the School of Geography and Planning at Cardiff University presented research on the Foundational Economy at the UK2070 Commission: Wales Stakeholder Event, which took place at the Cardiff Business School this week. The UK2070 Commission is an independent inquiry into city and regional inequalities in the UK. Chaired by Lord…

On Tuesday 28th May, Dr Jean Jenkins presented her research on employment rights at one of the world’s best-known literature festivals. Her talk, ‘Fashion – an Industry of Gross Exploitation’ explored the history of an industry that was long ago described as a ‘parasite industry’ as a result of the shocking mistreatment of its workers….

The WISERD exhibition stand attracted much interest at the Co-production Network for Wales annual conference in Wrexham today. All in this Together: A Celebration of Co-production and Involvement in Wales provided key networking opportunities to connect our work with third and public sector organisations. The aim of the day was to explore co-production of policy…

Dr Stuart Fox has been awarded the Dillwyn Medal for Social Sciences from the Learned Society of Wales. He is among three researchers from Cardiff University to have received an award in recognition of outstanding early career research. The medals were awarded on the evening of the 22nd May at the Royal Welsh College of…

  Austerity, the further devolution of powers, and issues such as an ageing population, climate change, and Brexit are all important conditions and events leading to uncertainty, instability and an unprecedented situation in Welsh policy and politics. These issues affect how and why policy is made and services are delivered. Held in partnership with the…

New data from over 10,000 children and young people in Wales reveal the impact pressures of modern life are placing on their mental health. WISERD Research Associate, Dr Rhian Barrance carried out the Beth Nawr, 2019 survey for the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, which collected data to help shape the Commissioner’s new three-year work plan….

WISERD hosted an evening lecture and one-day symposium at Cardiff University this week. The event was organised jointly with the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Learned Society of Wales, and the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. Social Anthropologies of the Welsh: Past and Present examined the development of social anthropology in Wales from the perspectives of both…

      WISERD has been successful in gaining funding for new international research. Led by Professor Paul Chaney, the project is entitled: ‘Civil Society Advocacy and the Rohingya Crisis in Bangladesh: Challenges and Resolutions’. Co-investigator of the new study is Professor Nasir Uddin of the University of Chittagong, a leading international scholar on the…

The Welsh Government has today published a report written by Alan Felstead and Rhys Davies which provides new evidence on the nature of employment in Wales. Work in Wales 2006-2017: Evidence from the Skills and Employment Surveys provides valuable insights – taken from the perspective of workers – on a number of issues including the promotion…

A new report has been published by the Institute of Welsh Affairs based on WISERD research by Professor Judith Marquand, Kate O’ Sullivan and Dr Sioned Pearce from Cardiff University. ‘Factors influencing local and community engagement in renewable energy in Wales’ is based on conversations with people directly involved with local and community renewable energy…

Professor W. John Morgan visited the University of Paris 1, Panthéon-La Sorbonne this week, at the personal invitation of Professor Georges Haddad, the University’s President, to discuss his Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship research on ‘UNESCO and the Cultural Cold War: International Intellectual Co-operation or Soft Power?’ Professor Haddad was formerly Director of the Division of Higher…

  Jean Jenkins, Reader in Employment Relations at Cardiff University is to present at this year’s Hay Festival on Tuesday 28th May. Jean is working on a UK government-funded Global Challenges Research Fund project with WISERD, which investigates the availability of access to remedy for garment workers in today’s garment supply chain. Her presentation, Still…

Three WISERD researchers – Constantino Dumangane, Wil Chivers and Ian Thomas – have successfully secured places on the 2019 GW4 Crucible. The GW4 Crucible is a competitive annual programme that seeks to promote interdisciplinary collaboration between early career researchers from Cardiff, Bristol, Bath and Exeter universities. This year’s programme comprises three two-day residential labs. 30…

    WISERD Co-Director, Professor Chris Taylor and Dr Nigel Newton presented at an education event sponsored by WISERD and the Learned Society of Wales this week, where a new report by the Institute of Welsh Affairs on implications of curriculum reform was launched. Following a review undertaken by Professor Graham Donaldson in 2015, the…

    Leading academics presented as part of a two-day workshop held by WISERD and the Indian Institute of Technology, in New Delhi on 24 and 25th January. The event, ‘Civil Society and Good Governance’, was part of a project funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Global Challenges Research Fund and led by…

Over 100 delegates attended the Wales Housing Research Conference 2019 at Cardiff University, co-hosted by WISERD’s Wales Housing Research Network, the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE), Shelter Cymru and the Welsh Government.

WISERD researcher, Dr David Dallimore, from the School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences at Bangor University has been awarded a Fellowship at the National Assembly for Wales. During 2019 he will be working with the Assembly Research Service to provide information about early childhood education and care (ECEC). Policy in this area has developed…

Over the past six years, the WISERD Education Multi Cohort Study (WMCS) has made an important contribution to understanding the lives of young people in Wales, by conducting an annual survey of over 1,000 young people, aged eight to 18-years-old. A key part of the data we’ve been gathering is around our young people’s educational…

On the 20th November, researchers from universities and third sector organisations came together at the London offices of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) for a symposium on the relationship between the family and civil society. Chaired by WISERD co-director, Professor Sally Power, the event provided an opportunity to share updates on WISERD Civil…

A good sense of humour is more important in a friend than being good looking, fashionable or popular, WISERD research has revealed. The research, part of the WISERD Education multi-cohort study, asked young people to choose the most important qualities an ideal friend should possess, out of a potential 11 options (see figure 1). A…

From sharing our latest research findings and hosting expert panel discussions, to providing practical workshops and networking opportunities, WISERD ran four events as part of this year’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Festival of Social Sciences. We began the week by visiting a local secondary school and sharing some of the latest findings from…

WISERD’s latest working paper outlines the  main  proceedings  of  an  international  conference  held  at Sciences Po Lyon, France, on 4 May 2018.  The symposium and subsequent working paper was led by Professor Alistair Cole (Professeur de Science Politique, Directeur du pôle Stratégie et partenariats internationaux, Sciences Po, Lyon and WISERD). The new publication pulls together…

This year WISERD celebrates a decade of influencing policy and debate. To mark this important anniversary, a variety of external stakeholders were invited to join WISERD colleagues, old and new, for WISERD at 10, at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. The event marked the launch of Changing Wales: WISERD at 10, a new publication showcasing…

  There are significant gaps in evidence about our most disadvantaged children, reveals an evidence review carried out to assess the state of children’s rights in Wales. Dr Rhian Barrance, Research Associate at WISERD, carried out the review for the Children’s Commissioner for Wales to inform the Commissioner’s strategic priorities. The review identified key evidence…

The newly established WISERD Politics and Governance Research Network was launched at a well-attended event in Swansea today. This multidisciplinary network will bring together scholars who conduct and publish research that centres on Welsh politics and governance, from across the five WISERD partner universities. The Network is jointly led by Dr Matthew Wall and Dr…

    On Friday 21 September 2018, WISERD Co-Director Professor Paul Chaney gave a keynote address at H.M. Treasury, Government Economic Service and Government Social Research Annual Conference in Aldersgate, London. The conference theme was ‘Better Analysis through Diversity of Thought, Place and People’. Professor Chaney presented the findings from WISERD research into international progress…

    WISERD Civil Society is one of nine research centres to have been awarded follow-on ‘centres transition funding’. This will enable us to continue our research and activities, and work towards increasing the use of our research in policy and practice. WISERD Civil Society is an ESRC-funded social science research centre undertaking multi-disciplinary, policy-relevant…

Following the recent violence and civil unrest in Bangladesh over the summer https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-45069935 some of the country’s leading human rights activists attended a one-day civil society research workshop organised by WISERD and BRAC University in Dhaka on August 30. It was held as part of the project ‘Exploring Effective Practice in Civil Society Organisations: Promotion of Human…

I sit down with a heavy heart and with great sadness to write of the death of my friend Gareth Williams. I first encountered Gareth when I was cutting my teeth in medical sociology; now a distant memory and long before he was aware of me. Each year a diverse and ragtag band of medical sociologists would…

Work from WISERD’s Civil Society Research Programme features prominently at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) Annual Conference in London, taking place today and tomorrow September 6-7. The WISERD stand (pictured) is doing brisk business with high levels of interest from conference-goers.     WISERD researchers will be presenting a raft of papers. For…

India’s leading human rights NGOs attended the two-day WISERD- Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi joint civil society Research Workshop held in New Delhi on August 17-18. It was held as part of the project ‘Exploring Effective Practice in Civil Society Organisations: Promotion of Human Rights, Good Governance and Social Justice in India and Bangladesh’ project…

Schools can be hugely influential in students’ choices about higher education, irrespective of the grades they achieve, research has found. The Study led by WISERD’s Professor Chris Taylor followed the educational pathways of all Year 11 pupils across Wales between 2005 and 2007. When the only variable factor was the school they went to, the…

    WISERD Director Professor Ian Rees Jones pays tribute to Geoff Whitty, Director Emeritus of the UCL Institution of Education (IOE) and a member of the WISERD Advisory Board, who sadly passed away last week. “It is a great sadness to hear the news of the death of Professor Geoff Whitty CBE. Over a…

The importance of a new report Trade Union Responses to the Changing World of Work, written by Dr Helen Blakely and Dr Steve Davies, which looks at the trade union responses to the changing world of work around the world, has been recognised by UNI Global Union. In a letter from UNI Global Union’s General Secretary,…

Professor Sally Power, Director of WISERD Education, will today present new research on family arguments at an international childhood studies conference. This research is from the ESRC Civil Society centre research project ‘The intergenerational transmission of ‘civic virtues’: the role of the family in civil society engagement’. Professor Power’s presentation, entitled ‘Family Arguments: about what…

WISERD will have a strong presence at the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) Conference (10-13 July) hosted by Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Philanthropic Studies Department. Founded in 1992, the ISTR is the major international association promoting research and education in the fields of civil society, philanthropy, and the non-profit sector. It is committed to building…

WISERD Director Ian Rees Jones pays tribute to Julian Tudor Hart who passed away on 1st July.  It is a great sadness to hear the news of the death of Julian Tudor Hart.  Born in 1927, he studied medicine at Cambridge University and in London, graduating in 1952. Julian worked for 30 years as a…

Dr Peter Mackie, the Chair of WISERD’s housing research network, will today share findings from his research at an event on homelessness at Westminster. The panel discussion, ‘How can we tackle the homelessness crisis?’ is part of the Social Market Foundation and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)’s ‘Ask the Expert series’.  This event…

Strikes have taken place at McDonald’s and TGI Friday’s restaurants across the UK in recent months. These strikes are the first of their kind in the UK, instigated by a new generation of trade union members fighting for better pay and fairer working conditions.  At the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and…

Rhys Davies reveals how official figures have under-estimated the presence of trade unions within UK workplaces over many years. This morning, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) published its latest estimates for trade union membership in the UK based upon data from the Labour Force Survey.  Today’s figures reveal that 6.2 million…

Dr Fox’s funding is for an Understanding Society Policy Fellowship, which will fund a one year research project called ‘Social action as a route to the ballot box: can volunteering reduce inequalities in turnout?’ The funding is for an Understanding Society Policy Fellowship, which will fund a one year research project called ‘Social action as…

Dr Pearce’s successful research grant will fund the WISERD-based research project ‘Youth unemployment and civil society under devolution: a comparative analysis of sub-state welfare regimes’.  The £211,000 grant from the Economic and Social Research Council will fund a two-year project examining divergences in civil society responses to youth unemployment (policy) in the four, devolved nations…

Dr Ian Thomas, an Administrative Data Research Centre Wales Research Officer based at WISERD, will work with Welsh Government on a part-time basis for a year, introducing new expertise and capacity, with the primary focus of exploring the feasibility of introducing an individual level data collection, reporting and analysis in relation to homelessness in Wales….

Today’s conference ‘Trust-Transparency Paradoxes’ marks the beginning of a formal collaborative agreement between WISERD and TRIANGLE in Lyon, France. The memorandum of Understanding, signed on the eve of the conference, will support the development of exciting joint research projects, future academic exchanges and collaborative publications. TRIANGLE and WISERD are both cross-institutional, multi-disciplinary centres of research…

Two new exciting positions available at the Center for Research in Ageing and Cognitive Health at the University of Exeter. For more information click here.

The Welsh Government have announced plans to expand their pilot network for high achieving school pupils. WISERD and ADRC-Wales researchers Rhys Davies and Dr Suhaer Yunus contributed to the OB3 Research evaluation of the Seren Network, which helps Wales’ brightest sixth formers gain access to top universities across the world. .@wgcs_education has announced the @Seren_Network…

WISERD Co-Director, Professor Chris Taylor, is among this year’s newly elected fellows of The Learned Society of Wales. The Learned Society of Wales was established in 2010 in the absence of a national society of learning in Wales. Its aims are to contribute to advancing and promoting excellence in all scholarly disciplines, which includes providing…

Our latest annual report details what we’ve achieved as an institute throughout 2017

A new book by WISERD academic Professor W. John Morgan examining nine modern European philosophers was discussed at a recent lunchtime seminar. Philosophy, Dialogue, and Education: Nine Modern European Philosophers, by Prof Morgan and Alexandre Guilherme, is intended for academics and students in philosophy or the philosophy of education and in educational, cultural, and social studies. It considers…

A new WISERD international partnership project examining civil society in India and Bangladesh has been announced. The project, entitled “Exploring effective practice in civil society organisations’ promotion of human rights, good governance and social justice in India and Bangladesh” is led by Professor Paul Chaney (Cardiff University) and Sahoo Sarbeswar (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi). Funded by the…

An enquiry into rough sleeping by the National Assembly’s Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee this morning heard evidence from Dr Peter Mackie, Chair of WISERD’s Housing Research Network. Dr Mackie told the Committee that recent changes in Welsh housing laws with the Housing Act 2014, while effective on a wider basis, haven’t worked as…

13% of shops on Welsh high streets were vacant in 2017

WISERD’s Centre for Welsh Politics and Society is based at Aberystwyth University

WISERD has been sharing research on civil society at the International Society for Third Sector Research’s tenth Asia Pacific Regional Conference hosted by CECT Trisakti University, Jakarta, Indonesia. The WISERD stall at the conference did brisk business, attracting interest from many senior academics, students, policy-makers and members of third sector organisations attending the event. Presentations…

Cardiff WISERD Co-Director Professor Chris Taylor won a prestigious Welsh Social Research Association award from an all-WISERD shortlist last night. Prof Taylor was awarded the Research Impact Award for leading a team evaluating the Welsh Government’s Foundation Phase, the school curriculum for 3-7 year olds. As well as direct changes to education policy, @profchristaylor’s research on…

The leading WISERD academic warned of the challenges facing those implementing Wales’ new school curriculum.

Dr Rhian Barrance is evaluating the Super Ambassador scheme

Reducing health inequality is not just the work of healthcare professionals, a 200-strong audience at Cardiff University was told by a leading public health expert

WISERD’s bespoke analytical tools were used in a Welsh Government research project to assess whether the existing supply of childcare in Wales can cope with the increased demand due from a change in Government policy. The research and analysis was conducted by WISERD Co-Director Prof Gary Higgs and Dr Mitchel Langford of the University of…

Welsh housing experts, including WISERD academics, are set to take a leading role in a new UK-wide effort designed to shape UK policy and tackle chronic housing problems. The Glasgow-based UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) is a joint collaboration between ten universities and three non-higher education organisations. Staff are located at hubs across…

Professor Sally Power, WISERD Co-Director and Director of WISERD Education has been conferred as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, along with 68 other leading academics, practitioners and policymakers across the social sciences. The new Fellows have been recognised after an extensive peer review process for the excellence and impact of their work…

Cardiff Confucius Institute welcomed Honorary Professor and Leverhulme Emeritus Professor W. John Morgan and Professor of Education at University of Nottingham, Qing Gu, to introduce their new book, theHandbook of Education in China. The launch event was well attended by Cardiff University staff and students representing a range of academic schools, demonstrating the wide interest…

Findings from the WISERD Civil Society project, ‘Territoriality and Third Sector Engagement in Policy-making and Welfare Provision’, were recently presented to two of China’s leading institutions. WISERD Co-Director, Professor Paul Chaney, gave a presentation to the leading Chinese Government Research body, the Beijing-based Institute of Economic Reform. He outlined research findings on the impact of…

As the debates and scrutiny of the EU Withdrawal Bill continue, Aberystwyth University is hosting a conference tomorrow (21 September) on the implications of Brexit for language policy. The event is organised and sponsored by the Language, Culture and Identity Research Network of the Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD)…

Work from WISERD’s Civil Society Research Programme featured prominently at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) Annual Conference in Nottingham, September 7-8. The WISERD stand (pictured) did brisk business with high levels of interest from conference-goers. Dr David Dalimore (WISERD, Bangor University) gave a paper on ‘Place, Belonging and the Determinants of Volunteering’. This presented…

Are pupils who attend Welsh-medium schools in south-east Wales mostly from middle-class backgrounds and does it matter? Siôn Llewelyn Jones, from Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences, will examine these questions in a presentation at Cardiff University’s tent at the National Eisteddfod on Anglesey on Thursday 10th August at 4pm. Mr Jones recently presented his…

WISERD has been delighted to host five undergraduate students this summer, four of whom were part of the Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (CUROP). The CUROP programme is now considered to be one of the largest undergraduate research schemes in the UK and it aims to offer students paid experience of working in a research…

A new study by researchers from the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) and Queen’s University Belfast has found that students in Wales and Northern Ireland want more choice and fairness when it comes to their GCSE experience, including the subject selection process and the pressure to take on particular…

The Learned Society of Wales has announced ESRC-funded PhD student, Samuel Brown from Swansea University, as winner of the WISERD Annual Conference 2017 Poster Prize. He receives an award of £200 from the Learned Society of Wales. Samuel is in the 3rd year of his PhD which looks at the impact of major life events…

As part of WISERD’s Cultural Participation Research Network (CPRN) there is a small fund available for activities and projects to support the development of the network. The aim of the network is to develop a programme of research and impact activities in the field of cultural participation[1], with a focus on collaboration between academics, decision makers,…

On 27th June, WISERD Co-director, Professor Paul Chaney discussed the third sector’s relationship with the state with a mixed audience of assembly members, policy-makers, practitioners and members of the public, at the Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay, as part of the National Assembly for Wales’s Exchanging Ideas seminar. He argued that issues of voluntary sector…

WISERD Fellow, Dr Alexandra Plows, is one of two Bangor University academics involved in piloting Academic Fellowships with the National Assembly for Wales, by sharing expertise to enable Assembly Members to develop policy and practice for the benefit of the people of Wales. Dr Alexandra Plows of Bangor University’s School of Social Sciences and Dr…

Grant Denton, a Politics and Sociology undergraduate at Cardiff University, worked as an Event Assistant at WISERD’s ‘Young People and Brexit: One Year On’ conference at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) building in London on 22nd June 2017. The event brought together academics, third-sector organisations, policymakers and young people for presentations and a…

WISERD Co-Director, Professor Paul Chaney has been named Chwarae Teg’s ‘Man of the Year’. The organisation recognised Professor Chaney “as a true advocate for gender equality through his writing and policy influence, which has had an impact on the lives of women in Wales and beyond.” Chwarae Teg is Wales’ leading gender equality charity and…

  Alzheimer’s Society has announced today that it has committed almost £2 million to the University of Exeter, as part of its biggest-ever single investment in dementia care research, which WISERD will be continuing to contribute to. The funding will be used for the national collaboration led by Exeter to improve both quality of life…

In light of the 2017 General Election, in which the youth vote became one of the defining features, Dr Stuart Fox updates us on the latest findings from the Young People and Brexit project. Using new data, he discusses whether there really was a ‘youth surge’ in votes and whether this election really was the ‘revenge of…

On Wednesday 7th June, WISERD Co-Director, Professor Paul Chaney gave a keynote address on Women, Civil Society, Politics and Policy-making at the College of Human and Health Sciences (CHHS), Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and University of Wales Press Research conference, ‘Gender in Wales Then and Now’ at Swansea University. In the presentation, Professor Chaney…

WISERD researchers presented our work on young people, education and politics, as part of this year’s exciting line-up at the 30th anniversary Hay Festival. ‘Mind the gap’ formed part of the Cardiff Series, presented by Dr Dan Evans, Dr Esther Muddiman, Dr Stuart Fox and Dr Sioned Pearce, which considered the striking divisions revealed between…

WISERD colleagues were delighted to welcome Professor Grigori Kliucharev from the Institute of Sociology at the Russian Academy of Science last month, as part of the WISERD Civil Society seminar series. Professor Kliucharev’s presentation, ‘Social and political participation in building democracy in Russia: The role of literacy programmes and educational reforms’, is based on research data…

This week, the Learned Society of Wales awarded the inaugural Hugh Owen Medal, funded by the Welsh government, to WISERD’s Co-Director, Professor Chris Taylor in recognition of his outstanding contribution to educational research. The ceremony took place at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. This year, for the first time, the…

On Tuesday 2nd May, WISERD Director, Professor Ian Rees Jones gave an assembly briefing on the IDEAL study, which explores factors that influence the possibility of living well with dementia. The project, which started in 2014, seeks to identify changes that could result in improved well-being and quality of life for both individuals with dementia, and…

Two WISERD colleagues, Professor Sally Power and Professor Mike Woods, are among the newly elected fellows of The Learned Society of Wales. The Learned Society of Wales was established in 2010 in the absence of a national society of learning in Wales. Its aims are to contribute to advancing and promoting excellence in all scholarly…

WISERD welcomes the news that Cardiff has been chosen as one of the locations for the UK’s largest dementia research initiative. The £13m investment at Cardiff University is the biggest Wales has received for scientific study into dementia. The research will provide new ways to diagnose, treat, prevent and care for people with dementia. Social…

Last Friday evening, Dr Ceryn Evans presented her research on higher education and civil society at Public Uni’s 15th event at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff. Public Uni is an event organised by Cardiff University and aims to provide researchers with an opportunity to communicate their research in engaging, bite-sized ‘chunks’ to a ‘lay audience’….

A WISERD PhD student from Aberystwyth University was one of twelve finalists in this year’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) writing competition, ‘Making Sense of Society’. Siobhan Maderson is studying the environmental knowledge of beekeepers and is funded by the ESRC. Siobhan, who is based at Aberystwyth University’s Department of Geography and Earth Sciences,…

WISERD has recently been awarded ESRC funding to carry out a new interdisciplinary study into how young people in the UK feel about, and are responding to, the most significant policy issue of this Parliament: the UK’s exit from the European Union. Young People and Brexit will include new and existing WISERD research, employing a variety…

Poverty and the rise of food banks in Wales were the focus of research shared at WISERD’s latest Civil Society seminar, held at Cardiff last night. PhD student, David Beck and Dr Hefin Gwilym from Bangor University’s School of Social Sciences presented findings from their research exploring the experience of food poverty in Wales. Representatives…

Research by WISERD Co-Director, Professor Paul Chaney, reveals the institutionalised ableism of parliament. In his recent article on The Conversation, he emphasises that without the EU’s help, the situation for disabled people could become even worse than it already is. “The representation of disabled people in government has never been more important. In 2014, 19%…

WISERD Co-Director, Professor Paul Chaney’s research into gender equality and public policy was featured in an International Women’s Day blog written for the ESRC by former political correspondent and Daily Telegraph social affairs correspondent, Sarah Womack. International Women’s Day 2017 took place on 8th March with the theme: #BeBoldForChange. The aim of this globally-supported day…

Sociologist and lecturer, Dr Robin Mann, based at Bangor University’s School of Social Sciences, discusses the differences in the way that national identity is expressed in Wales, Scotland and England, and how national identity affects attitudes towards current issues such as Brexit and immigration in a unique comparative study, which has recently been published. In…

Baroness Eluned Morgan AM delivered a keynote speech on Brexit at Aberystwyth University last night. Joined by members of the public, the Labour Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales discussed one of the defining political issues of our time, surveyed the political landscape after last year’s referendum vote, and asked whether anything positive can…

New research highlights the need for policy support to be directed towards helping those who develop a disability to retain work owing to the lasting negative effect on employment even when they recover. WISERD academics Professor Melanie Jones and Rhys Davies from Cardiff University and Professor Stephen Drinkwater, University of Roehampton, researched the impact of disability…

It’s Safe Internet Day today – an opportunity to focus our attention on the growing popularity of social media among young people and some of the challenges this poses, such as the potential risks associated with young people’s use of social media during the night and a growing concern around cyberbullying. Dr. Constantino Dumangane Jr….

The latest Administrative Data Research Centre Wales (ADRC-W) seminar on ‘Alcohol Consumption and Population Health’ took place today at Cardiff University’s main building. ADRC-W provides a data linkage service and is one of four UK centres within the Administrative Data Research Network (ADRN). The centre is located within Swansea University and the Wales Institute of Social…

Over eighty people packed the Morlan Centre in Aberystwyth on Wednesday 25th January for the launch of the WISERD Centre for Welsh Politics and Society, with a lively discussion on ‘Brexit and Wales – the Key Questions’.   Following a week in which the Prime Minister Theresa May had set out her plans for negotiations…

On Tuesday 17 January Professor Paul Chaney presented findings from the WISERD Civil Society Programme research project ‘Territoriality and Third Sector Engagement in Policy-Making’ at the House of Commons. The presentation at the ESRC ‘Feminizing Politics: Voice, Access and Accountability’ seminar highlighted the role of civil society as political space for accountability with a focus…

The National Assembly for Wales’ Health, Social Care and Sport Committee heard evidence earlier today on the draft national dementia strategy, ‘Together for a Dementia Friendly Wales 2017 – 2022’. Organisations such as The Alzheimer’s Society, Age Cymru, the Wales Carers Alliance and representatives from a range of healthcare professions shared their views on how…

The second annual report from the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) and the Local Data Company (LDC) reveals the contradictory dynamics of the retail landscape in Wales and how this has changed over the past year. It also highlights the wide variance and make-up of Welsh towns along with…

Recommendations made by the Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) and Cardiff University, as part of an independent three-year evaluation commissioned by the Welsh Government, have been used as part of the Welsh Government’s Foundation Phase Action Plan. The Foundation Phase is an exciting, flagship policy that marks a radical…

The IMAJINE project (Integrative Mechanisms for Addressing Spatial Justice and Territorial Inequalities in Europe) led by the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) team at Aberystwyth University was launched in Brussels on Wednesday 18th January 2017, with a meeting of the consortium partners. IMAJINE is a pioneering new research project…

A new study by Professor Paul Chaney provides new insight into why Middle Eastern states continue to languish at the bottom of world rankings on gender equality. The core finding relates to the policy process, and poor communication and dialogue between governments and the communities they serve. In short, despite their UN obligations to engage…

90 delegates attended this year’s Wales Housing Research Conference, co-hosted by Shelter Cymru, Welsh Government and the WISERD Wales Housing Research Network. The event took place at Cardiff University’s Bute building and Glamorgan building. Delegates were invited to attend a variety of sessions, with themes including housing policy and devolution, health and wellbeing, the Welsh…

WISERD has hosted five visiting international research fellows led by Professor Lin Xiao from the Institute of Sociology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Beijing. The visit is part of a two year joint Chinese Academy of Social Sciences/British Academy Newton Advanced Fellowships programme, entitled: ‘Improving Social Welfare System in China: Urbanization, Community…

On Monday 28 November the WISERD Centre for Welsh Politics and Society (CWPS) was launched at Aberystwyth University. This new interdisciplinary research centre aims to develop an understanding of contemporary politics and society in Wales, and contribute to the public and policy debates on a range of issues. The centre aims to achieve its objectives…

On Monday 28 November the WISERD Centre for Welsh Politics and Society (CWPS) was launched at Aberystwyth University. This new interdisciplinary research centre aims to develop an understanding of contemporary politics and society in Wales, and contribute to the public and policy debates on a range of issues. The centre aims to achieve its objectives…

Last night leading figures in Welsh education gathered for a debate on the future of education in Wales at Cardiff University’s Hadyn Ellis Building. The event was held ahead of the next round of PISA results due for release on 6th December 2016. PISA is a triennial survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide…

A major conference on The French Regions at 30: evaluations and prospects (Les Régions ont 30 ans. Et Demain?) recently took place at the Champs Libres Convention  Centre, in Rennes, France. It was organised by the WISERD team working on the Trust and Transparency in multi-level governance project, Prof. Romain Pasquier (Institute of Political Studies, Rennes,…

Rhys Davies presented his work at the Labour Force and Annual Population Surveys User Conference 2016 today, at the Royal Statistical Society in London. Data producers and data users came together to share updates on the development of these surveys and to showcase research that is being carried out using the data. Rhys Davies’ presentation…

WISERD offered three events as part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)’s week-long celebration of the social sciences and social science research. As with previous years’ events, the festival provided a variety of free activities across the UK. One such event was hosted by WISERD in Cardiff and facilitated by Dr. Scott Orford….

On Wednesday 27 October Professor Paul Chaney presented findings from “Territoriality & Third Sector Engagement in Policy-Making and Welfare Provision” – a project that is part of the WISERD Civil Society Programme. These have been published in a chapter (‘Women and Policy-Making: Devolution, Civil Society and Political Representation’) – in a new edited collection by…

Following our event ‘Young People and Politics: the future direction of youth engagement in Wales’ on the 6th of this month, we are pleased to publish Jake Smith’s reflections on the day. Jake is a postgraduate student at the School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University and was involved in recording and writing-up discussion and…

Thursday 20th October saw Professor Paul Chaney introduce Visiting International Fellow Professor Sahoo Sarbeswar of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Professor Sarbeswar was giving the latest in the WISERD civil society seminar series at Cardiff University. The presentation examined how Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), as part of civil society, contribute towards democratization in India. In…

Elin Jones AM will open up the debate around youth engagement today at the Pierhead Building.  The event Young people, politics and the future direction of youth engagement in Wales follows on from WISERD research and will feature the screening of two short films presenting recent findings on young people’s attitudes towards and engagement with…

The Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance Arrangements in Wales led by Professor Sir Ian Diamond has been published today.  The review, commissioned in 2014, focuses on widening access; supporting the skill needs of Wales; strengthening part-time and postgraduate provision in Wales; and long-term financial sustainability. As part of the review, quality research…

Research by Professor Paul Chaney examines civil society organizations input into African states’ implementation of the gender mainstreaming (GM) goals set out in the United Nations’ Beijing Declaration. The Declaration is explicit in its requirement that, in the course of their efforts to promote gender equality, state signatories secure: ‘the participation and contribution of all…

Professor Ian Rees Jones collaborates on new Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC) report. The joint report launched on 12 September 2016 at the Fairer Futures: Reshaping Care for Older People symposium, argues that, with a social innovation approach, local authorities could provide better home care which benefited carers and cared. Published to coincide…

“I welcome this announcement. Capturing the views of children and young people is important to help us develop policies and services in Wales that meet their needs,” says Ms Williams on the announcement of a £215,000 grant from Cardiff University. The funding from Cardiff University follows a £1m grant in 2012 from the Higher Education…

Dr Kevin Smith will present the latest findings at the BERA (British Education Research Association) Annual Conference this week at the University of Leeds. The new findings reveal that fewer than half of young secondary school pupils think their views are taken seriously by those educating them while the majority of their teachers disagree. These are…

Dr Kevin Smith discusses how the WISERDEducation project has benefited from Cardiff University’s School Partnership Project. The project is a Research Councils UK initiative that support researchers’ direct engagement with students and brings contemporary and inspirational research contexts into formal and informal learning to enhance and enrich the curriculum. Dr Smith has run a series…

WISERD research was given prominent attention at the 2016 Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference. This is one of the UK’s foremost forums for research on civil society and the third sector, with diverse presentations from academics and practitioners. It was jointly hosted by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the Voluntary Sector Studies…

Using recent findings from the WISERD Education project, Dr Kevin Smith not only compares how boys and girls perform at school but how they feel when at school. ‘For the past three years, our research group has been analysing the difference in boys’ and girls’ perceptions of their school experiences. Our study, involving approximately 1,500 pupils…

New research by Professor Paul Chaney has been published in the leading international academic publication Journal of Civil Society (Routledge, T & F, Impact factor 1.22). It argues that existing studies generally fail to systematically examine the way that contextual factors shape political representation outside of political parties, government and the formal business of electing parliamentarians….

Dr Sioned Pearce explores trust in relation to voting preference in the EU Referendum campaigns. The study found remarkably low levels of trust for the campaigns on both sides among all age groups, adding to the argument that the campaigns tapped-into mistrust rather than created it over an 18 week period. For Dr Sioned Pearce’s blog post…

On July 19th Dr Dawn Mannay give a well-attended seminar presentation at Cardiff School of Social Sciences. The event was jointly hosted by WISERD and the Social Research Association Cymru. Dr Mannay’s talk explored how different visual and creative research approaches can be employed to work with diverse communities. The seminar focused on the data production…

The bilingual film Patagonia will be screened on Thursday 4th August with Dr Mirain Rhys taking part in the expert panel discussion following the film. In collaboration with Cardiff University sciSCREEN programme, the screening aims to engage audiences in research through cinema.  The screening will be followed by a panel discussion of five speakers who will relate…

On the 19th July, as part of the WISERD Cardiff Lunchtime Seminar Series, Professor Paul Chaney, WISERD Co-Director, outlined the findings of his research on parliamentary scrutiny and the representation of women and disabled people at Westminster. The work explores patterns and processes of “substantive representation” over the post-war period. This term refers to the situation whereby…

Wales’ largest social science conference took place at the new Bay Campus at Swansea University last week. The seventh annual event brought together practitioners, policy makers and social scientists to discuss and debate themes such as health; social care; wellbeing; education; culture & values; environment; labour markets; devolution; and civil society – with over 70 papers…

Danny Dorling delivered his lecture ‘A Better Politics: How government can make us happier and healthier’ at last week’s Julian Tudor Hart Annual Lecture. Academic and author Professor Danny Dorling visited Cardiff University to deliver a public lecture exploring the ways in which our governments can make us happier and healthier.  The lecture was part…

Wales’ largest social science conference is taking place at the new Bay Campus at Swansea University tomorrow. Now in its seventh year, the WISERD Annual Conference brings together practitioners, policy makers and social scientists to discuss and debate themes such as health; social care; wellbeing; education; culture & values; environment; labour markets; devolution; and civil…

In a new WISERD blog post, entitled ‘Need for Non-Market Institutions for Inter Country Transfers: A lesson from the EU Referendum‘, Professor Shanti Chakravarty, an Emeritus Professor of Economics at Bangor University, reflects on the work of his colleague at Bangor – Professor R. Ross MacKay – in understanding the reasons why the EU might have started…

WISERD was present at the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) 12th International Conference at Ersta Skondal University College, Stockholm, Sweden. This year the conference theme was ‘The Third Sector in Transition: Accountability, Transparency, and Social Inclusion’. The WISERD stall did brisk business attracting interest from the many conference-goers drawn from all over the…

Dr Stuart Fox looks at data from a second survey conducted on polling day to explore how young people planned to vote and how engaged they were with the referendum itself. ‘It is now four days since the UK took the most momentous political decision of this generation, and the dramatic consequences have dominated the…

Professor David Blackaby comments on the implications for Wales of leaving the EU. In a radio interview this morning with Share Radio, Professor Blackaby discusses the ‘extraordinary’ result and comments how Wales will have benefited from £5 billion of structural funding (between 2000 – 2020) and predicts a possible immediate consequence of ‘Brexit’, following the…

The Housing Network brings together researchers and research organisations in the field of housing in order to advance housing studies in Wales and beyond. The latest meeting, which was held on 15th June 2016, included participants from a number of leading universities, government, the public sector, and voluntary organisations. Research updates were given from academics and…

On June 10th Professor Paul Chaney was an invited plenary speaker at the Research in Practice Leaders’ Forum Conference in Birmingham. The Forum brings together Directors, assistant directors and strategic managers across a network of 80+ major third sector organisations and local authorities. This year’s conference centred on the topic of devolution and its implications…

Listen to our latest podcast from Professor Mick Moran speaking at the WISERD CRESC Radical Social Innovation Colloquium last week. Michael Moran is Professor of Government at the Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, UK, where he also previously held the W.J.M. Mackenzie Chair in Government. A Fellow of the British Academy, he is a…

Updates on the WISERD Annual Conference! The WISERD Annual Conference offers delegates an insight into current social science research through keynote addresses, plenary sessions, workshops and exhibitions. For more information on the Conference and to book visit: www.wiserd.ac.uk/training-events/annual-conference-2016/ This year’s speaker titles are now confirmed: The Right Honourable Rhodri Morgan – The Services/Manufacturing Balance and the Welsh…

Wednesday 13th July to Thursday 14th July 2016 Great Hall, Swansea University Bay Campus Come and join Wales’ largest social science conference! Swansea 2016 is set to be bigger and brighter than ever, offering an even greater choice of sessions for delegates in addition to plenary sessions, workshops, commercial exhibition and of course, the opportunity…

Undergraduate Bioscience students who achieved the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Diploma Qualification (WBQ) in addition to three A-Levels, performed less well academically at university than students who only undertook three A-Levels. These are the findings of a study carried out by researchers at Cardiff University School of Biosciences and Professor Chris Taylor, WISERD. The analysis also…

Dr Stuart Fox reveals the best route to information about the EU referendum is through registering to vote. ‘For young people, whom research has shown are less likely to vote than their elders, because of their limited interest in and (to a lesser extent) knowledge of the issues at stake, the key step in becoming…

Listen to our latest podcast from Professor Frank Moulaert speaking at the WISERD CRESC Radical Social Innovation Colloquium last week. Frank Moulaert is Professor of Spatial Planning, Head of the Planning and Development Unit ASRO, Faculty of Engineering, KU Leuven, Belgium. For more podcasts click here: www.wiserd.ac.uk/news/podcasts

As part of the WISERD Civil Society programme, WISERD and the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC) jointly organised an international colloquium on 18th and 19th May at Cardiff University for academics, policy makers and civil society organisations involved in Social Innovation initiatives: The Radical Social Innovation Colloquium. As an international event the colloquium was organised…

On May 12th WISERD was pleased to welcome Professor Filippo Barbera (University of Torino and Collegio Carlo Alberto) who gave the latest seminar in the WISERD Civil Society series. Chaired by WISERD Co-Director Prof Paul Chaney, his interesting and well-attended presentation explored the role of “social innovators” in Italy. Drawing on a qualitative research design…

Today WISERD launches its new webpages related to the research programme on trade unions within the WISERD Civil Society Centre: www.wiserd.ac.uk/unions ‘Declining levels of trade union membership is often cited as evidence that trade unions have become less relevant within the modern UK economy.  However, previous WISERD research into geographical variations in trade union membership…

New ESRC Funded PhD Studentships are now available with two posts based at WISERD: focusing on Economic Austerity, Civil Society and Wellbeing & Labour Economics. WISERD is also seeking an ESRC Wales DTC PhD in Social Sciences (Social Policy): The Impact of Devolution on the Promotion of Gender Equality in Wales (PhD Studentship). For more…

A one-day practitioner conference is to take place on Monday 23rd May to discuss the recommendations from WISERD’s evaluation and the implications these have for the future of the Foundation Phase.  Cardiff University and WISERD were commissioned by the Welsh Government to undertake an independent three-year evaluation of the Foundation Phase. ‘The final report for…

New International Research from WISERD published in the journal World Development* presents civil society perspectives on gender equality in post-conflict states. This comparative study by Professor Paul Chaney examined developments in twelve-countries including:  Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Georgia, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Rwanda. The findings reveal the specific data and governance challenges that exist in war-affected states as…

On 5th May, Professor Alistair Cole and Dr Ian Stafford* delivered a public seminar at Cardiff University linked to their WISERD Civil Society research. Their insightful and well-attended presentation outlined how, against the backdrop of a perceived decline in trust in democracy and government, transparency has frequently been identified as a potential remedy to these phenomena. Using key…

On Monday 11th April WISERD Co-Director Professor Paul Chaney addressed a research community building conference at Cardiff SWALEC Stadium organised by Cardiff University’s new Crime and Security Research Institute (CSRI). This engagement activity is part of ongoing work to develop social science collaboration in Wales. Under the Directorship of Professor Martin Innes, the CSRI will…

Dr Smith joins the Welsh Crucible – an award-winning programme of personal, professional and leadership development for the future research leaders of Wales. Welsh Crucible is based on NESTA’s highly esteemed ‘Crucible’ development programme, and has been informed by the successes of the Scottish Crucible.  The Programme has recently established collaborative links with The Learned Society of Wales, who…

The Canadian film Away From Her will be screened on 18th May with Dr Alex Hillman taking part in the expert panel discussion following the film. In collaboration with Cardiff University sciSCREEN programme, the screening aims to engage audiences in dementia research through cinema.  The screening will be followed by a panel discussion of 4 speakers…

Danny Dorling will deliver a lecture titled ‘A Better Politics: How government can make us happier and healthier’ for the next Julian Tudor Hart Annual Lecture in July. The talk, in collaboration with Cardiff University School of Social Sciences, Public Health Wales and Cardiff Institute of Society, Health and Wellbeing (CISHeW), will make the argument that if we start by…

Professor Howard Davis comments on the latest employment figures – and the problems that lie beneath the surface of the country’s economy, despite months of positive headlines. Along with Professor Tony Dobbins and Dr Alexandra Plows, Professor Davis takes a closer look at the jobs situation in the UK since the 2008 financial crisis and the…

Dr Sioned Pearce uncovers new findings in favour of the ‘Remain’ campaign. The research, from the ‘Should we stay or should we go: Young People and the EU Referendum‘ project, has revealed young people who want to Remain are more likely to vote than those who want to Leave. 68% of young people who want Britain…

    Dr Elin Royles reflects on the WISERD Civil Society Seminar that took place at Aberystwyth University on 16 March 2016: How do education policies and policies guiding the work of organisations working with young people attempt to influence their sense of identities? That was the question guiding Prof Rhys Jones and Dr Elin…

Bookings are now open for Wales’ largest social science conference! The WISERD Annual Conference offers delegates an insight into current social science research through keynote addresses, plenary sessions, workshops and exhibitions. This year the conference is taking place on Wednesday 13th July & Thursday 14th July 2016 at Swansea University Bay Campus. We are delighted to welcome Ottón Solís, Founder member…

    On Wednesday 16th March, Dr Robin Mann, Professor Howard Davis, Dr David Dallimore and Dr Marta Eichsteller presented their emergent findings from the WISERD Civil Society project ‘Researching Civil Participation, in Place, and Over Time’ at Bangor University. The seminar was entitled: ‘Bowling Alone? Civil Society in a North East Wales Village’. The…

Location: Alun Buildings, Bangor University Dates: 23rd March 2015 – Start: 10:00am, Finish: 7:00pm 24th March 2015 –  Start: 9:00am, Finish: 3:30pm – See more at: http://wiserd.ac.uk/news/latest-news/shaping-labour-party/#sthash.w7r8jDYI.dpuf WISERD is committed to delivering a series of Training & Capacity Building events having identified the types of courses that would be of most benefit to WISERD researchers and those outside of…

Leading-up to Britain’s EU membership referendum on the 23rd of June, WISERD is running a study of the attitudes, preferences and engagement throughout the referendum campaign of today’s young people. The study ‘Should we stay or should we go: Young People and the EU Referendum‘ will include several surveys of young people throughout the UK asking…

The latest edition of WISERD News is now available – featuring updates on current projects and research findings as well as events and engagement activity. IN THIS ISSUE: Flexible Pre-School Education Pilots: Separating the Impactful from the Impractical Dr Daniel Evans gives an overview of his role in evaluating the implementation and impact of flexibility…

Where does the money go when your local authority pays more than £500 per week for a care home bed? Dr Luke Cowie and Professor Ian Rees Jones have been working with colleagues from five universities on a Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC) public interest report which aims to help ordinary citizens for…

WISERD Director, Professor Ian Rees Jones, comments on new findings from the IDEAL project which focuses on the potential for living well with dementia from the perspective of people with dementia and their primary carers. Research from the IDEAL project has revealed that people who perceive dementia symptoms as an illness feel more negative than…

A new study by Professor Paul Chaney reveals how governments in South Asia are failing to fully engage and respond to civil society organisations’ policy demands on women’s rights and representation. ‘Under the terms of a key United Nations’ agreement of 1995 (globally subscribed to by 180+ states), countries are required to listen and respond…

We are seeking to appoint a Post-Doctoral Research Associate to work as part of the ESRC (Economic & Social Research Council) WISERD Civil Society Research Centre at Aberystwyth University. WISERD Civil Society is a new flagship research centre funded by the ESRC to undertake an innovative and farreaching five-year research programme of multi-disciplinary, policy relevant…

WISERD Education has uncovered which famous people school pupils most admire and dislike.  The findings reveal that the most admired are celebrities and sportspeople: with Jessie J, Taylor Swift and Beyonce achieving the top three positions. Pupils nominated a wide variety of people – stretching alphabetically from Adele and Adolf Hitler to Zara Philips and…

From 2018, companies with more than 250 employees will be required to make their gender pay gap publicly available online.  Employers that fail to address gender pay disparities will also be highlighted in new league tables intended to drive progress.  The launch of a new project has coincided with the governments publication of these planned…

On 2nd February Prof Paul Chaney presented the findings of a recent study of political representation to a seminar organised by the Chwarae Teg Research Hub. The paper analysed the parliamentary scrutiny of the substantive representation of women (SRW) in UK Governments’ Post-War legislative programmes. The SRW refers to the situation whereby women’s needs and…

    Illness representations, or the way individuals perceive an illness, often shape responses to that illness, affecting the type and level of care and support administered to an individual, either by themselves or by those with caring responsibilities. A recently published paper co-authored by Catherine Quinn and Linda Clare from the Centre for Research…

The inaugural Welsh Retail Summit considered the findings of a new report on Wales’s top 71 cities and towns which reveals increasing polarization between the best and the worst of our high streets. The report’s key findings were presented by Dr Scott Orford, WISERD, Cardiff University and Matthew Hopkinson, the Local Data Company, at Cardiff…

    Media policy in and for Wales should be founded on evidence based on the Welsh market, culture and civil society. And, media policy has yet to realise the realities of devolution. These were amongst some of the key conclusions presented at the latest in the WISERD Civil Society Seminar Series that took place…

  Dr Ceryn Evans presents to the Research User Group   December has seen further key activities as part of WISERD’s engagement work. December 15th saw the meeting of WISERD’s Research User Group – whilst earlier in the month, the Language, Culture and Identity Research Network met on December 4th. Both are integral to linking…

  The 9th Annual Julian Tudor Hart Lecture took place on 9th December in SOCSI. This year’s lecture was titled ‘DIY Welfare or Silver Bullet: The Place of Community in UK Health Policy in the 21st Century’, and was given by Professor Jennie Popay of Lancaster University. The event was sponsored by Public Health Wales and Cardiff University, in partnership with WISERD…

The Welsh Government has published the latest evaluation of its Pupil Deprivation Grant – a programme which sees additional funding being allocated to schools for looked after children and those pupils eligible for free school meals. The report produced by Ipsos MORI and WISERD colleagues shows that: Teachers believe the Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG) is making…

    Prof Ian Rees Jones, Prof John Morgan and Prof Paul Chaney of WISERD discuss future potential collaboration with Professor Jian Song and colleagues from Renmin University, the leading centre for Population Studies and Demography in China.  

The WISERD Stand was busy at the Wales Council for Voluntary Action Annual Conference 2015. Held in Llandudno, it is the leading third sector conference in Wales. This year’s event was valuable in developing existing strong links between third sector organisations and colleagues working on the Institute’s ESRC- funded Civil Society Programme. Welsh Government minister…

    Research undertaken by social science researchers in Wales was celebrated this week at the launch of a new publication – ‘Making the Case for the Social Sciences 10: Wales’ -published by the Academy of Social Sciences and its Campaign for Social Science. The publication comprises 14 case studies of research carried out by…

Professor Chris Taylor, Co-Director of WISERD and WISERD Education, has been appointed to the HEFCW Student Opportunity and Achievement Committee. This is a new committee that will act as an advisory committee to HEFCW Council. The remit of the Committee is to advise on student opportunity and achievement in higher education, including Welsh medium, initial…

UN Year of Evaluation – Welsh Government Event Series – 17th November 2015 Dr Dan Evans attends the WISERD stand as the Welsh Government picks up the “evaluation torch” with a series of daily policy and research events at the Crown Buildings in Cardiff to mark the UN Year of Evaluation in 2015 (www.unevaluation.org ). WISERD…

WISERD would like to congratulate our colleagues Professor Tess Fitzpatrick and Dr Dawn Knight, and their time, for recently securing £1.8m in funding from the ESRC for their Corpws Cenedlaethol Cymraeg Cyfoes (National Corpus of Contemporary Welsh) project; also known as CorCenCC. The project is funded for 3.5 years and will commence in March 2016….

Set within the context of UK devolution and constitutional change, People, Places and Policy: Knowing Contemporary Wales Through New Localities offers important and interesting insights into ‘place-making’ and ‘locality-making’ in contemporary Wales. Combining policy research with policy-maker and stakeholder interviews at various spatial scales (local, regional, and national), it examines the historical processes and working…

Welsh school pupils’ chances of getting into university vary dramatically according to the school they attend and the local authority in which it is situated, irrespective of their individual educational attainment, according to a new report from Cardiff University’s Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods (WISERD). A new report released today…

Wales’s poorest children are starting primary school already struggling with language skills argues Ready to Read, a new report out today (22 September 2015). Professor Chris Taylor, Co-Director of the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research Data (WISERD), at Cardiff University, has advised the Read On.Get On. campaign, which is calling for the Welsh…

The impact of social media on young people’s lives is underlined starkly today as a new study by researchers at the Cardiff University-based Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research Data (WISERD) reports that more than one in five teenagers say they “almost always” wake up during the night to look at or post messages….

This week WISERD Co-Director Professor Paul Chaney was the invited plenary speaker at the 2015 Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference, which took place at the University of Leeds from 8th – 9th September. The event is the UK’s leading interdisciplinary research conference for academics, policy makers and practitioners with a shared interest in researching…

We are delighted to announce that WISERD has been awarded two modest amounts of funding under the Cardiff Incoming Visiting Fellowship Scheme and International Collaboration Seedcorn Fund. The first award goes to Professor Ian Rees Jones, Dr Sin Yi Cheung and Rhys Davies to build links with Professor Mike Hout at NYU and Professor David Grusky…

For the first time, WISERD will be presenting research at the annual National Eisteddfod, taking placed this year in Montgomeryshire. The Eisteddfod Festival is the pinnacle of the Welsh cultural calendar. It travels from place to place, alternating between north and south Wales giving communities across the country a chance to welcome up to 160,000 visitors…

Ann Keane, former HM Chief Inspector at Estyn, delivered our first keynote address of the WISERD 2015 Annual Conference. Ann discussed what she’d learnt throughout her 5 years at Estyn, and what she regarded as the key issues for Welsh education moving forward. Ann Keane, former HM Chief Inspector at Estyn, delivered our first keynote…

What effects do different environments have upon stress levels in the human body? What affect does it have upon our well-being and health? In order to test this in June 2014 WISERD’s biomapping project was invited by BBC Coast to ‘stress-test’ its presenter Nicholas Crane. The WISERD funded biomapping research project, led by Professor Chris Taylor (WISERD) and Dr Jon Anderson (CPLAN), ‘stress-tested’ the BBC…

WISERD, in partnership with the Research Institute for Applied Social Science (RIASS) and the Academy of Social Science, have today launched a new booklet showcasing the vast array of social science research taking place in Wales; titled ‘Making the Case for the Social Sciences 10 – Wales’. It includes a new study by Welsh researchers which…

Professor W. John Morgan, an honorary professor at WISERD and the Cardiff School of Social Sciences, has co-chaired a senior panel of experts that has produced a major report for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on the future of education in the 21st century. Professor Morgan was appointed to chair the panel…

Wales’ Largest Social Science Conference Comes to Cardiff Wales’ largest social science conference is taking place at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium next week. Now in its sixth year, the Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods (WISERD) Annual Conference brings together practitioners, policy makers and social scientists to discuss and debate a range…

WISERD would like to congratulate our Co-Director Paul Chaney on his recent promotion to Professor in the 2015 round of Cardiff University promotions. Professor Chaney said he was delighted to be given a Personal Chair – and was looking forward to continuing to work with colleagues on Wiserd’s exciting research programme. Paul is Professor of Policy and…

Professor W. John Morgan is a newly appointed Honorary Professor in the School of Social Sciences and will be associated with WISERD.  John is currently professor and UNESCO Chair of the Political Economy of Education, and Senior Fellow, the China Policy Institute, University of Nottingham. He was Chair of the Board of the United Kingdom…

The Welsh Government’s flagship Foundation Phase has led to overall improvements in pupil’s educational achievements, their well being and their engagement in learning according to  new research published today. The findings follow a three year programme of independent evaluation, commissioned by the Welsh Government and undertaken by researchers at Cardiff University and the Wales Institute…

Delegate bookings for the WISERD Annual Conference 2015 are now open! Details about how to register can be found on our events page The 2015 conference is the sixth annual WISERD conference, and follows on from five successful conferences, held in the Universities of Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor, South Wales and Aberystwyth.  Bringing practitioners, policy makers and…

A new social research centre has been launched at Swansea University. Minister for Finance and Government Business, Jane Hutt AM, officially launched the Administrative Data Research Centre Wales at an event at Swansea University on Monday,  March 23, 2015. The Administrative Data Research Centre Wales, led by Swansea University’s Medical School in partnership with the…

Dr Kevin Smith, a Research Associate with WISERD Education Kevin Smith is excited to announce he has been offered a contract to write his first book. He was approached by Palgrave Macmillan to write ‘Curriculum, Culture and Citizenship Education in Wales’ which will examine citizenship education in schools in Wales and the curricular complexities that…

With just 50 days until the UK general election the opinions of young people are becoming ever more important to politicians. However research suggests that young people are becoming increasingly disengaged from the political system, with many feeling that politicians are failing to discuss the issues which matter to them. Only 41% of those aged 18 to 25…

The Furlong Report, published this week, has highlighted the invaluable work undertaken by WISERD Education, and calls for further funding to be injected into the project. The report was written by Emeritus Professor John Furlong, of the University of Oxford, who was appointed by Welsh Education Minister Huw Lewis last year as an adviser on initial teacher…

Location: Alun Buildings, Bangor University Dates: 23rd March 2015 – Start: 10:00am, Finish: 7:00pm 24th March 2015 –  Start: 9:00am, Finish: 3:30pm Overview: To commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the election of the first majority Labour government in 1945, the School of History, Welsh History and Archaeology will be hosting a conference on the history of the Labour…

In collaboration with Public Health Wales, the Cardiff School of Social Science, WISERD and CISHeW View the film of the 2014 lecture ‘Include Me Out. Exclude You In: imagining the future of primary care’ presented by Professor Graham Watt, Norrie Miller Professor of General Practice University of Glasgow. Professor Watt’s slides cover some of the…

The Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods (WISERD) will celebrate the launch of its flagship WISERD Civil Society Research Centre on Thursday 5th February, 2015. WISERD has received funding in excess of £10 million to found a national research centre which will undertake a five year innovative and far-reaching research programme…

One of the UK’s leading social policy experts, Professor John Hills, headlines an impressive panel for a book launch organised by the Bevan Foundation and the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD). Professor Hills, Director of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics, will…

The “GIS for Public Health” 1 day workshop introduces a Geographic Information System (GIS) as a tool for use in public health research. This workshop is aimed at public health practitioners who have little or no experience in using GIS and would like to develop the skills to link spatially referenced data to health data….

A WISERD affiliated book entitled ‘Page and Place: On-going Compositions of Plot’, authored by Jon Anderson (Cardiff School of Planning and Geography, Cardiff University) has been published by Rodopi. The book explores how literature can help us understand the nature of the relations between people and place, how humans create connections between their identities and…

WISERD is seeking an experienced researcher to work on a project within the WISERD Civil Society research centre. The project will explore the relationships between participation in higher education and engagement in civil society, especially at the local level; and will consider questions such as: do university graduates play a distinctive role in the institutions…

The eighth lecture in the annual Julian Hart lecture series will take place on between 4.30pm and 8pm on Thursday 27th November. Professor Graham Watt, University of Glasgow, will deliver the lecture, which has the title ‘Include Me Out. Exclude You In: Imagining the future of primary care’. After graduating from the University of Aberdeen…

WISERD is pleased to announce a series of funded PhD studentship opportunities, based at Cardiff University. Studentships will commence in October 2015 and will be linked to a number of key projects including: the IDEAL project, WISERD Civil Society, CISHEW and the Administrative Data Research Centre Wales (ADRC-W). The studentship opportunities are as follows: Living…

We are pleased to announce that the call for papers for the WISERD 2015 Annual Conference is now open. The sixth annual WISERD Conference will take place from 30th June to 2nd July 2015 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. We are delighted to be able to confirm that Karl Wilding, Director of Public Policy at…

We are delighted to be able to confirm that Karl Wilding, Director of Public Policy at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and writer and political economist Will Hutton have agreed to deliver two of our keynote addresses at the WISERD 2015 Annual Conference, taking place from 30th June to 2nd July at the…

What would you do with £1 million if handed it today? Remarkably, half of young people would give at least a large part of it away, with a quarter saying they would keep none of it for themselves, a new study from WISERD Education has found. And while some pupils, perhaps predictably, dream of fast…

Following major grant successes, Cardiff University is making a substantial investment in social science research and we welcome applications from exciting and dynamic researchers interested in working on cutting edge research projects within a leading Russell Group institution. The Wales Institute for Social and Economic Research, Data & Methods (WISERD) is currently recruiting for a…

    As part of the WISERD 2014 Annual Conference, WISERD, in collaboration with the Wales DTC and the Learned Society of Wales awarded prizes to PhD students entering poster and essay competitions. Rhian Field from Aberystwyth University won the PhD student Poster Competition, with a prize of £200 being awarded by the Learned Society…

Applications are being sought for a prestigious (1+3 or +3) full time PhD Studentship which will undertake analysis on linked administrative data on fuel poverty and/or energy efficiency in Wales with secondary survey data. This studentship will be linked to the Wales Administrative Data Research Centre, the ESRC-funded initiative led by Swansea University. This studentship is…

The fifth WISERD Annual Conference was held on 3-4 July 2014 at Aberystwyth University. The event was a great success with nearly 130 delegates and over 70 papers presented throughout the two days. The programme reflected WISERD’s inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional profile, with presentations from researchers from the academic, policy, public and third sectors from across…

An opportunity has arisen for a Welsh speaking research assistant/associate within the WISERDEducation research team. The successful candidate will work closely with schools, teachers and children to establish and maintain a series of longitudinal studies across Wales, collecting and analysing qualitative and quantitative data. WISERDEducation, which commenced in 2013, is a one million pound three year…

Applications are invited for a three-year ESRC-funded PhD studentship linked to the WISERD ‘Civil Society’ research programme. The studentship, which will examine the contemporary social significance of literary representations of coal-mining communities, will commence in the Autumn of 2014. While the studentship will be based at Cardiff University, the study is expected to make use of the…

Wales’ largest social science conference is taking place at Aberystwyth University this week. Now in its fifth year, the WISERD Annual Conference brings together practitioners, policy makers and social scientists to discuss and debate themes such as health; social care; wellbeing; education; culture & values; environment; labour markets; devolution; and civil society. Established as an…

Dr Stephen Drinkwater gave a presentation Workers Educational Association in Llanelli to celebrate their centenary. On Saturday 7th June, Dr Drinkwater delivered a presentation focusing on recent and possible future economic and demographic developments in the Llanelli area.   The event, held at the Furnace Theatre, was well attended with guests including the Mayor and…

BBC Coast presenter ‘stress tested’ by WISERD biomapping project. This week the WISERD funded biomapping research project (led by Dr Jon Anderson (CPLAN) and Professor Chris Taylor) ‘stress-tested’ the BBC presenter Nicholas Crane for the forthcoming series of the popular television programme ‘Coast‘. The research project uses ‘qsensor’ technology to quantify the affect of the built,…

Dr Robin Mann discusses patterns of migration to Wales on BBC Radio Cymru. Dr Robin Mann, Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and WISERD at Bangor University, took part in the BBC Radio Cymru programme Taro’r Post, to discuss migration to Wales. Dr Mann was asked to comment on new Office for National Statistics…

Read the latest posts from WISERD and WISERD Education blogs. WISERD Co-Director, Professor Howard Davis, writes about the reaction to recent European Parliament elections: Civil society and participation: reactions to the European Parliament elections By Professor Howard Davis, WISERD Co-Director. The recent European Parliament elections grabbed the headlines across Europe as some remarkable results were announced….

This is an exciting opportunity for a doctoral student in the social sciences to have a four month paid internship (£17,200 per annum pro rata) and gain valuable experience in the use of evidence for strategy development. Project Brief As part of the Welsh Government’s plans for developing future strategy for the NHS in Wales,…

Minister for Education & Skills, Huw Lewis, comments on the release of the first WISERD reports for Welsh Government. A series of reports into the Welsh Government’s flagship early years education programme the Foundation Phase have been warmly welcomed by Education and Skills Minister Huw Lewis. The Foundation Phase for children aged 3-7 places emphasis…

Download WISERD report for Welsh Government by Rhys Davies and Huw Lloyd Williams. The Welsh Government published a report last week on: The dynamics of low income.  The report considers the extent to which individuals move in and out of poverty, the characteristics of those who remain in poverty and the types of events that can…

A new research project, evaluating the Foundation Phase Flexibility Pilots, is underway with Professor Chris Taylor as lead researcher. In line with the Welsh Government’s commitment to Early Years development, the Foundation Phase is the statutory curriculum for all 3 to 7 year old children in Wales in both maintained and non-maintained settings. The Foundation…

Mark Drakeford AM, Minister for Health and Social Services, will visit Swansea University on Tuesday, April 15, to speak on the topic of “Prudent Healthcare: what can the NHS learn from social care?”. The Minister has been invited to give the first public lecture in a new seminar series, which has been jointly organised by Swansea…

Join Wales’ largest social science conference! Bookings are now open for the WISERD 2014 Annual Conference.  The event follows on from four successful conferences, held in the Universities of Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor and South Wales.  Bringing practitioners, policy makers and social scientists together, WISERD conferences have become established as one of the most important events in…

WISERD has received major funding in excess of £7 million following a successful bid to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). As one of four UK research centres, WISERD will be part of an overall ESRC investment of £29 million in a series of new centres and investments which will focus on a range…

Listen to Professor Sally Power on BBC Radio4 programme Thinking Allowed, discussing British vs French graduate interest in ‘serving’ their country when it comes to their career. Professor Sally Power talks about her new comparative study which finds that British students from top universities seek worldwide opportunities, whereas their French counterparts wish to ‘serve’ France….

Inaugural Director, Professor Huw Beynon will feature on the BBC’s The Miners’ Strike programme at 10.25pm on BBC ONE Wales on Sunday March 9th. The programme marks the 30th anniversary of the historic struggle between the miners and a Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher.  The strike was a well-documented twelve months of hostility. Former…

WISERD launched a seminar series aiming to examine the impact of the recession on social and economic life in Wales; and to take stock of the policy responses in Wales in the context of a Westminster government committed to austerity measures. 2008 marked the beginning of the deepest and longest recession of modern times.  While…

The fifth podcast of the WISERD Research Podcast Series is now online:  Professor David Blackaby discusses his findings on regional variations in public-private sector wage differences. Labour Market Implications of Changes in the Public Sector: Inequality and Work Quality: This eighteen-month study examines aspects of work within the public sector compared to the private sector.  It is…

WISERDEducation has launched a new website. WISERDEducation is a three year £1 million project examining 1,200 pupils aged 5-17 years in 24 schools across Wales, and the new website has been designed to best reflect the aims and objectives of this invaluable research. WISERDEducation is designed to strengthen educational research in Wales.  Funded by the Higher…

The call for papers submission deadline has been extended to Friday 7 February 2014. The WISERD 2014 Conference will be held on 3-4 July 2014 in Aberystwyth University. We are delighted to be able to confirm that Professor Bob Jessop and Professor Karel Williams have agreed to deliver keynote addresses. The 2014 conference is the fifth annual WISERD conference, and…

Professor Mike Woods presents his new research project: The Global Countryside: Rural Change and Development in Globalization. WISERD Co-Director Professor Michael Woods has been awarded a £2.27 million Advanced Grant by the European Research Council for research on ‘The Global Countryside: Rural Change and  Development in Globalization’ (GLOBAL-RURAL). The five year project, which will begin in February, will be undertaken by…

The G8 summit has announced today the launch of a £4 million research project about improving life with dementia. This new project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and National Institute for Health Research hopes to answer some key questions: How can people with dementia be supported to live well?  What affects…

The WISERD 2014 Conference will be held on 3-4 July 2014 in Aberystwyth University. We are delighted to be able to confirm that Professor Bob Jessop and Professor Karel Williams have agreed to deliver keynote addresses. The 2014 conference is the fifth annual WISERD conference, and follows on from four successful conferences, held in Cardiff, Swansea, Bangor and South…

Applications for this post have now closed. Post Reference Number: 1567BR WISERD is seeking to recruit an Administrative Assistant to provide a professional administrative support service to the Cardiff based hub.  The role holder will also be required to provide administrative support to a number of research projects. This is a full time post of 35 hours per week,…

Cardiff University and Shelter Cymru co-host conference today as a platform for current housing research, policy and practice providing inspiration for further development in this important field. Policy makers, practitioners and advocacy organisations rely on sound, credible research to inform and push for changes. As the first ever Welsh Housing Bill enters scrutiny stage this…

Cardiff University and Shelter Cymru co-host conference today as a platform for current housing research, policy and practice providing inspiration for further development in this important field. Policy makers, practitioners and advocacy organisations rely on sound, credible research to inform and push for changes. As the first ever Welsh Housing Bill enters scrutiny stage this…

Professor Sally Power uncovers the benefits for those from less advantaged homes attending independent schools. WISERD research has revealed that beneficiaries of the Assisted Places scheme, which provided a means-tested education at independent schools for young people from less advantaged homes until 1997, continue to reap the benefits from their private education. The research, funded…

Professor Ian Rees Jones has been appointed as the new Director of WISERD.     Based at Cardiff University, Professor Jones will lead the Institute which has become a major centre for social science research excellence in Wales and beyond. Talking of his new position, Professor Jones said: “This is a very exciting time to…

Professor Chris Taylor will present his findings on Devolution and Geographies of Education: the use of the Millennium Cohort Study for ‘home international’ comparisons across the UK. Using the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a recent longitudinal birth cohort study specifically designed to provide the potential for geographical analysis, Professor Taylor will present his highly publicised research…

The third podcast of the WISERD Research Podcast Series is now online:  Professor Chris Taylor discusses developments in his evaluation of the Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG).   This two-year evaluation will look at how schools have used this new grant and what impact this additional resource has had on these children and young people. The PDG was…

The second podcast of the WISERD Research Podcast Series is now online:  Professor Sally Power discusses developments in WISERDEducation. As the anniversary of WISERDEducation approaches, Professor Sally Power looks back on the work of the past twelve months and gives an insight into the key developments taking place in the future. WISERDEducation is a one million pound investment to…

Professor Chris Taylor has uncovered evidence that children at age seven in Wales do not do as well as their contemporaries in England when it comes to literacy. Professor Taylor has found that whilst children in England and Wales score equally in assessments on their numeracy and non-verbal reasoning, the gap in literacy levels between…

Analysis released on assessment of outcomes for people leaving ESF projects. A report assessing the outcomes for those leaving ESF projects, designed to increase engagement in the labour market and improve the skill levels of the workforce, is now available. The Welsh European Funding Office (WEFO) has recently published a report prepared by WISERD and…

WISERD researchers delivered presentations at this year’s Eisteddfod in Denbighshire. Mirain Rhys, Dr Kathryn Sharp and Dr Martin O’Neill delivered presentations at this year’s Eisteddfod on Thursday 8th August in Denbighshire. As part of Cardiff University’s presence at the event, WISERD researchers took part in the Discuss Cardiff space.  This provided an opportunity to showcase the…

Urban Rhythms: Mobilities, Space and Interaction in the Contemporary City will be launched on Tuesday 6th August at Cardiff University.   The book is a Sociological Review Monograph, an edited collection which brings together a range of scholars working in a global range of cities. The chapters of the book, based in cities from Rio…

Dr Kate Moles is working closely with Cardiff University’s School of History, Archaeology and Religion on the Heart of Cardiff Heritage Walk Dr Moles has teamed up with colleagues in the School of History, Archaeology and Religion on the CAER Heritage Project to develop a heritage walk from the Caerau Hillfort to the new Iron…

WISERD researchers reveal how coming from a ‘low participation neighbourhood’ has little affect on a students’ progress through HE Professor Chris Taylor and Professor Gareth Rees have found there is no significant effect on the progress of students in Higher Education who come from areas of widening access. The recently published research, in the Contemporary…

WISERD researchers provide annual report on the evaluation during its first year and provide a summary of the research findings from Stage I. The Foundation Phase is the statutory curriculum for all 3 to 7 years old children in Wales in both maintained and non-maintained settings.  It is based on the principle that early years’…

WISERD’s fifth annual conference will take place on 3rd & 4th July 2014 at Aberystwyth University. The dates for Wales’ largest social science conference have been set.  This two day event will take place on Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th July 2014 at the MedRus Conference Centre at Aberystwyth University. This annual event showcases policy…

The ESRC reports that social science research in Wales now has the highest success rate and the biggest improvement of all the UK countries. The Economic and Social Research Council has increased its spending on research grants by £2 million and boosted its success rates for grant proposals from 17 per cent to 27 per…

Read Professor Ian Rees Jones‘ article: Will publishing surgeon performance improve outcomes? Professor Jones has co-authored an article with Professor Jonathan Gabe and Professor Max Exworthy for the Health Service Journal. With the announcement of public reporting being introduced in 10 surgical sub-specialties in England, the article questions whether the publication of surgeon performance will result…

Dr Moles is interviewed as part of the Emotional Geographies Conference at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. The International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Emotional Geographies took place on 1st – 3rd July 2013 at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.  The event is the fourth is a series that provides a forum for a…

Amy Jones from Swansea University wins the PhD student Poster Competition at the WISERD Annual Conference. Amy Jones, a PhD student from Swansea University, was delighted to win the PhD Student Poster competition at this year’s WISERD Annual Conference. The competition was part of a research poster exhibition at Wales’ largest social science conference.  Hosted…

This year’s WISERD Annual conference was a great success with nearly 150 delegates and over 80 papers presented, cementing the event as the largest social science conference in Wales.  Academics and non-academics from a diverse range of disciplines and areas of interest shared their research at the two-day event at the University of South Wales…

Research, funded by WISERD, finds workers in Wales are happier than workers elsewhere in Britain, despite jobs being lower paid and less skilled. Report findings from the Skills and Employment Survey 2012 were launched at the event: Work, Skills and Well-being in Wales yesterday. Work, Skills and Well-being in Wales: First Findings from the Skills and…

Professor Alan Felstead and Rhys Davies discussion following the launch of their research on the 2012 Skills and Employment Survey. They found that workers in Wales are paid less than elsewhere in Britain and do lower skilled jobs, but they were the happiest and most committed. Wales Online – https://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/cardiff-university… BBC News – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-23223035 ESRC – http://www.esrc.ac.uk/news-events-and-publications/publications/magazin…

  WISERD is delighted to announce the first in a series of podcasts about WISERD projects and research activity. Click here to listen to Dr Kate Moles and Dr Alex Morgan talk about their three year evaluation of Pori Drwy Stori, a bilingual reading intervention designed to raise educational outcomes for young children by increasing…

The Welsh Government will be hosting a session at the WISERD 2013 Annual Conference which will afford attendees the opportunity to learn more about the Office for National Statistics Beyond 2011 Consultation on the future of the Census programme.  Attendees will be updated on progress on the programme, and be given the opportunity to feedback…

Professor Lindsay Paterson, Professor Laura McAllister and Professor David Martin to give Keynote Speeches at Annual Conference. Keynote speakers for WISERD’s fourth annual conference have been confirmed.  Discussing topics on national identity; devolution; and the Census, the three speakers will deliver their keynote address to an audience of academic, policy, public, private and third sector…