A conference was held on 10 June 2011 at Cardiff University to celebrate the work of foundation Director of WISERD, Huw Beynon. Huw has made a very important contribution to the sociological analysis of work-places, most notably through his studies of the motor car and coal industries. He has also conducted major studies of the…

On June 8th WISERD researchers delivered two ‘knowledge exchange’ workshops on behaviour change at a two day event organised by Participation Cymru attended by stakeholders across Wales with an interest in public engagement with service delivery. An overview of the policy and political (UK Gov) terrain was firstly given by Jessica Pyket from the ‘Soft…

A special screening of Dr Gideon Koppel’s award-winning film Sleep Furiously, introduced by the Director himself, will be the preamble to the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods’ (WISERD) annual conference, held in Swansea next week. The screening, followed by a Q&A session with Dr Koppel, will take place at Swansea…

The Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods’ (WISERD) second annual summer conference, will reflect on the institute’s interdisciplinary working methods and feature an array of speakers from academia, central and local government, and third sector agencies. A key topic under discussion at the conference will be an analysis of the economic…

WISERD Cardiff Localities Co-ordinator, will discuss her research into hypermedia techniques in the generation of qualitative data at a seminar at London South Bank University on Tuesday 21st June 2011. The seminar, entitled ‘Using Digital Technologies in the Generation of Data’, will bring together a range of inter-disciplinary researchers, consultants and practitioners from a variety…

A successful networking event was held last month to launch WISERD’s Environment, Tourism and Leisure thematic reference group. ‘Community, Environment and Sustainability in Wales’ was held at Bangor University as part of Universities Week. The well attended event provided a network and knowledge exchange opportunity for grassroots activists, NGOs, policy makers and academics from across…

WISERD is funding a boost to the Skills and Employment Survey to be carried out across Britain in 2012.  The overarching aim of the survey is to collect data on skills and employment experiences of those working in Britain in 2012, making it a key and distinctive resource for research on contemporary working life. The…

On the 12th May 2011 a report entitled An Anatomy of Inequality in Wales, written by WISERD researchers for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), was launched in Cardiff. The launch of the report, which has been described as ‘landmark’, had substantial coverage from a number of Welsh media outlets, including the BBC and…

Kate Moles and Angharad Saunders took part in a Beacon for Wales Projects Showcase in the National Assembly for Wales Pierhead building (Cardiff Bay) to showcase the Beacons funded Sounding the Way audio walks. The event highlighted the public engagement work of universities across Wales and to provide public engagement active academics funded by the…

Wales’ leading universities have won a multi-million pound award to train top-level social scientists on a range of issues affecting society today. The establishment of a Doctoral Training Centre will allow 33 new postgraduate studentships to be offered every year in Wales for the next five years. The postgraduates will be trained in a range…

Research currently being undertaken by WISERD researchers Ian Thomas, Scott Orford and Peter Mackie in collaboration with the Cardiff School of City and Regional Planning and Shelter Cymru, has been reported on by The Observer, a sister paper to The Guardian. The research, entitled Young People and Housing: Identifying Policy Challenges and Solutions for 2020, looks to…

At the start of September 2010 Professor Gareth Rees, formerly of the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, was appointed as the new WISERD Director. Gareth told the Cardiff University media centre that he was looking forward to building on the success of WISERD, citing the importance of the institute’s role in the future…

The Welsh Centre for Crime and Social Justice (WCCSJ) is an all-Wales centre, formed by seven different universities. These include Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, Glamorgan and Swansea, and therefore the centre has close links with WISERD. The launch of the centre has been reported by Cardiff University as an exciting new venture, allowing multiple Welsh universities…

The Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Method (WISERD) has appointed a new Director, based at Cardiff University. Professor Gareth Rees will lead the Institute which aims to strengthen social science research capacity across Wales through cooperation, joint projects and associated links with centres of excellence across the UK and internationally. WISERD…

Dr Kate Moles, WISERD, Cardiff University; Dr Angharad Saunders, University of Glamorgan; Dorian Morgan and Aled Rowlands, BBC Wales have been working in the Ebbw Vale community to produce three audio walks around Ebbw Vale, through the voices, memories and stories of the residents.  There are three walks; an industrial walk overlooking the site of…

Dr Robin Mann (WISERD Bangor) will represent WISERD at the upcoming National Eisteddfod to be held in The Works, Ebbw Vale from 31 July to 7 August. He will deliver a presentation entitled WISERD: Changing the Research Landscape in Wales as part of the Cardiff University exhibition. WISERD will also be represented in the form…

The first WISERD summer conference “Knowing Wales: People, Place, Policy”, was held in Cardiff on the 28th and 29th of June 2010. Over a hundred delegates from higher education and the public and voluntary sectors across Wales were in attendance to listen to speakers engaged in social science research discussing topics as diverse as health…

Professor Michael Burawoy has become a regular visitor to Cardiff and he was with us once again in February to attend a WISERD Advisory Board meeting. His extended stay was facilitated by the Centre for Global Labour Research which provided Michael with a Montague Burton Visiting Fellowship. During his time in Cardiff, Professor Burawoy delivered…

The formal launch of WISERD took place at the Senedd Building on 22 October 2009. Present were a large audience of invited academics, policy makers and colleagues from non-governmental organisations.  Guests gathered to hear speeches made by the WISERD Director Huw Beynon, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research for Cardiff University Professor Teresa Rees, Chief Executive…