News and Blog

Across the UK, people seeking sanctuary face discrimination and adversity. While public debate often highlights hostile rhetoric on social media or from far-right movements, a quieter but equally powerful form of dehumanisation emerges through the very systems designed to support refugees and asylum seekers. Bureaucratic processes, uneven policy implementation, and resource constraints all contribute to…

On Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 July, the 16th WISERD Annual Conference took place at Cardiff University’s Bute Building, welcoming over 170 delegates. The agenda comprised over 60 paper presentations, seven flashtalks, three plenary sessions, several panels, workshops and symposia, and an exclusive film showing, all under the theme of ‘In Pursuit of Sustainable Futures’….

The WISERD Annual Conference 2026 took place at Cardiff University on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 July 2026. Scroll through the gallery below to see some of our favourite moments from the event.                                            …

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…