News and Blog

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…