WISERD | About Us

About Us

WISERD is a collaborative venture between the Universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, Glamorgan and Swansea.

The strategic aim of WISERD is to establish itself as a sustainable research institute built on the active engagement of social science staff from across the Welsh HE sector and the involvement of a complex set of audiences/users in the public and private sectors.

Aims

To build upon and develop existing expertise in quantitative and qualitative research methods and methodologies
To develop and integrate a coherent set of research data relating to Wales
To build networks of researchers and research capacity across Wales in the economic and social sciences, as well as contributing to UK wide research capacity building
To explore the relationships between research data, research methods and the development and understanding of policy.
To develop a sustainable increase in the quantitative research base across the social sciences in Wales through academic appointments and training.
To increase collaborative interdisciplinary research grant applications and interaction with policy makers and the private sector through consultancy

Funding

WISERD has funding for 3 years from the ESRC and HEFCW with the aim being to achieve sustainability beyond this initial period. WISERD represents a major investment in research infrastructure in Economic and Social Sciences across Wales.

Staffing

WISERD has funding for twenty-eight core research posts in Wales with twelve of these being permanent. In addition to its funded research staff, WISERD also involves senior linked academics in each institution as well as associate members and thematic group conveners and members.

WISERD researchers can boast an extensive set of relevant skills and experience including;

Expertise in qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods
Knowledge of sets of data relating to Wales
Strong expertise in training and capacity building
Experience of generating research grant bids and sustainability

In addition to the skills and experience of its researchers WISERD can also demonstrate the following;

Links with Welsh Government, Office for National Statistics and Local Authorities across Wales
Close working relationship with the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) and links with cognate ESRC centre’s
Links with Other Centre’s and Programmes across Wales and UK