This event marked the launch of the new Institute for Policy Research report: "Coping and hoping: Navigating the ups and downs of monthly assessment in universal credit". The report, written by Dr Rita Griffiths and Dr Marsha Wood, explores how the system of monthly assessment in Universal Credit – used for assessing entitlement, recovering debts and calculating payment – is affecting income security and financial well-being in working households. The research, funded by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, tracked changes in earnings and household income, in real time, between 2022 and 2023 tracke ..read more

Science and politics have collaborated throughout human history, and science is repeatedly invoked today in political debates, from pandemic management to climate change. But the relationship between the two is muddled and muddied. In this IPR lecture, leading policy analyst Geoff Mulgan calls attention to the growing frictions caused by the expanding authority of science, which sometimes helps politics but often challenges it. He dissects the complex history of states’ use of science for conquest, glory and economic growth and shows the challenges of governing risk – from nuclear weapons to g ..read more

Devolution to nations, regions and cities has been a feature of British politics since 1997 - to the nations of the UK, Greater London and more recently to other English counties and city regions. It has led in some cases to significant change and the rise of powerful national institutions and city leaders, but it has also been a messy, incomplete process that has produced inequalities of power between different parts of the UK. Not all areas have seen substantive devolution, devolved authorities have different powers, considerable power is still hoarded in the central UK state, and the conseq ..read more

Britain is facing a teacher retention and recruitment crisis which has the potential to severely impact schools' ability to provide quality education to all students. The latest workforce survey by the Department for Education (DfE) indicates that record numbers of teachers working in state schools – about one in ten – left the profession for reasons other than retirement in 2021-22. In a recent survey conducted as part of Education Support’s Commission on Teacher Retention, more than one in five secondary teachers expected to leave the profession within five years’ time. Meanwhile, new nation ..read more

Over the last 12 months, we’ve witnessed an explosion of discussion and debate on artificial intelligence among UK Members of Parliament. But what do they think about AI, and what are their concerns? James Boyd-Wallis from the Appraise Network, an AI policy forum, explains the findings of its survey of how MPs feel about AI. The research reveals to what extent MPs feel regulators have the necessary skills and expertise to regulate AI, how optimistic and pessimistic MPs are toward the technology, and their concerns about jobs, society, and the speed of development. This IPR event took place on ..read more

In Episode Six of the University of Bath’s Research with Impact podcast, Roland Pease visits the Centre for Pain Research to find out how its academics are helping people who suffer from pain. How big an issue is it? Is it a subjective problem - and how to we quantify pain? How can we help minimise or alleviate pain? And how do we research pain in young people? Joining Roland are Professor Christopher Eccleston, Dr Emma Fisher and Professor Ed Keogh. This episode was recorded in October 2023 ..read more

In this talk Dr Nathan Davies (University College London) will reflect on the applicability and benefits of a palliative approach with reference to research led by his team on palliative dementia care, including their EMBED-Care programme ..read more

In Episode Four of the University of Bath’s Research with Impact podcast, Roland Pease heads to the roof of the Chancellors' Building to discuss the future of solar energy with experts leading the way at the University of Bath. In this episode he meets: Professor Alison Walker from Bath's Department of Physics. Alison’s research concerns multiscale modelling of perovskite solar cells and organic devices such as displays. In 2019, she chaired the Solar Commission whose aim was to show how UK innovation and industrial capabilities could be harnessed to allow the UK to be a global player in solar ..read more

This event will feature presentations from Dr Diana Teggi, Dr Fawn Harrad and Carinna Lumayno who will reflect on what research tells us about how these decisions are currently managed and how practice might be improved ..read more

Professor Doka commences our three-seminar series on ambiguous and disenfranchised loss reflecting on contemporary deaths and the ongoing relevance of his theories of anticipatory and disenfranchised grief today ..read more