Research Activities

UWIC’s research continues to attract prestigious grants from Research Councils including the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and from the EU, the Welsh Assembly Government and industy.

Staff are actively engaged in high profile research projects involving some of the most leading Higher Education Institutions in the UK and overseas. Research undertaken by UWIC staff contributes to academic debate and informs public policy. Much of the University’s research has direct application in the areas of education, product design, engineering technology, tourism, health, dental technology and sport.

Examples of major funded projects:

AHRC/EPSRC Award for Cardiff School of Art & Design
A collaborative research project with the University of Lancaster designed to develop a fundamental understanding of physicality in design. The joint research council award was granted under the “Design for the 21st Century” initiative. Steve Gill, Director of Research at the Cardiff School of Art & Design is leading the research design team at UWIC. The two–year, multi–disciplinary project aims to inform the development of design practice in the 21st Century, creating new forms of products and services. An MPhil Student has been recruited to the project.

MRC Award for Cardiff School of Health Sciences
The school has been awarded over £200,000 from the Medical Research Council for a collaborative multidisciplinary project with University College London.  The project will combine the expertise of Professor Jorge Erusalimsky of UWIC in cell biology, Professor Sir Michael Marmot of UCL in epidemiology, and Professor Andrew Steptoe of UCL in psychology.  The Three–year study will evaluate the links between social inequalities, life stress and cellular ageing. The research team will examine the involvement of oxidative stress and heightened inflammatory responses as possible mediating mechanisms of these associations. 

ESRC Award for Cardiff School of Management
An ESRC grant of £320,000 was awarded to Rebecca Boden, Professor of Critical Management at UWIC, together with Professor Jeremy Howells, University of Manchester and Dr Fiona Lettice , University of East Anglia. The collaborative project will develop an empirically based understanding of the impacts of HEIs on the innovativeness and competitiveness of regional economies. The two–year investigation will examine the nature, extent and functioning of university–industry links and will provide a contribution to developing regional innovation system theory and policy frameworks.

EPSRC Award for Cardiff School of Sport
In preparation for the 2012 British Olympics, a major research council grant of £3.8M has been awarded to Professor David Kerwin and the Biomechanics research team, as part of a collaborative cross-institutional bid to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The SEnsing for Sport and Managed Exercise project (SESAME) combines the expertise of world-leading scientists and engineers from the University of Cambridge, University College London, the Royal Veterinary College and UWIC. The four-year project has attracted substantial financial support from leading international organisations such as Codamotion, Vicon/Peak and GlaxoSmithKline and aims to develop motion and biological tracking applications that have measurable impact on the training of elite athletes.

EC Framework VI Award for PDR
The National Centre for Product Design & Development Research (PDR) led by Darragh Murphy has been successful in its bid under EC Framework VI Programme. The total value of the Design Management Europe (DME) project is €5.95M and involves 18 partners from 14 European countries. As part of the PRO-INNO Europe initiative, DME is aimed at improving business design practices and competitiveness. The DME Award, a first award of its kind, will be presented at the 1st Annual European Design Management Awards Ceremony to be held in Cardiff at the Wales Millennium Centre in October 2008. 

Examples of recently completed projects:

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