Public lecture podcasts

Science on the Run explodes out the blocks as Director of Studies Adam Brazil talks about his applied research on sprint starts and gives us the inside scoop on the Sport and Exercise and Health and Exercise Science undergraduate courses - https://www.bath.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate-2025/sport-exercise-and-health/bsc-sport-and-exercise-science-with-professional-placement-or-study-abroad/ Views an...

In this episode, Briony Smith share’s her experiences of being one of the top up and coming female coaches in women’s football. Briony recently graduated from the University of Bath with a first class degree in Sport, Management and Coaching. Briony was selected to take part in the Powerhouse Project, an initiative focused on empowering female coaches in sport and supporting the next generation of...

During the Covid-19 Pandemic there was an accelerated growth in social media influencers focused on fitness. In this episode, Bath Graduate Holly Hall talks about her dissertation research project ‘An Exploration into how the Fitness Industry, Social Media, and COVID-19 have Influenced 18-to-22-year-old Women’s Interpretations of a ‘Healthy Lifestyle'. In this episode, we talk about this trend and...

Described as the ‘always connected’ generation, generation Z or GenZ are driving demand for increased expansion and more immersive and engaging ways to consume sport. With sports organsations adapting ‘traditional’ sports to stay relevant, what might this mean for the future of sport consumption? These questions were the focus of a recent study by University of Bath student Oliver Snoddy. In this...

In this episode, hear from leading experts in the area of Sport for Development about leveraging sport for positive social outcomes. Professor Emma Rich talks with Professor Andrew Parker and Dr Haydn Morgan from the SPHERE research centre, University of Bath. Professor Andrew Parker is, a SPHERE honorary and a highly regarded freelance leadership development consultant. He has worked at a number...

One of the questions at the heart of this podcast is how do we make sport a better experience for all? Can we imagine a world where no one is excluded from sport because of sexism, misogyny, racism, classism or ableism? These questions of sporting values and equality are driving the work of Dr Sheree Bekker and Professor Stephen Mumford. They are co-directors of an exciting new initiative called t...

To a host of observers, reducing economic inequality should not just be a goal but a top priority, because inequality has harmful consequences for a range of other things we care about, including living standards, democracy, equality of opportunity, health and happiness. But is there a compelling case for significantly reducing economic inequality? At this IPR event, Professor Lane Kenworthy, who...

In 2019, the UK became the first major economy in the world to sign its commitment to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 into law. Mission Zero, commissioned in September 2022 and published in November 2023, was a landmark independent report into the delivery of the UK’s net zero commitment. Chaired by Chris Skidmore, the UK’s former Energy Minister who was responsible for signing net zero...

In this episode, Professor Emma Rich talks with Professor Holly Thorpe (University of Waikato, New Zealand) an award-winning sociologist of sport, physical culture and gender. We discuss her work on gender and some of the contemporary opportunities and challenges in digital, physical and sporting cultures. You can read more about Holly's work here: profiles.waikato.ac.nz/holly.thorpe The views and...

In this episode, we talk with Dr Jack Black from Sheffield Hallam University. We begin with an exploration of what Psychoanalysis might offer Sport. We then discuss Jack’s recent research on tackling online hate in football. Dr Jack Black, an Associate Professor of Culture, Media, and Sport at Sheffield Hallam University. We discuss Jack’s latest book 'The Psychosis of Race: A Lacanian Approach to...

In this episode Professor Emma Rich talks with SPHERE doctoral researcher Zoe Jeffery about how we make Physical Education and Sport more inclusive for girls. Just recently in the UK, the Women and Equalities Committee published a report suggesting ‘Existing programmes and interventions from the Government and other bodies, while welcome, do not yet go far enough in addressing these barriers and a...

Athletes, fans, sports organisations are frequently the focus of global media for what might be described as transgressions or controversies which emerge as ‘scandals’. In this episode, we talk with Professor David Rowe about his work on media and sport scandals, exploring issues such as the amplification of issues, racism and the recent case of Sam Kerr and the challenges that confront us as we m...

Economic growth in the UK has been sluggish ever since the global financial crisis. More recent large-scale disruptions caused by Brexit and Covid-19 have created additional challenges to growth and the vital public services, institutions, and fiscal measures that underpin it. Productivity and public investment remain low. Meanwhile, stalling wage growth and the cost-of-living crisis continue to e...

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 secur...

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 po...

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 be...

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 s...

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 necessar...

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 Christo...

In Episode Five of the University of Bath’s Research with Impact podcast, Roland visits two researchers at the forefront of debates surrounding AI development and regulation. First up, it's Nello Cristianini, Professor of Artificial Intelligence from Bath's Department of Computer Science. With a focus on machine learning, data science, computational social science, philosophy of AI and regulation...

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.

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 d...

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.

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.

In this IPR lecture, Financial Times public policy editor Peter Foster discusses his book "What Went Wrong With Brexit: And What We Can Do About It". Six years after Brexit, Peter Foster argues that it’s time that we stop having the same conversations over and over again. We need to move on, because in the meantime so much has changed. The economic realities that are making the UK less competitive...