Public lecture podcasts

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 eat into households’ disposable income, discouraging spending while also deepening economic inequalities. What policies might underpin a new vision for prosperity – one that focuses not purely on growth but also ensures that economic gains are widely shared and environmentally sustainable? This IPR panel discussion featured Torsten Bell, Professor Dame Diane Coyle and Dr Anna Valero. It took place on 25 April 2024. Hosted with Resolution Foundation.

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 tracked changes in earnings and household income, in real time, between 2022 and 2023, among 61 Universal Credit claimants in 42 working households with one or two earners in paid work or self-employment. The specific research questions the study sought to answer were: - How stable or volatile are monthly household incomes and what are the key drivers? - To what extent does Universal Credit dampen or accentuate income insecurity and help with household budgeting? - Is the adjustment to the Universal Credit payment in response to changes in earnings timely and smooth? - Is household income sufficient to generate a buffer and cover reductions in the Universal Credit payment when earnings rise? - What budgeting strategies do participants use to manage fluctuating payments and variations in household income? - To what extent does monthly assessment incentivise employment, longer working hours and higher earnings? - What conclusions and policy implications can be drawn from the findings and what policy recommendations can be made? The event included a presentation from the report authors, Dr Rita Griffiths and Dr Marsha Wood, and audience questions. It took place on 16 April 2024.

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 genetic modification, artificial intelligence to synthetic biology. He shows why the governance of science has become one of the biggest challenges of the twenty-first century, ever more prominent in daily politics and policy. This IPR event took place on 26 March 2024.

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 consequences of devolution for the constitution of the UK, and relations between its constituent nations, remain fraught and contested. Some argue that England should be formally recognised as a partner nation in the UK; others that devolution has gone too far. How has devolution worked in practice? What should the next government do? What can places ask for? Can we move from an overly centralised state to one where true power rests with elected representatives and local communities? Should we consider a federal future for the UK? In this IPR panel discussion, Zoë Billingham (IPPR North), joins Michael Kenny (Bennett Institute for Public Policy, Cambridge), Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, and Hannah White (Institute for Government). Hosted by Nick Pearce, Director of the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) and Professor of Public Policy. This discussion took place on 27 February 2024 and was hosted with Bristol Ideas.

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 national data on the teacher labour market shows that across the vast majority of secondary subjects, recruitment targets are not being met, suggesting that teacher shortages are likely to intensify in the future. In this IPR event, Professor Simon Burgess, Evelyn Forde MBE and Jack Worth discuss the factors influencing teacher retention and recruitment – such as excessive workload, insufficient pay, lack of career development opportunities, and challenging working environments – as well as the policy interventions that could improve the attractiveness of teaching as a profession. Hosted by Matt Dickson. This IPR event took place on 22 February 2024.

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 24 January 2024.

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.

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 of AI, Nello's book "The Shortcut: Why Intelligent Machines Do Not Think Like Us", considers how AI is embedded across our technologies, infrastructure and all our lives and asks whether we should be concerned and what should we do. Roland also heads to our Department of Social & Policy Sciences to talk to Professor Emma Carmel. Emma is Professor of Governance and Public Policy with a particular focus on how public policies, and public and private organisations interact to shape society. Emma's work has analysed social and labour market policies, migration, and most recently, AI technologies. She is interested in how AI systems are used by governments, and how this is changing the relationship between state, society, citizens and technologies. She also works on the public policy challenges that the adoption of AI presents in different settings and how it can be regulated. Among other work, Emma is co-editor of a major new international handbook on AI and Public Policy, is launching a book series on Governance, Technology and Society (Edward Elgar) in 2024. This episode was recorded in October 2023.

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 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 in the years ahead. The report was launched in the House of Lords. She directs the 7 university Centre for Doctoral Training in New and sustainable photovoltaics, CDT-PV. Locally, students funded by the CDT-PV worked with Bath Abbey to explore how could be installed on historic buildings to reduce emissions. Professor Petra Cameron from Bath's Department of Chemistry. Her group researches energy materials and makes perovskite solar cells. She focuses on understanding ion motion in perovskites (perovskites are mixed electronic-ionic conductors), making perovskite solar cells with carbon coatings for water splitting to make solar fuels. This is about making perovskites more stable to help scale up their production. Her work has helped to position the University as somewhere of real solar energy expertise and has also helped to put the UK to the forefront of perovskite development. For more information on our guests and the University of Bath’s Research with Impact Podcast please visit go.bath.ac.uk/research-with-impact or follow @uniofbath.