The Learned Society of Wales (LSW) and the Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA) are excited to collaborate on a webinar designed for researchers interested in the challenges and opportunities of doing research across the UK’s devolved contexts.
This webinar will provide an in-depth overview of the unique challenges and opportunities that arise from working with the devolved governments and offer guidance on how researchers can maximise the impact of their work across varied political landscapes.
The webinar aims to foster dialogue between researchers in Wales and Scotland, providing an opportunity to share valuable insights into the practicalities of conducting research in devolved contexts, as well as strategies for fostering cross-national collaboration and influencing policy.
Guest Speakers:
- Catherine May, PolicyWISE, Open University
Catherine will draw on comparative insights from PolicyWISE’s research to show how research-based communications, when embedded early in the policy process, can strengthen public engagement and support evidence-informed decision making. Through examples such as Scotland’s alcohol pricing reforms and Wales’s organ donation policy and as the elections in 2026 approach, the conditions for public trust are fragile, but they are not beyond repair. Comparative learning offers the same promise for researchers as it does for policy: better outcomes if we pay attention to the lessons all around us. Researchers will gain practical insights into how comparative policy learning can enhance the clarity, relevance, and impact of their own communications in a rapidly shifting political landscape.
Catherine is the Lead for External Affairs and Communications at PolicyWISE, where she works across the UK and Ireland to translate comparative policy research into accessible insights for policymakers, practitioners, and the public. She specialises in strategic communications, public engagement, and evidencing the impact of research across devolved contexts. Catherine has advised governments, given evidence in the Senedd and Westminster, and led impactful projects spanning health, social policy, and equality. She has a MA (Econ) in Social Policy and Social Development from the University of Manchester.
PolicyWISE is a unique UK and Ireland comparative policy, research, and knowledge exchange initiative. We bring people and research together to find solutions to cross-nation issues facing policymakers. PolicyWISE is UK and Ireland by design (working across The Open University’s unique four-nations base), supporting policymakers and researchers across the nations to develop relationships, respect and knowledge and funded by Dangoor Education. We were recently highly commended for One to Watch in the Smart Thinking awards 2025. - Marie McQuade, School of Education, University of Glasgow
Marie is currently the Head of Educational Policy and Leadership Research and Teaching Group at the School of Education at University of Glasgow and Programme Lead for BA Childhood Practice. She does teaching and supervision across a range of higher ed courses focusing on educational leadership, policy development and ECEC. She has over 20 years of experience in education and childcare leadership, policy development and professional learning.
Marie will share her experience of engaging with the Scottish Government through her current PhD research, which focuses on social policy design, development and articulation in the context of out-of-school care education. - Dr Gareth Evans. School of Law, Swansea University
Gareth is a Lecturer in Law at the HRC School of Law at Swansea University where he coordinates modules on the law of devolution in Wales, legal systems, and devolution in comparative perspective. His research interests lie in the areas of public law and political history, with a specific focus on the devolution settlement in Wales. He holds external positions as a member of the Society of Legal Scholars’ Legal Education Committee and the Learned Society of Wales’ Advisory Group for Researcher Development.
Gareth will share his experience of researching the devolution settlement in Wales and engaging with politicians and Senedd researchers. He will reflect upon how engaging with policy makers has informed his own research practice and approach to research dissemination.
Chair:
- Dr Fiona Dakin, Head of Public Policy, Learned Society of Wales
Fiona is the Head of Public Policy at LSW. She is responsible for leading on policy advice and public affairs work. She joined the Society in 2023 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), where she was responsible for external engagement, especially with national, regional and civic policymakers.
Fiona leads the Society’s work as part of the Celtic Academies Alliance (CAA). The CAA brings together the national academies of Ireland, Scotland and Wales to further promote and encourage co-operation, collaboration and shared learning across the three academic and research systems.
