Dr Catherine Robinson - Director of AWARD N Wales

Catherine Robinson is Director of AWARD's North Wales section. She is based in the Institute of Medical and Social Care Research, University of Wales Bangor. Her research experience spans a range of research methods with particular emphasis on participative and qualitative research. The research team she leads in North Wales is involved in a programme of carer research, funded by the Big Lottery, the Department of Health and the Wales Office of Research and Development. Her current research builds upon previous work concerned with assessment and care management, domiciliary care and the interface between health and social care. Her research benefits from strong and effective relationships with managers and practitioners in statutory and voluntary health and social care agencies in Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Catherine A Robinson is the Director of the All Wales Alliance for Research and Development AWARD (North Wales team).

Catherine and her AWARD research team joined the College of Business, Social Sciences and Law in 2008 as part of a wider Bangor University strategy to strengthen the team’s research focus and complement the existing research streams within the School of Social Sciences.

Catherine is a Bangor graduate; her first degree is in Psychology and her first research post was in the School of Psychology. A few years working in the NHS in England followed, returning to Bangor in the early 1990s to take up a new research post in the Centre for Social Policy Research and Development (CSPRD). The Centre was part of the School until 1997 when it became part of the University’s focus on health and social care and helped to form the Institute of Medical and Social Care Research (IMSCaR). Opportunities and funding to develop an infra-structure to support and develop research in health and social care in Wales followed. Between 1999 and 2004 Catherine was responsible for the North Wales Research and Development Support Service (NWRDSS) and for a small research team focused on social care research. Catherine maintained links with the School during this time and completed her social policy focused PhD in 2003.

The amalgamation of both teams under Catherine’s direction took place in 2004 and coincided with the achievement of a series of substantial research grants and a five year core contract to develop a policy related research development and support service across Wales. The AWARD team’s research portfolio is broad and reflects both the policy work commissioned directly by the Welsh Assembly Government and grants from peer reviewed funding bodies such as the Department of Health and the Wales Office of Research and Development.

Other roles
Visiting Lecturer, North East Wales Institute of Higher Education

Qualifications
Psychology BA (Hons), Wales, 1987. Sociology, PhD, Wales, 2003.