Shortlisted for inequality work

Cardiff Social Scientist Professor Teresa Rees CBE AcSS is on the first-ever shortlist for Research Fortnight’s Achiever of the Year Award.

The award will be the first in an annual series, to be given to an individual who has left an indelible mark on the research policy world over the previous twelve months. The winner will be someone who has shown leadership and taken actions to make the UK research environment more productive, healthy and transparent.

Professor Rees has recently completed a six year term as Pro Vice-Chancellor at Cardiff. She is a Professor in the School of Social Sciences and leading on strategic collaboration between the social sciences in Cardiff, Bristol, Bath and Exeter Universities. She is also Director for Wales of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, which is supporting the collaboration agenda.

Her research is driven by concerns about the outcomes of patterns of inequality. She has developed research on an approach to tackling gender inequality called "gender mainstreaming", which seeks to promote gender equality in policies and processes and in organisations and their cultures. She is a long term expert adviser to the European Commission on gender mainstreaming and science policy and co-author of an EC report being launched this month: Structural Change in Research Institutions: Enhancing excellence, gender equality and efficiency in research and innovation. She was an expert adviser to the Science Leaders Panel who produced the genSET Consensus Report: Recommendations for Action on the Gender Dimension in Science. The work of the Science Leaders Panel has highlighted the beginning of an important dialogue between gender experts and leaders of scientific institutions in order to improve the quality of research by not ignoring the gender dimension.

Professor Rees’ interest in inequalities is wider than gender however. She was a member of the UK Government’s National Equality Panel whose report An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK was a milestone in understanding the relationship between personal characteristics, including class, and education, income and wealth. She was instrumental in persuading the Equality and Human Rights Commission to sponsor An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in Wales.

The Research Fortnight Achiever of the Year will be announced at the publication’s annual conference on November 9. The two other nominees are Iain Gray, Chief Executive Officer of the Technology Strategy Board and Jennifer Rohn, a cell biologist at University College London and founding chair of Science is Vital. Nominees can be anyone working actively within a branch of UK research.

Professor Rees said: "I’m delighted to see the relevance of inequalities research recognised with this nomination. The Research Fortnight Award is a new one, but I’m sure it will become well-established within the research sector. I know I am up against two strong candidates, so I’m looking forward to seeing what happens on November 9."