Cardiff University
The pioneering work of Cardiff University’s Violence Research Group was awarded a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education in 2009.
An Alumni Story: Professor Jonathan Shepherd
The pioneering work of Cardiff University’s Violence Research Group has transformed our ability to understand and predict community violence. Combining hospital and police data for the first time, the groundbreaking “Cardiff Model” has since informed violence prevention programmes around the world – and was awarded a Prize in 2009. Here, Professor Jonathan Shepherd explains the impact of winning the Prize.
I founded the Violence Research Group in 1996, so when the University put us forward for the Prize, our research had already been running for many years. It felt like a real affirmation of our hard work. It’s an incredibly prestigious, competitive prize and so we were honoured just to be selected as Cardiff’s nominee.
The process of pulling together our application was also very interesting. Gathering all that data makes you take stock. Our work was really detailed, rigorous stuff and it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture. Something like this helps you to look at what you’re doing from 30,000 feet, rather than three.
When we actually won, it was very, very special. It was hugely encouraging for the whole team – I always say it gave us a glow like no other! Winning feels like confirmation that you’re not only doing good work but also having an impact. And of course it was a huge source of pride for the University.
The celebrations at the Guildhall and the Palace were simply unforgettable, and what’s great is that some of the more junior researchers are invited to come with you. Seeing the grins on their faces during the presentation was just wonderful. It meant a great deal to all of us.
The impact it had was very powerful. The researchers involved are all now professors and I think the Prize helped to highlight their phenomenal hard work and talent at an important point in their careers.
It also helped me to see beyond the research, to see the effect our work was having in the public sphere and its ability to influence policy. I thought to myself, we’ve started a police research unit here, but what the police need now is a professional body. So I started campaigning for one. Theresa May, who was Home Secretary at the time, thought this was a good idea and so the College of Policing was launched in 2013.
Then I thought, well, we’ve done this for policing, what about probation? So I worked with the Howard League for Penal Reform – and The Probation Institute was founded in 2014. These things might seem indirect, but the Prize gave me the encouragement and confidence to believe that institutional change was possible.
It was also a huge boost for the research itself. It gives you momentum and makes you more ambitious. It makes you think, ok, this is good work, let’s get another paper published. And of course it’s still going strong, now under the leadership of Simon Moore.
On a very practical level, it really helps in grant applications. Over the years we’ve attracted funding from research councils and numerous charities and being able to talk about the Prize, which very much establishes your track record, makes a big difference.
I think one of the wonderful things about it is that it recognises teams of people, rather than individuals. Of course it’s the University that wins the Prize, but the way it celebrates teamwork at the highest possible level is so important. It was a great source of motivation for my team, and it made us think – what can we do next?