By Dr Noëlle Quénivet Director of Research and Enterprise (BLS) and Professor in International Law
At Bristol Law School, we often ask ourselves a straightforward question: who gains from our research? In other words, what is the point of it?
This question aligns squarely with UWE Bristol’s RISE ambition: research that is collaborative, applied and above all makes a positive impact on society. RISE encourages us to move beyond academic papers and towards real results, working with businesses, government bodies, local authorities and communities to address concrete problems.
At the Law School our research culture is very much a doing culture. It is co-created with beneficiaries, translated into practice and designed to bring about change. When someone mentions “research,” people often think of monographs and papers. Whilst we produce these as well, research includes much more. We are driven by intellectual curiosity and are committed to ensuring our research has meaning and value beyond academia.
Here are a few examples of what that looks like in practice.
Research that engages communities: The Windrush Inquiry Clinic
The Windrush scandal remains a critical test of whether the UK can deliver justice to those it has wronged. At Bristol Law School, our team is contributing to the design of a People’s Inquiry, drawing on insights from international justice processes while remaining acutely aware of the emotional weight of this work and the importance of storytelling for affected communities.
The project team brings together practitioners and academics including Tamara Rundle, Associate Professor Rachel Wood, Professor Gerhard Kemp and Tanvir Munim alongside colleagues from Politics and International Relations including Suwita Randhawa. Importantly, this work is also carried out with our undergraduate law students.
This is rigorous legal analysis embedded into a participatory process, designed to influence practice and policy in real time – while equipping students with valuable employability skills.
Designing law for inclusion: Deaf Legal Studies
Inclusivity is central to UWE’s values. Dr Rob Wilks’ research centres around a critique of the law’s hearing bias and argues for frameworks grounded in deaf people’s lived experience. His work emphasises sign language rights, bilingual deaf education and procedural design that prioritises accessibility.
Rather than relying on incremental adjustments, this project signals a shift towards genuine structural inclusion with the aim of transforming how Deaf people access health services, education and other essential systems. The work is firmly rooted in Deaf Legal Studies, building on the Deaf Legal Theory Wilks has developed in earlier research and offering a method for testing law against Deaf experience.
The impact of this work extends globally as Wilks is also collaborating with colleagues in Ghana.
Tackling economic crime through knowledge exchange
Dr Sam Mapston, Dr Diana Johnson, Demelza Hall and Dr Jonny Gilbert are researching key aspects of economic crime from money laundering and bribery to tax evasion and fraud. These crimes are pervasive and costly yet agencies tackling them often face a familiar problem: finding the right research at the right time.
The Economic Crime Experts Directory, launched in May 2025, is designed to close that gap. The publicly accessible directory connects academics with stakeholders across government, law enforcement, civil society and industry, enabling policy and operational decisions to be informed by current research and evidence.
In short, a knowledge exchange built by law researchers for real world users.
Law, creativity and technology: GenAI in the VFX industry
When creative technology meets law, the results can be unexpected including film screen credits! Dr Cobus Jooste works closely with Lux Aeterna VFX Studio, an award winning visual effects studio, to explore the legal and ethical challenges posed by generative AI.
Drawing on his expertise in intellectual property law, he has supported the production of RENO, a short film that acts as an experimental case study for issues such as authorship, training data, legal ethics and fit for purpose standards in GenAI assisted film making. Further, his work has enabled Lux Aeterna to deliver their own input on the Government’s consultation on AI and Copyright Law exceptions and to influence their own AI best practice guidelines which will be the core of a toolkit for the wider creative industries.
This kind of industry engaged scholarship turns legal theory into practical guidance for a fast moving sector.
Governing emerging technologies: autonomous weapon systems
Continuing the AI theme, Dr Mike Pollard has recently received funding from the VC ECR scheme to test and refine a 60 rule framework governing the deployment of autonomous weapon systems.
Working with colleagues across all three UWE colleges and engaging experts from other institutions, he is convening a series of multidisciplinary workshops to develop the first interdisciplinary manual on the use of these systems. The aim is to synthesise legal, ethical and technical perspectives into policy ready guidance.
This is law built for practice: structured collaboration producing outputs that speak directly to RISE’s commitment to shaping governance where technological change is fastest.
What this says about our research culture
Across these projects, some common threads emerge.
We co-produce from day one. Whether working with the Windrush community, VFX technologists, agencies combating economic crime or Deaf advocates, our research is designed with users. This is how complex legal insight becomes usable guidance, training, frameworks and tools.
We prioritise translation over performative impact. Expert directories operationalise knowledge exchange; legal frameworks are tested with interdisciplinary audiences; theory is used to drive practical change. This is the research to practice pipeline RISE was built to scale.
We align with and strengthen the RISE beacons. From Harnessing Creativity and Technology covering GenAI and autonomous weapons to Enriching Culture, Place and Community covering Windrush, Deaf Legal Studies and economic crime, Bristol Law School’s research underpins UWE’s mission to shape just, future ready societies.
Where next?
At the heart of all these projects lies a shared commitment to the social value of our research.
In the years ahead, we will continue working with academics, businesses, government agencies and local authorities, to produce practical research outputs and engage with the public. This is how we measure success under RISE: when our scholarship helps to improve the world, not just critique it.