Luret Lar wins best new researcher paper award at WISERD conference

Luret Lar, a second-year PhD researcher at the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, has been awarded the Best New Researcher Paper at the recent Wales Institute of Economic and Social Research Data (WISERD) Conference held in Aberystwyth on the 30^th of June 2025. This was announced by Adam Hedgecoe, the Director of WISERD, in the closing speech of the conference.  The award was presented in recognition of her paper titled “Integration experiences of forced migrant women in Wales: A Nation of Sanctuary”. Luret said, “Receiving this award was entirely unexpected and incredibly humbling. It’s a powerful motivator as I move forward in my research career.”

The award is a prestigious recognition granted to early-career scholars who demonstrate exceptional promises and contribute novel insights to their area of research. Luret’s work focuses on the integration experiences that forced migrant women encounter as they rebuild their lives. The winning paper explores the support that Wales, a Nation of Sanctuary, offers and could potentially improve on as forced migrants begin their integration from the first day of arrival.

Using semi-structured interviews and visual elicitation, including drawings, photographs and poetry, the emerging findings show that although forced migrant women are receiving some support to help them rebuild their lives in Wales, they feel that people are adequately helping them more than the supporting organisations should. They need more culturally appropriate housing, and the healthcare workers should be more patient with them, as they are still learning English.”

The journey to the conference was marked by intensive research and collaboration. She credited the support of her supervisors, Prof. Sin Yi Cheung, Prof. Amanda Robinson, her progress reviewer Dr. Kirsty Hudson, organizations providing services for forced migrant women in Wales, her funders, the Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences (WGSS), Economic and Social Research  Council (ESRC), other researchers in the field of study,  the Migration, Ethnicity, Race and Diversity (MEAD) research group, and faculty members at  Cardiff University,  all of whom played a vital role in the development of the work. She is also grateful to the Learned Society of Wales for its support towards the award.

At the conference, Luret presented the paper during the “Marginalised Communities and Emerging Voices” session and engaged with various scholars. The session attracted significant interest and generated fascinating questions and comments. One of the judges at the session said, “incredibly engaging, building narrative around stories, very accessible with nice links to policy discourse and tailored to the audience,” and another judge said that at one point it moved them to tears. Luret hopes to conclude the data analysis, as she keenly anticipates new opportunities for partnerships and continued academic engagement.