Karen Winter

Karen Winter is a Professor of Children's Social Care at Queen's University Belfast, affiliated with the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work and the Centre for Children's Rights. Her research focuses on children in care, their rights, communication, and service effectiveness, with a particular emphasis on early intervention and digital media impacts. She has led projects funded by ESRC, EU, and NIHR, including 'Reading Together' and 'Participation 4 Protection'.

Education: PhD in Social Work (2009). Leadership roles include Programme Director for Social Work and Director of Undergraduate Education. Awards include Queen's Teaching Awards (2012, 2017) and a University of Oxford Research Fellowship (2016).

Research interests span qualitative methodologies, children's rights advocacy, and social work practice innovations. She chairs international committees within the European Social Work Research Association and contributes to global initiatives like the NIHR Global Health Research Group on ECD and Peacebuilding.

Key publications analyze digital environments for toddlers, mobile device impacts in education, and foster care interventions. She emphasizes participatory approaches, evidenced by tools like 'talking albums' to gather children's perspectives.