معرفی
Dr. Matthew Hanchard is a Research Fellow at the School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield, based at the iHuman Institute. He holds Fellowship of the Higher Education Authority (FHEA) status and currently works on the Wellcome Trust-funded project 'Orphan drugs: high prices, access to medicines and the transformation of biopharmaceutical innovation'.
His educational background includes:
- BA in Photography, University of Derby (2006)
- MA in Photography and Urban Cultures, Goldsmiths, University of London (2008)
- PhD in Human Geography, Newcastle University (2019)
As a digital sociologist and STS scholar, Hanchard investigates social consequences of technology (particularly data flows), cultural consumption patterns, medical sociology, and digital research methodologies. His work bridges sociology, urban studies, and computer science through projects on digital maps, smart city infrastructure, film audiences, and rare disease discourse.
Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals dominant themes in medical sociology (orphan drugs, rare diseases) and digital cultural consumption (film audiences, platformed media), with strong methodological innovation in computational ontologies and mixed-methods approaches. His research consistently examines power dynamics in technology-society interactions across healthcare, urban environments, and media ecosystems.
His recognition includes:
- Fellow of the Higher Education Authority (FHEA)
Hanchard has supervised MA dissertations using digital methods and network theory but is not currently available for primary PhD supervision. His grant portfolio features:
- Principal Investigator: 'Fostering cultures of open qualitative research' (Research England, £13,914, 2023)
- Co-Investigator: 'Patient access to orphan drugs' (Research England, £4,575, 2022)
- Co-Investigator: 'Smart publics' project (Sydney-Glasgow partnership, AU$39,371, 2019-2020)
- Working Group Member: EU COST action 'Grassroots of Digital Europe' (2022-2026)
He actively contributes to the iHuman Institute and multiple research networks including the Global Pharmaceuticals & Society Studies network (GPSS), Open Research Working Group, Social Network Analysis in Scotland (SNAS), and Science Technology and Medicine in Society group (STeMiS).
