Cardiff School of Social Sciences

Career Profile

Dr. Matthew Williams has been a member of academic staff within the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University since 2001. During this time he has formed a reputation for his interdisciplinary research within three key innovative fields: Cybercrime, Digital Qualitative Methodology and Sexuality, Law and Criminal Justice. Interdisciplinarity is a key feature of his work which is evidenced by his research partnerships with the School of Computer Science, the School of Dentistry and various research groups within the School of Social Sciences. He is a grant holder of awards in excess of £746,000.  He has gained 2 large ESRC grants for projects which examined the use of digital methods for qualitative research.  He has also gained funding from the Big Lottery Fund (400K) for the All Wales Hate Crime Project and from the Nominet Trust (50K) for the e-Crime Reduction Partnership Mapping Study.  His book, Virtually Criminal was short listed for the British Sociological Association’s Philip Abrams Memorial Book Prize in 2007. He has published in the areas of Cybercrime, Online Research Methodology and Sexuality and Policing and has presented at over 20 national and international conferences. He was an Independent Academic Expert on cybercrime to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the e-Crime Wales Project funded by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG).

Administration

• Chair of the Taught Postgradute Board of Studies (2010-)
• Research and Graduate School Liaison for the School of Social Sciences (2009)
• Taught MSc Schemes Assessment Coordinator (2005-09)
• Acting Taught MSc Schemes Admissions Coordinator (2006)
• Acting MSc Criminology & Criminal Justice Scheme Coordinator (2006)
• Member of School Management Board
• Member of the School Assessment Working Group
• Assisted in the design and validation of the single honours degree in Criminology
• Member of the BSc Criminology joint degree validation committee
• School representative on the Early Career Academic University Committee (2005-2006)
• Member of the University Equality and Diversity Committee
• Co-Chair of the Cardiff University Enfys Staff Network (2006)
• University representative at several Stonewall Diversity Champions events across Wales
• Attended meetings of the University Sexual Orientation Working Group

University Wider Mission Activities

• Academic advisor to the Department of Trade and Industry (Foresight e-Crime Programme). The role involved providing expert advice on the extent of the current e-crime problem and envisioning future developments in both criminal entrepreneurship and methods of control. The outcome of the meetings resulted in several government publications.
• Academic advisor to the Welsh Assembly Government e-Crime Steering Group. The role involves attending steering group meetings and advising on e-crime threats as they relate to the Welsh economy. I was commissioned to write a rapid evidence assessment on the issue, which was read by the Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks and assisted in the establishment of the Wales e-Crime Unit.
• Addressed the National Assembly for Wales at the launch of the Stonewall Cymru report entitled Counted Out: Findings from the 2002-03 Stonewall Cymru survey of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Wales. Scheduled to launch the second report All Wales Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Survey 2006-07 at the Senedd Nov 07. Advised the Trades Union Congress Wales on lesbian, gay and bisexual employment issues.
• Addressed Government and business leaders at the eCrime Reduction Partnership roundtable at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills in 2010.  Attendees included constabularies, ministers, Parliamenatry Under-Secretary of State for Security, senior civil servants, major banks, retailers, large IT firms and security services.

Professional  Activities

• Co-Editor of the British Society of Criminology Journal of Criminology & Criminal Justice
• Associate Editor of the Internet Journal of Criminology
• Editorial Board Member of Sociological Research Online
• Reviewer for Qualitative Research
• Reviewer for Policing & Society
• Reviewer for Sociology
• Grant Reviewer for the Economic and Social Research Council
• Member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Internet Researchers (2000-2002)
• Treasurer of the British Society of Criminology, Wales and West Branch (2002-2004)
• Registered Practitioner of the Higher Education Academy

Teaching

• Offending and Victimisation (Yr 2)
• Responses to Crime (Yr 2)
• Crime Control, Regulation and Policing (Yr 3)
• Diversity, Crime & Criminal Justice (Yr 3)
• Sentencing and Penal Theory (MSc)
• Police and Policing (MSc)
• Theories of Crime (MSc)
• Penal Sanctions (MSc)
• Patterns of Crime and their Explanation (MSc)
• Criminological Research Methods (MSc)
• Principles and Practice of Research Design (MSc)
• Interviews and Interviewing (MSc)
• Analysis of Qualitative Data (MSc)
• Research Design (Prof Doctorate)
• Forensic Psychiatry (MSc)