Dr Gillian Buck
Associate Professor
Biography
Dr Gillian Buck is Associate Professor of Social Work in the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Society at the University of Chester, UK, where she teaches, mentors and supervises staff and postgraduate researchers. She is also the principal investigator on a 4-year UKRI FLF funded study of lived experience in criminal justice, providing leadership support to a diverse team of researchers, advisors and arts partners. Gill is an experienced researcher and lecturer in the related fields of social work and criminology. She leads modules on the social work BA, MA and Degree apprenticeships, teaching research methods, human development, youth justice, coproduction and suicide first aid.
Teaching and Supervision
Gill is an experienced lecturer, having taught criminal justice and social work since 2006. She teaches theories of human development informed by biological, psychological and social research and the ways these apply to social work and criminal justice practice. Gill also teaches research methods and supervises social work students to develop MA and PhD theses. Prior to teaching in higher education, Gill worked as a social worker in youth justice and with charities responding to sexual violence. She brings these experiences to her teaching, providing specialist sessions across the social work curriculum. As a Suicide First Aid Associate tutor she also upskills social work students with life saving first aid skills. Beyond the university, Gill delivers 'learning together' workshops, supporting access to higher education for people with criminal convictions.
Research and Knowledge Exchange
Gill's research has focused on peer mentoring in criminal justice, coproduced and user-led community provision, and the ways that meaningful participation could advance social research, social justice practice and the regulation of criminal justice institutions. From 2020-2024 Gill worked as co-Investigator on a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded project which aimed to reconceptualise prison regulation for safer societies. In October 2024 she began to lead her own UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship examining lived experience led criminal justice across the UK and Ireland. Gill has published widely, presented at national and international conferences and supervised PhD students to successful completion. Gill regularly reviews manuscripts for book and journal publishers and is a member of the Cheshire and Merseyside Social Work Teaching Partnership (CMSWTP) 'research hub', where she plays an active role connecting social work practitioners with researchers to advance evidence-based practice. Gill has an interest in participatory and arts informed research and collaborates with artists and experts by experience in an effort to make research accessible.