Cardiff University is a leading research-based institution of higher education in the UK. The University’s School of Social Sciences, where work on project PACHELBEL will be based, has an international reputation for conceptuallyinformed, empirically-based, research. In the 2008 UK government Research Assessment Exercise, the School was ranked in the top ten sociology departments in the UK, receiving the highest score in the UK in terms of its ‘research power’. The School is particularly well known for work in the sociology of science and technology, sociology of medicine and health care, and the impact of globalisation on the organisation of work. Cardiff will play a full role as a partner in project PACHELBEL, working closely with the University of Brunel and London School of Economics in delivering the UKbased empirical work. Cardiff will also provide intellectual and practical leadership for the entire consortium for Work Package 2 (the integration and evaluation of the research programme).