Centre for Appearance Research (CAR)

CAR is changing how the world sees bodies through science.

We are on a mission to conduct and use research to help people and society accept and appreciate all bodies.

Our vision is to expand our impact beyond academia, creating a world where diversity in appearance is fully valued.

Our work is grounded in excellence, leadership, social impact, community, equity and belonging. 

Our research and consultancy are focused on two broad areas:

Colourful diverse crowd of people in an abstract art seamless pattern.

About

Find out how our research transforms lives.

Research themes

Discover our themes, projects, publications and PhD research.

Members

Details of our centre's members, visiting academics, staff and PhD students.

Resources

Online training, videos and media resources.

FAQs

Answers to your frequently asked questions.

News and events

Attend our Appearance Matters Conference and much more.

Publications

Publications from members of the Centre for Appearance Research.

Contacts

We welcome enquiries about our work - please get in touch.

Appearance Matters 11, 9-11 June 2026

Read the Conference Co-Chairs' welcome.

AM11

Appearance Matters Podcast

Appearance Matters: The Podcast is all about appearance, featuring exclusive interviews with experts in the field. It is hosted by Dr Nadia Craddock, Dr Maia Thornton, and Abbi Matthews on SoundCloud.

Appearance Matters: The Podcast

Episode 108 - Generative AI has a body bias: Who gets to be seen?

Podcast host, Dr Kat Schneider, speaks to Dr Aisha Sobey, a Research Associate at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, where she studies the ethical implications of Generative AI and digital health systems, especially focusing on the impacts on non-normative bodies, employing Political Economy, Science and Technology Studies, Fat Studies, and Disability Studies theories in her work. Tune in to learn about her research and the “general erasure of difference”, particularly around larger and fat bodies.

Featured in The Psychologist

 The Psychologist is the official publication of the British Psychological Society.

Social media app use by influencers creating personal brand, people sharing content with followers.

The changing face of appearance

Members of CAR showcase their work around growing new trends in the field of appearance psychology.

Read the article
Photo of the Centre for Appearance podcast team, left to right: Dr Nadia Craddock, Sharon Haywood, Dr Maia Thornton, and Abbi Mathews.

Changing how the world sees bodies

The Appearance Matters: The Podcast! team from CAR mark a milestone - 100 episodes - and 10 years of disseminating research and discussing appearance-related topics.

Read the article

Why we study appearance

Transforming tomorrow, today.

Our unique approach to research, innovation, skills, enterprise and just and ethical practices is driving societal improvements and transforming futures for the better.

RISE

You may also be interested in

Groups of people sitting on the grass in a park surrounded by trees.

Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing (CPHWB)

The Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing enables ethical and reflexive contributions to public health policy and practice.

Image of a colourful multi-sign signpost pointing in different directions in Bristol.

Psychological Sciences Research Group (PSRG)

Conducting applied research that has a positive influence on people and places; at home, in the workplace, and in the wider social environment.

Visual screen display in hexagonal shapes with an index finger touching a lighted up central document icon.

Social and Public Policy Research Group (SPPRG)

An impact-driven research group that aims to help us understand how research and theory can inform evidence-based policy and practice.