Daniel Robins
Research Associate

Profile

Biography

I joined the Department of Sociology in 2017 to undertake my PhD, which examined the attachment and generation of value in the disposal of the dead body. The project was awarded with the AsSIST-UK Andrew Webster PhD Prize (2022) for its contribution to policy and theory in the environmental and technological management of the dead body.

After completing my PhD, I stayed in the department as an Associate Lecturer (2021-2023) where I primarily taught on the postgraduate programmes in Social Media. Following this, I have held two Postdoctoral Research Associate roles at York. The first was with Professor Nik Brown on the biopolitics of the biosciences (2023-2026). Since October 2026, I have been working with Professor David Beer in the Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life.

My research examines the implications of emerging technologies for cultures of caring, risk, and ethics. It has been published across a number of leading journals, such as Mortality; Science, Technology, and Human Values; Sociology of Health & Illness; and The Sociological Review. Most recently, my published work has been used to inform the Law Commission’s review of burial and cremation laws, and the UK Department of Science’s review of robotics in health and social care. Core to my research has been my use of innovative walking methodologies. These have been used to drive my teaching practice where I encourage creativity and the role of the spatial environment in student learning and assessment. 

Research

Overview

My research draws together approaches from science and technology studies, sociology, philosophy, and criminology to examine how emerging technologies are applied to and shape cultures of ethics, care, and risk. I have predominantly examined this in relation to:

• Death and dying
• Healthcare
• Biological weapons testing and development

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Dolezal, L. Brown, N. Atkin, K. Metsäketo, S. M. Nettleton, S. Robins, D., (2026). ‘Striving for Presence on a Hospital Ward: Phenomenology & Re-Embodiment for a Nurse-Operated Telepresence Robot’, Science, Technology, & Human Values.
• Woodthorpe, K. Olson, P. Robins, D. Robinson, G. McClymont, K. Cox, S., (2026). ‘The environmental costs of human body disposal: What will drive change?’, Mortality.
• Robins, D. Brown, N. Atkin, K. M. Dolezal, L. Nettleton, S., (2025). ‘Towards a Sociology of Healthcare Robots’, Sociology of Health and Illness,  47(4), e70033
• Nettleton, S. Brown, N. Atkin, K. M. Dolezal, L. Metsäketo, S. & Robins, D., (2025). ‘Valkky’s voyage on to a hospital ward: Expectations, explorations and emergent robocentric nursing care’, Health, 29(4), 569-588
• Robins, D., (2025). ‘The Calculation of Environmental Indicators in Crematorium Burden Sharing Schemes’, Mortality, 30(3), 585-600
• Robins, D.P.G., (2025). ‘Rendering, Waste Disposal and the Production of Value’, The Sociological Review, 73(3), 626-644
• Robins, D. Smith, R., (2021). ‘Hidden Labour in Funeral Directing: Providing Care to ‘Difficult’ Dead Bodies’, Mortality, 26, (1), 100-111

Book Chapters:

• Robins, D. Bassett, K. Laing, M., (2026). ‘Using walking methods in criminology research’. In Penfold-Mounce, R. Falcetta, S. (Eds). Routledge Handbook of Alternative Qualitative Methods for Criminology. London: Routledge.
• Robins, D., (2022). ‘(Dis)posing of ‘Toxic Necro-Waste’: Managing Unwanted Ghosts’. In Fiddler, M. Linnemann, T. Kindynis, T. (Eds). Ghost Criminology. New York: New York University Press.

External Activity

Overview

I am a member of the editorial board for the Mortality journal.

I am on the steering group for the Death and Culture Network.