| Nan Zhang, PhD Senior Lecturer at University of Manchester, the UK Email Twitter LinkedIn ResearchGate Webpage |
I am a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor, since August 2022) in Medical Sociology and Social Gerontology in the Department of Social Statistics at the University of Manchester. My research focuses on the intersections of ageing, migration, informal care, and family dynamics, drawing on a life course perspective and employing a mixed-methods approach. I also have a growing interest in how digital technologies are reshaping transnational care practices, with a particular focus on Chinese diasporas in the context of traditional filial piety and the one-child policy. I have led projects as Principal Investigator externally funded through ESRC, GCRF, Research England, British Academy/Leverhulme. I serve as an Associate Editor for Ageing & Society and sit on the editorial boards of the Journal of Aging & Social Policy and the Journal of Global Aging. I am the founder and lead of Global Network for Ageing Research on China/Chinese (GNARC) (Twitter: @gnarchina). The GNARC, based at University of Manchester, has over 200 members from all over the world: China, UK, Europe, North America, Australia, Hongkong, Japan, Singapore and India. The GNARC brings together researchers, policy makers and NGOs who are concerned about ageing, well-being and inequality with a particular reference to Chinese populations.
Recent publications
Zhang, N., & Phillipson, C. (2025). Ageing, migration and grandparenting in China. Journal of Global Ageing, 2(1), 117-137.
Sun, J., Zhang, N., Vanhoutte, B., Carter, J., Wang, J., & Chandola, T. (2025). The J-shaped evolution of subjective wellbeing over the life course in rural China. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, 1-19.
Zhang, N., Nazroo, J., & Vanhoutte, B. (2021). The relationship between rural to urban migration in China and risk of depression in later life: An investigation of life course effects. Social Science & Medicine, 270, 113637.