Dr Michael Plant Founder & Research Director

Michael Plant is a philosopher and global happiness researcher. He is the Founder and Research Director of the Happier Lives Institute (HLI) and a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford.

In 2019, Michael founded HLI to address the lack of rigorous research on the impact of charities on people’s happiness. Using hundreds of academic studies and subjective wellbeing data, HLI assesses the impact and cost-effectiveness of interventions, measured in Wellbeing Life-Years (WELLBYs), a method endorsed by the UK Treasury in 2021. HLI’s findings so far have highlighted the significant impact of treating depression at scale in Sub-Saharan Africa, with their work discussed in Vox and Devex, among other outlets.

Michael's philosophical research extends to the nature and measurement of wellbeing, effective giving, moral uncertainty, and population ethics. His current project, Taking Happiness Seriously, is a book that aims to modernise J.S. Mill's Utilitarianism with contemporary empirical insights. Michael has written articles for the New Statesman, Project Syndicate, the Huffington Post and The Conversation, and has been featured in The Times, The Economist, BBC1 and BBC Radio 4.

Michael earned his D. Phil. in Philosophy from the University of Oxford under the supervision of Peter Singer and Hilary Greaves. His thesis, “Doing Good Badly? Philosophical Issues Related to Effective Altruism”, critiques and develops views within the effective altruism movement. Additionally, Michael holds a first-class degree in philosophy from St Andrews and studied at the London School of Economics, where he was one mark short of a distinction – something he is definitely, absolutely, not still bitter about.

Between these degrees, Michael worked as a Parliamentary Researcher and briefly ventured into tech with a happiness tracker app. He now lives in Bristol with his wife and is eager to engage with new audiences and share insights on enhancing global happiness.