The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin
PEOPLE & SOCIETY WINTER 2018 ISSUE NO.2
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The Laboratory for Innovation in Autism
06
Grant Successes
18
Public Engagement
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W
elcome to our second issue of People & Society, HaSS’s regular Research & Impact Bulletin, packed with new research you are involved in and events many of you have been busy organising. As a Faculty, we’ve always worked collaboratively across Schools and beyond, with communities, NGOs, policy makers and academics, to address pressing social issues and improve people’s lives. When reading this issue, you’ll be impressed by the breadth and depth of the work we do and its impact beyond academia. As in the first issue, you’ll find examples of work that colleagues do to address inequalities and dismantle structures that exclude certain groups from participation. You’ll read about projects which change lives, from improving support for children with autism to helping connect people with services. Our impact on policy is significant, from Scottish to European policies and further afield. We showcase here a range of achievements from the last few months, including engagement events which have had significant impact, notable visitors and student successes. On page 5, I announce a new initiative I’d like to publicise widely - the launch of the Faculty’s New Leaders’ Academy – an initiative you can read more about in this issue and come to hear more about on 5 December. Finally, our Faculty Impact Prizes competition is now open: details on how you can enter are on page 19. As we approach the festive season, I can officially declare this issue a cracker! One you are allowed to open before the Boxing Day. Thanks to all colleagues who have submitted items for this issue and to Ciara McShane for help with collating the stories. If you’d like to feature in our next People & Society Bulletin, out in spring, get in touch or submit your news through the Sharepoint link.
In this issue 03 The Laboratory for
Innovation in Autism
04 Spotlight on Research 05 HaSS New Leaders’ Academy Launch
06 Grant Successes 08 Policy and Practice Impact 09 New Appointments 10 International Collaborations 12 Events 14 In Print 15 Student Successes 16 New Course
Strathclyde Ageing Network
17 18
Media Engagement
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Profile: Dr Maddie Breeze, Chancellor’s Fellow Public Engagement HaSS Impact Prize Awards
Have a relaxing festive season when it comes – and enjoy the issue! Dr Daniela Sime, Associate Dean (Public Engagement & Impact) Follow us: @HaSSPEI
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t: 0141 444 8410 e: hass-faculty-office@strath.ac.uk www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/
The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Winter 2018, Issue No.2 ]
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THE LABORATORY FOR INNOVATION IN AUTISM
T
he Laboratory for Innovation in Autism is a new, cross-Faculty venture between Education, Biomedical Engineering, and Electronic and Electrical Engineering to make a step-change in research gains with interdisciplinary innovation in autism science, for improved autism practice. The Laboratory was officially launched this year by Principal Sir Jim MacDonald with honoured guests and dignitaries, including Horizon Nuclear CEO and autism philanthropist Duncan Hawthorne and Scottish autism champion John Murray, supporting the occasion. Innovation in Autism is an interdisciplinary collaboration bringing together researchers and staff from education, psychology, history, and engineering to develop an ecology of shared skills and knowledge in autism research. The collaboration is aiming to deliver new understandings of autism for practical gains in neuropsychiatry and education. The lab is led by Jonathan Delafield-Butt (Education), Phil Rowe (BME), and Ivan Andanovic (EEE).
The lab supports three post-docs, a research assistant, data manager, and an administrator, together with seven PhD/EdD students examining motor disruptions in autism with novel technology. We welcome Masters projects and currently host students from Education, Engineering, and Computer Science. Our research interests include aetiology and ecological assessment of autism and neurodevelopmental disorders, smart technology development such as iPads and motion sensors, movement as a potential early biomarker for autism, and the brainstem basis of motor disruptions in autism. Our current major project is a multisite diagnostic trial of the iPad app Play. Care designed by our industrial collaborators, Harimata, and carried out by us in Scotland and by the Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre in Sweden. We are funded to over ÂŁ1M through industry, EU H2020, EPSRC, ESRC, Carnegie Trust, and Capita, with allied projects in philosophy
supported by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and knowledge exchange by the Scottish Government and Autism Network Scotland. Our lab is located at Graham Hills 850, and comprises two offices, a tech development lab/student hotdesking space, and a child lab with its own Vicon motion tracking system. We welcome colleagues across the University and the wider autism community to come visit us and bring any ideas you have for collaboration or use of the space. We also hold open seminars on topics related to autism or movement science. If you are interested in attending, you can get in touch with us at autism-innovation@strath. ac.uk or follow us on social media, @strathautismlab. We are delighted to be recognised by the University for our bold new innovation in autism with a Strathclyde Medal for our worldclass, cross-Faculty team.
In particular, we bring novel technological advances in smart device serious games to better understand motor aspects of autism spectrum disorder and closely related neurodevelopmental conditions. This smart-tech approach affords a step-change in the way we research autism, bringing the laboratory into the home, clinic, or classroom with bespoke, fun instrumented games played on tablets, phones, or watches. By better understanding the role of movement in autism, we can better design educational and clinical interventions to help.
The Laboratory for Innovation in Autism
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SPOTLIGHT ON RESEARCH CILIA-LGBTQI+: Comparing intersectional lifecourse inequalities experienced by LGBTQI+ people in four European countries Overview
Bringing together an international and multi-disciplinary research team, the CILIA-LGBTQI+ study investigates potential inequalities experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+)1 people at three transition points in life: education to work transitions; employment progression in mid-life; and the transition into retirement and its implications for end of life. The key objective is to provide unique cross-cultural evidence concerning life course inequalities experienced by LGBTQI+ people, comparing and contrasting these across four European countries with different yet interrelated social, historical, economic and political backgrounds: England, Scotland, Portugal and Germany. Additionally, the project examines how inequalities related to gender and/or sexual identities vary and intersect with others, such as social class, ethnicity, citizenship status, health status, disability, religion and geographical location across the life course. Work-packages are being conducted in each of the four countries to gather data from existing research and legal and policy documents. The accumulated data will also be used to develop a multi-agent based simulation model to inform theoretical development and explore future policy and research agendas. The ‘+’ is used to denote a range of marginalised and non-cis-heteronormative sexual and gender identities / experiences outwith the terms listed in the ‘LGBTQI’ acronym. 1
Significance of the research
Previous research has uncovered inequalities faced by LGBTQI+ citizens during specific life course stages, for example youth, middle adulthood, later life. Central to these studies are the effects of heterosexism (the privileging of heterosexuality over other sexualities), cissexism (the privileging of cisgender, i.e. those whose gender identity conforms to that assigned at birth), as well as overt discrimination and prejudice associated with homo-, bi- and transphobias. While prejudice and inequality may come from individual attitudes and actions, researchers have shown that heterosexism, cissexism and overt prejudice related to sexuality and gender identity are institutionally produced in workplace and other organisational settings. Such structurally produced inequalities affect LGBTQI+ citizens in different ways, at different points in their lives. Research has also identified specific issues that affect LGBTQI+ citizens more forcefully than their heterosexual and cisgender peers, such as poorer mental health and wellbeing, greater degrees of victimisation, minority stress, and - especially for trans people medicalisation and pathologisation. Within Europe, there have been specific legal and policy initiatives that seek to address discrimination. The EU has long recognised and incorporated LGBT equality and protections in its treaties, charters and directives. However, studies indicate that legislation, policy and organisational practice are unevenly enacted, particularly in times of financial and political strain, and austerity policies. Similarly, the study is conducted during ‘Brexit’; a period that may have destabilising effects across Europe, especially in the nations of the UK, and which may impact on LGBTQI+ citizens and their rights.
The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Winter 2018, Issue No.2 ]
Next steps
At Strathclyde, we have appointed a National Advisory Group for Scotland to guide and inform the research, consisting of colleagues with specialisms in LGBTQI+ lives and intersecting experiences. This includes sexualities and gender scholars from a range of Scottish universities; the Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights; Glasgow Disability Alliance; Glasgow LGBT+ Interfaith Network; Glasgow Women’s Library; Waverley Care / SX Scotland; LGBT Youth Scotland; STUC LGBT+ Workers’ Committee; leader of the Scottish Greens, Patrick Harvie MSP; and former Deputy Principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Professor Maggie Kinloch. We will host our inaugural Advisory Group meeting at Strathclyde in January 2019. In spring 2019, each team will begin to conduct aligned empirical research across all four countries. In Scotland, Yvette and Matson will conduct 45 in-depth interviews with LGBTQI+ people across the life course, aged 18–30, 35-50 and 55-70+. The interview design will incorporate participatory elicitation methods, where participants will be invited to ground their dialogues in personal or everyday objects and artefacts to facilitate articulation of their histories, presents and futures. We are exploring archival possibilities to record the objects and artefacts used. The study runs until 2021 and is funded by NORFACE, a consortium of European Research Councils. Webpage: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/ centre-research-ageing-gender/ research/cilia-lgbtq
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Contact Dr Matson Lawrence School of Education matson.lawrence@strath.ac.uk or Prof Yvette Taylor yvette.taylor@strath.ac.uk Twitter: @LGBTQILives #LGBTQILives
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HaSS NEW LEADERS’ ACADEMY LAUNCH
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new leadership initiative will launch in HaSS on 5 December 2018, aimed at colleagues in the early and middle stages of their careers. As a Faculty-wide platform for new leaders, the Academy will ensure a prominent and cohesive provision of opportunities to lead and innovate, building on leadership skills colleagues develop through leadership courses and experience of leading teams and projects. The Academy has received the full support of all Heads of Schools, Directors of Research and the Faculty Management Team. Research activity, student experience and public engagement are of central importance to our Faculty strategy and ambitions and the University goals. In recent years, research across the Faculty has intensified and diversified, with several new appointments, including through the Chancellor’s Fellowships route. The development of a distinctive and innovative leadership platform will enable and support further the plans for research and impact and improved student experience. It will also enhance our Faculty’s position in terms of leadership structures, new talent promotion and interdisciplinary research collaborations. Developing a cohesive approach to research, teaching and course management leadership at all levels will promote a more connected community of researchers and teaching and learning innovators, where interdisciplinary opportunities for teaching, research and KE are encouraged and promoted and opportunities for collaboration are fostered long-term. The HaSS New Leaders Academy’s mission will be to create an environment where academic, teaching and research colleagues with interest and enthusiasm for leadership and cross-disciplinary collaborations come together to identify opportunities for
partnerships and joint working. Providing opportunities for interdisciplinary engagement and ‘blue sky’ thinking, the Academy will promote a sense of community and offer a framework of support for future leaders to emerge and be supported through training, mentoring, peer support and selfidentified opportunities. The Academy will agree on a range of objectives that must be delivered in order to meet this ambitious vision. At this stage, the proposed objectives can be grouped under the broad headings of Leadership Opportunities, Enhancement of Cross-Disciplinary Research, KE & Public Engagement, and New Leaders’ Career Experience and Community Building. The New Leaders Academy will: 1. create a comprehensive approach to the promotion of future leaders, through collaborations and ongoing opportunities for taking initiative and by enhancing leaders’ skill sets on leading Faculty-wide initiatives and through mentoring; 2. enhance the support framework for staff interested in developing their leadership skills by coordinating working groups which build on strategic themes and priority areas, such as grant capture, high quality teaching, course management and course reviewing, internationalisation, public engagement and impact; 3. support emerging leaders to identify Faculty-wide opportunities for individual or group leadership, through sandpit events, peer mentoring, masterclasses from more experienced leaders, and by
supporting individual and group initiatives to engage with Facultywide and citizenship issues; 4. create an inclusive collaborative platform for emerging leaders, where interdisciplinary research, KE and public engagement, and opportunities for joint collaborations are encouraged and promoted, facilitating enhanced collaboration and research community connectivity; 5. enhance our research and KE culture and academic community by facilitating ongoing exchanges of information on individuals’ research and KE interests and activities and outputs, and by sharing contacts; 6. ensure the development of a vibrant, people-centred research environment in HaSS which reinforces a sense of belonging to the HaSS community and avoids isolating colleagues involved in specific projects or research areas; and 7. facilitate the mentoring and support of talented emerging leaders for transition to other leadership roles by creating a talent pipeline of leaders by, for example, providing access to mentoring and ongoing opportunities for leadership. Everyone is welcome to hear more about this initiative at a presentation led by Daniela Sime, Associate Dean (PEI) and introduced by Prof Douglas Brodie, Dean. Prof Kirstie Blair, Head of School of Humanities, will also speak. The event will take place on Wed 5 December, 1–3 pm, JA327. Register prior to the event: https:// hassnewleaders.eventbrite.co.uk
Spotlight on Research / HaSS New Leaders’ Academy Launch
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GRANT SUCCESSES
Leverhulme Fellowship
Dr Saskia Vermeylen, School of Law, has been awarded a prestigious Leverhulme fellowship (2019–2021) to develop a new research strand in the area of Law and Arts with regard to outer space governance. The study explores utopian literatures as sources of legal imagination and speculative jurisprudence, with the main aim to reform current international space law. Saskia will be spending time at various research institutes across Europe to explore deeper links between humanities and law by visiting specialized libraries, doing internships in arts institutes and observing meetings at the United Nations and the European Space Agency. Congratulations, Saskia!
The Weight of the Past Franco-British Relations (AHRC, 2018–2021)
The idea of a natural, indeed inevitable, rivalry has often dominated conceptions of FrancoBritish relations, despite two centuries of peace between the two nations. Any assumptions of ‘natural rivalry’ are not only the product of casual cultural stereotyping. Contemporary public debates, most notably surrounding Britain’s EU referendum, featured ‘lessons of history’ from both the ‘leave’ and ‘remain’ camps. So how does one measure the influence that history has on contemporary affairs and issues? Is it possible to fashion some kind of litmus test, through which we can assess the impact that perceptions of the past have had on the conceptualisation of national and transnational policies? It is questions like these that this new project will explore over the next three years. Dr Rogelia Pastor-Castro (Strathclyde, Co-I) will work alongside Professor Peter Jackson (University of Glasgow), Dr Rachel Utley (University of Leeds) and Dr Rachel Chin, RA (University of Glasgow). This project will assess the role that representations of the past have played in FrancoBritish relations since 1815. More specifically, it will seek to understand how history, or at least subjective constructions of history, has shaped policy debates in general and prospects for Franco-British cooperation in particular.
The project’s Advisory Group members include Lord Peter Ricketts (former UK Ambassador to France, 2012¬–2016 and UK National Security Advisor), Sir David Omand (former UK Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator) and Stephen Willmer (International Policy (France) team leader at the British MoD). It will engage with contemporary policy makers and policy institutions on both sides of the Channel. A Witness Seminar will bring together historians and policy makers at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a policy engagement colloquium will take place at the British Embassy in Paris. The research findings will also be presented at the Franco-British Council Defence Conference. This project will provide a systematic reassessment of the role of historical understandings in shaping wider Franco-British relations and in influencing the context in which Franco-British policies are made. Its collaborative approach brings together partners that include: Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Embassy in Paris, French Embassy in London, UK Ministry of Defence, French Ministry of Defence, Franco-British Council, The National Archives, Maison Française in Oxford.
The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Winter 2018, Issue No.2 ]
New Projects at the European Policies Research Centre
EPRC has recently won several new tenders, work on which will be running in the coming months, alongside its other ongoing research. These include: The use of Technical Assistance for administrative capacity building during the 2014–2020 period (DG Regio, European Commission), 2018–2019, €259,375. EPRC is co-ordinating this study, aimed at enhancing the understanding of the planned and implemented use of Technical Assistance (TA) under EU Cohesion Policy programmes during the 2014– 20 period. The study is intended to provide a better understanding of the use of TA and present cases of TAfunded sustainable capacity building, particularly in the area of Human Resource Development. An analysis of the co-ordination of EU funding programmes in selected EU Member States (Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic), 2018, CZK 386,800. Against a background of declining receipts from EU Cohesion policy, this study aims to contribute to the better exploitation by Czech actors of other sources of EU funding. The overall objective is to provide detailed information on the co-ordination and institutional set up of selected EU funding programmes outside the Czech Republic, to help ensure better co-ordination and synergies between sources of funding and to support potential improvement of the existing institutional arrangements. Case-based impact evaluation of 5 projects implemented by the Interact Programme (Interact Office Viborg), 2018–2019, €48,950. EPRC is leading a research team carrying out a case-based impact evaluation of the EU’s Interact Programme, tasked with supporting more than 100 EU co-operation programmes throughout Europe. Work covers: providing advice, KE and tools on managing complex, multi-country co-operation programmes, communicating funding opportunities and results,
7 and how to use new co-operation tools. EPRC’s research involves evaluating the impact of this work in specific thematic areas, ranging from technical implementation tools to strategic engagement issues. The 12-month project involves undertaking international focus groups, large-scale questionnaires and elite-level interviews. The evaluation report will inform the institutions involved in managing, implementing and using Interact on current performance and contribute to debates about the future delivery of the programme. Ex post evaluation of the European Union Solidarity Fund 2002–-2016 (DG Regio, European Commission through SWECO Framework contract), 2018, €242,650. The project involves an assessment of the synergies between EUSF support and other EU and international policy instruments in contributing to strengthened measures for the prevention and management of disasters in EU Member States. A broader aim is to establish whether EUSF has
strengthened measures for the prevention and management of disasters in EU Member States and accession countries. ESPON – Territorial Evidence Support for ETC Programmes (ESPON), 2018–2019, €55,050. EPRC is working as part of a consortium led by ÖIR on this project, which involves work to develop an improved set of territorial indicators for ETC programmes to help support setting investment priorities, strategic programming, monitoring and evaluation. The work focuses on 12 case study programmes: Austria–Czech Republic, Central Baltic, Central Europe, Deutschland– Nederland, Italy–Austria, Italy– Croatia, Mediterranean, North West Europe, South Baltic, South West Europe, Sweden–Denmark–Norway, and the Two Seas programme. Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme 2014–2020: Impact Evaluation (County Administrative Board of Vasterbotten), 2018–2019, €91,820. The evaluation will focus on the programme’s contributions to
Celebrating 2018 Grant Success
These are some of the awards we have secured in early 2018 (January to July 2018)- congratulations to all colleagues and teams involved. School of Education
Caralyn Blaisdell Claire Cassidy Jonathan Delafield-Butt Susan Ellis Markus Klein Lio Moscardini
20/06/18 6/03/18 11/01/18 28/03/18 24/01/18 27/04/18
Yvette Taylor
17/01/18
Yvette Taylor Kate Wall
21/02/18 6/06/18
GPP
John Bachtler
15/02/18
John Bachtler John Bachtler John Bachtler Laura Polverari Fiona Wishlade Narisong Huhe Stefanie Reher Wolfgang Rüdig Jun Sudduth
15/02/18 15/02/18 30/04/18 15/02/18 4/01/18 14/02/18 28/03/18 21/02/18 6/04/18
Froebel Trust Glasgow City Council Harimata Sp z.o.o. British Academy ESRC North Lanarkshire Council Society for Research into Higher Education Norface CSO
£2,160 £55,301 £654,651 £8,947 £161,240 £34,000 £10,000 £314,918 £2,596
Lower Saxony Ministry of Econs, Labor, Transport & Digitisation £127,181 Scottish Government £29,862 StengL £8,268 European Parliament £12,248 Formez pa £35,241 European Commission £624,683 Carnegie Trust £9,973 Carnegie Trust £8,731 ESRC £161,104 British Academy £9,570
School of Law
NPA targets and objectives, which focus specifically on the needs of remote and peripheral communities, and also to co-operation and development in the Arctic and Europe 2020 Strategy. The Financial Implementation of the Structural Funds & Cohesion Fund: Conclusions or academic debate (European Parliament), 2018, €14,000. A recently completed EPRC study prepared for the Budget committee of the European Parliament assessed factors that influence implementation of the EU’s Structural Funds (Cohesion policy). It identified issues related to Cohesion policy regulations, internal management and capacity. Alongside this, the study identified external factors beyond the control of implementing authorities, these include: the economic and political context and institutional settings (quality of governance). The final version of the study was published in September 2018. More on EPRC’s past and ongoing projects: http://www.eprc-strath.eu
Lilian Edwards
15/06/18
Cyrus Tata
06/07/18
Cyrus Tata Saskia Vermeylen
16/04/18 4/04/18
Humanities Kirstie Blair Kirstie Blair
18/04/18 23/01/18
Kirstie Blair Laura Kelly Laura Kelly Rogelia Pastor Niall Whelehan Philip Cooke Karen Boyle Sharon Deane-Cox
23/03/18 10/07/18 28/03/18 14/05/18 21/02/18 8/01/18 9/04/18 16/02/18
Social Work & Social Policy Fiona Mitchell Vicki Welch Bernard Harris
20/03/18 24/01/18 06/07/18
Laura Piacentini Robert Rogerson Gillian MacIntyre
11/07/18 04/06/18 18/01/18
Emma Miller Sally Paul
22/03/18 05/06/18
Modern Law Review Ltd Community Justice Scotland EC - Horizon 2020 Leverhulme Trust AHRC Research Society for Victorian Periodicals AHRC Carnegie Trust British Academy AHRC Carnegie Trust Wellcome Trust AHRC Carnegie Trust
£5,000 £6,650 £45,067 £54,874 £70,717 £21,756 £659,816 £9,552 £33,000 £86,789 £5,760 £22,924 £52,414 £2,890
ESRC £19,130 Care Visions Group td £8,333 Marianne & Marcus Wallenberg Foundation £97,295 ESRC £630,878 British Academy £7,950 Scottish Association for Mental Health/ Penumbra £30,000 Scottish Government £36,227 Barnardos £16,000
Grant Successes
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POLICY AND PRACTICE IMPACT
Financial Compensation for Survivors of Abuse in Care
On behalf of the Scottish Government, CELCIS, working in partnership with the SHRC InterAction Action Plan Review Group, designed and delivered a consultation regarding a potential financial compensation/redress scheme for victims/survivors of historical abuse in care in Scotland. On 5 September 2018, the Review Group submitted a series of four reports with a set of recommendations to the Deputy First Minister for the government to consider in their decision whether to take forward a scheme in Scotland. The recommendations were informed by key messages from the consultation with victims/survivors; reference to the international evidence on redress arrangements; engagement with residential and foster care providers and other professional groups; and the work in Scotland concerning the Action Plan on Justice for Victims of Historic Abuse of Children in Care. On 23 October 2018, DFM John Swinney announced to the Scottish Parliament that the Scottish Government will set up a financial redress scheme for survivors of abuse in care in Scotland before the end of this parliamentary term. He also announced advance payments for the elderly and terminally ill, and offered an ‘unreserved and heartfelt apology on behalf of the Scottish Government to all those who were abused as children while in care’. See the report at: https://www. celcis.org/our-work/key-areas/ historical-abuse/
New seminar series on Poverty, Attainment and Wellbeing
Dr Mark Shephard
Workshop on social media use for Modern Studies teachers
Dr Mark Shephard, School of Government and Public Policy, ran a research-based workshop on social media issues for Modern Studies teachers, with resources made available for teachers to use in the classroom. The workshop drew on a social media project on the Scottish independence Referendum, funded by the ESRC in conjunction with the Applied Quantitative Methods Network (AQMeN), as part of the ‘Future of the UK and Scotland’ research programme.
Evidence from new research into comparative ministerial codes
Dr Shephard has submitted evidence to the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee's Parliament and the Constitution Inquiry. See: https://tinyurl.com/y8rtzjh5 In the evidence, he compared the UK Ministerial Code (1997) with the Scottish Ministerial Code (1999) and found a number of differences, including that the UK Code tended to be more elastic than the Scottish Code.
The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Winter 2018, Issue No.2 ]
A team led by Dr Joan Mowat, School of Education, and Dr Gale MacLeod, University of Edinburgh, have been successful in gaining funding from the Scottish Universities Insight Institute (SUII) to host a seminar series on the topic of Poverty, Attainment and Wellbeing: Making a difference to the lives of children and young people. The series takes place between October 2018 and March 2019 and it has already organised a well-attended seminar. This is a collaboration with the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian, two local authorities (Glasgow and Inverclyde) and five organisations: the Mental Health Foundation Scotland, Place2Be, Children in Scotland, CPAG in Scotland, and the Poverty Alliance. The seminar series has attracted participants across several academic disciplines and professions spanning education, social work, educational and clinical psychology, nursing, public health, public policy, and child and adolescent psychiatry, amongst others. The seminar series has international reach, with Professor Roger Slee, editor of the International Journal of Inclusive Education, delivering the keynote address on the final day. There is a specific focus on public policy in the final seminar. The seminar series takes place within the context of the UNICEF goals for sustainability; the pledge of the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to eliminate the poverty-related attainment gap; the Scottish Government’s Child Poverty Strategy, Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017; and the Scottish Attainment Challenge. As such, the seminar series is very timely and high on the agenda of the Scottish Government.
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New Appointments Dr Alexandra (Alex) Mavroeidi was recently appointed as Senior Lecturer in the Physical Activity and Health Group of the School of Psychological Sciences & Health in September 2018. Alex has recently won a £43,500 research grant from the National Osteoporosis Society https://nos.org. uk/, with the title: Standing up for bone health – is prolonged sitting a risk factor for osteoporosis? The grant is a collaboration with colleagues at Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Birmingham, University of East Anglia and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute (Melbourne, Australia), with Alex as Principal Investigator. Prolonged sedentary behaviour is a major and growing public health concern, but its role specifically in relation to bone loss and osteoporosis is not known. We know that in extreme environments
(e.g. total bed rest), bone loss is remarkably high. In everyday life such long periods of immobility are rare, but modern society promotes sedentary lifestyles during transport, work and leisure. Population studies show that self reported sedentary behaviour throughout the day is as much as 6–8 hours; this increases to 8–10 hours in older adults. The research aims to test whether extended periods of sitting in a controlled laboratory setting leads to increased bone loss (looking at changes in blood bone markers) and whether breaking up sedentary behaviour has the reverse (beneficial) effect. The findings will have the potential to inform and shape future public health policy and physical activity guidelines aimed to improve bone health. Welcome to Strathclyde, Alex, and good luck with the new project!
Strathclyde – NHS Lanarkshire Partnership Wins a Scottish Health Award
A partnership between Dr Alex Mavroeidi (third from left in picture) of the Physical Activity for Health Group in the School of Psychological Sciences & Health and the Kello Hospital Think Activity Team, South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership, NHS Lanarkshire won the Top Team Award at the Scottish Health Awards on 1 November 2018. The award is for a research project with significant impact in elderly patients: the ‘End PJ Paralysis’ project.
New Colleagues Join the School of Social Work and Social Policy Dr Anke Kossurok (Research Associate, Social Policy) Anke has over five years of research experience in the field of mental health (trauma) and interpersonal violence (child abuse, intimate partner violence, and online sex offending). She will lead the qualitative research part of the Equally Safe in Higher Education (ESHE) project. Anke has worked as Assistant Psychologist with adult trauma survivors of abuse in a community setting. Maria Zoffova (Research Associate, Social Policy) Maria comes from a political science and media, information and communications background and has research expertise in both qualitative and quantitative methods. She will lead the quantitative method work on the ESHE project. She has expertise in panel data analysis and computer-assisted text analysis and recently updated her training in an advanced research methods programme on causal inference and data visualisation. Daniel Horn (Research Associate, Criminology) Daniel joins the School following some years in the field of international development, particularly in the area of social protection in low and middle income countries (LMICs). He has worked at the international level and across several countries, remaining active in global civil society campaigns to ensure universal social protection and inclusive government. His core academic interests are in the field of welfare states, democratic participation, and the linkages between various components of welfare systems, with a keen interest in the role of ‘correctional’ systems in the framework of the welfare state. His general interests include: democratic participation and welfare systems, punishment and political economy, social protection policy and financing, and research methods and applied theory.
Policy and Practice Impact / New Appointments
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INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS SCELG Experts at the United Nations
New Links with Stanford University
The centre’s staff have also been invited by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Law Division to participate in the ongoing revision of the IV Montevideo Programme. This is a programme of work for the international community in the area of environmental law for the period 2010–2020. Following four regional consultations UNEP convened a global meeting in Geneva, attended by Dr Sindico as an independent expert.
As part of the exchange, Dr Muirhead worked on a novel project: Teen screenomes. This aims to describe when and how adolescents engage with their fast-moving and dynamic digital environment as they go about their daily lives – in situ. To date, no one has been able to accurately and comprehensively describe the ephemeral, crossplatform and cross-app digital environments adolescents encounter in their daily lives, whether in ads, news, entertainment, or social relationships. Prof Robinson’s team has developed a system for capturing, transforming, storing, analysing and visualising the ‘screenomics’ of life. To date, these screenomics data have not been coded qualitatively, and doing so has been challenging. Dr Muirhead coded all the data while at Stanford and provided written interpretations of the data. Dr Muirhead is now writing up two publications from the work at Stanford, and the new partnership should lead to future collaborations, including grant writing.
The Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) has been collaborating with the network of regional governments for Sustainable Development (nrg4SD) in the framework of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The final result is a report titled Localizing the SDGs: Regional governments paving the way that captures the efforts of regional governments in their implementation of the SDGs. The report has been presented at a side event to the UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York, organised at the Belgian– American Chambers of Commerce. SCELG’s team was represented by its Co-Director, Dr Francesco Sindico, and research assistant Juliana Grigorovski Vollmer, who is also completing her LLM in Global Environmental Law and Governance.
Finally, Prof Elisa Morgera, Director of the Centre, and Dr Daniela Diz, SCELG member, participated in the first session of UN negotiations of a new treaty on marine biodiversity at the UN Headquarters. Dr Diz was invited to contribute to two side-events during the first session of the Intergovernmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Congratulations to all at team SCELG!
In September 2018, Stanford University hosted research visits from two Chancellor’s Fellows from the Physical Activity and Health Group (SPSH), Dr Fiona Muirhead (née Mitchell) and Dr Xanne Janssen. The research visits were funded by the Global Engagements Fund and were intended to develop new collaborations with Prof Tom Robinson’s Group at the Stanford Solutions Science Lab.
Dr Xanne Janssen worked with Prof Robinson’s team on data reduction methods for the measurement of time spent asleep using accelerometers, and explored the future potential for the method in capturing Big Data on sleep, physical activity and sedentary time. The amount of time spent asleep influences short and long-term health of children and adolescents (e.g., lack of sleep is a major risk factor for obesity), and also affects their cognition and academic attainment. Despite their importance to health, wellbeing and academic attainment, these behaviours are not measured well using traditional subjective methods (e.g. parent reports) and the challenge is how best to apply new technology to provide objective measures on a large scale. Dr Janssen is writing up a paper based on the work at Stanford and will use the methods she learned there in a large international collaborative study (International Surveillance Study of 24-Hour Movement Behaviours in the Early Years, SUNRISE, currently with 34 countries involved). The partnership should lead to future collaborations with Stanford, including grant writing.
Partnership Against Bullying with the Norwegian Directorate of Education. Left to right: Professor Ian Rivers, Dr Joan Mowat, Ragnhild Skodje and Frode Restad.
The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Winter 2018, Issue No.2 ]
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Project on Climate Change with the University of Geneva
The Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) has been working for over a year with the University of Geneva on a project on climate change litigation. The project started as an input to the biannual International Academy of Comparative Law Conference that will take place this year in Fukuoka, Japan. Francesco Sindico from SCELG and Makane Moise Mbengue from the University of Geneva are leading this project that will ultimately result in a book published by Springer. The project has attracted the attention of several leading centres and organisations already working on climate change litigation. The LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, for one, has collaborated with SCELG and co-hosted a panel debate on climate change litigation on the eve of the 2018 IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Colloquium hosted by SCELG at the University of Strathclyde. The public roundtable saw colleagues from UNEP and Greenpeace attending. SCELG and the University of Geneva are looking forward to developing the project further and taking it from an academic oriented exercise to a policy-oriented project. Both SCELG and the University of Geneva will be happy to be in touch with potential partners in this new exciting phase of the project.
Partnership Against Bullying with the Norwegian Directorate of Education
A delegation from the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training visited Scotland in October in relation to a partnership against bullying. Their visit spanned three days, including meetings with key organisations such as Education Scotland and RespectMe, and visits to Scottish schools and pre-5 centres. Dr Joan Mowat and Professor Ian Rivers from the School of Education met with the delegation of around 30 key personnel and researchers and provided a research perspective on Scotland's approach to preventing bullying and responding to it within the context of Curriculum for Excellence. Bullying is an internationally recognised problem which can exert significant long-term impact on a range of outcomes related to the subjective wellbeing, achievement and mental health of the individual. It is a human rights issue reflected in articles 2,3, 6 & 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and also the United Nations 'Goals for Sustainability'. The Scottish Government has responded to this through its policy 'Respect for All'. LGBT Youth Scotland and RespectMe have published research focussing on prejudice-based bullying (Lough-Dennell & Logan, 2015). Professor Rivers provided a background to these reports and Dr Mowat located the discussion within the wider context of Scottish education: Curriculum for Excellence, Rights Respecting Schools, promoting positive behaviour and the Scottish Attainment Challenge.
New Partnership with the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
HaSS has signed a formal agreement with the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) to develop joint PhD programmes and establish the new Centre for Contemporary China. SASS is a most influential research-driven think-tank in China. SASS studies issues of global significance and also works with the best partners and scholars around the world. During the visit, the team from SASS had a great discussion with our academics on potential thematic collaborations. Those involved in the formation of the partnership included, among others, Prof Maozu LU, Director of Strathclyde China Institute; Prof YU Xinhui, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Chancellor; Zhu Pingfang, Dean of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. From Strathclyde, Prof Douglas Brodie and a group of colleagues from across the Faculty welcomed the delegation and showcased our research activity.
Fulbright Summer School
Dr Rogelia Pastor-Castro gave a lecture on ‘Anglo-American Relations and the Transatlantic Alliance’ at Glasgow City Chambers as part of the Fulbright Summer School. Undergraduates from the United States engaged with Faculties across the University and the Glasgow School of Art. The students praised the Fulbright programme highlighting the warm and generous welcome they received in Scotland. The threeweek programme included a visit to the Scottish Parliament and a reception hosted by the US Consulate in Edinburgh. A short video of the programme is available at this link: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=l7TZmyYX5s4
Fulbright Summer School
International Collaborations
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EVENTS Carnegie Trust Application Workshop
First Minister Gives Keynote Speech at Human Rights Conference
First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, delivered a keynote speech at a conference organised by Dr Elaine Webster and the Strathclyde Law School, exploring the evolution of human rights in Scotland. The event considered what has been learnt since the introduction in 1998 of the Scotland Act – which laid the foundations for the Scottish Parliament – and the Human Rights Act. Ms Sturgeon said she believed “human rights have been one of the undoubted success of devolution”. Delegates reflected on the potential for setting standards in a range of spheres such as health, social security and the environment, in the context of human rights. The impact of the UK’s forthcoming withdrawal from the EU was also discussed. Other speakers at the conference included: The Rt Hon Lord Wallace QC, former Advocate General for Scotland and the first Justice Minister under devolution; current Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC; Professor Alan Miller, Chair of the First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership; Advisory Group member Professor Paul Hunt, and Advisory Group members and Strathclyde Law School Professors Nicole Busby and Elisa Morgera. Dr Webster of Strathclyde Law School, and the conference organiser, said: “It is hugely encouraging to see Scotland taking the lead and examining how to forge ahead during these times of uncertainty. It sends a signal to the world that Scotland supports the European and international human rights system founded 70 years ago with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
The next deadline of the Carnegie Trust Research Incentive Grants is coming up on the 13th March 2019. The RIGs is an excellent opportunity for an Early Career Researcher to apply for funding to undertake a short research project that could be expected to lead to a more extensive project. Come along on Wednesday the 30th January 2019, Lord Hope LH218, 2 – 3.30pm to hear successful candidates Laura Kelly and Emily Rose talk about their applications and Daniela Sime giving the reviewer’s perspective. RaKET will also be there to answer any questions about budgets. To register your interest please email: hass-rke@strath.ac.uk. See you all there!
From the Spirit Level to the Inner Level Centre for Health Policy in Partnership for Book Launch in Scotland
The Centre for Health Policy, in partnership with Glasgow Life, the Mental Health Foundation and the Equality Trust, was delighted to co-host Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett to discuss their new book, The Inner Level, at the Mitchell Library on 25 October. The event was chaired by Dr Linda de Caestecker, Director of Public Health, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. Around 200 people gathered to hear from the authors on their follow-up to the hugely successful 2009 book The Spirit Level. Their previous work synthesised evidence on the relationship between income inequality and a range of health and social outcomes. Providing an overview of their new book for the Glasgow audience, Wilkinson and Pickett outlined their analysis of how inequality impacts at an individual, ‘inner’, level, leading to poor outcomes at the population level. In a dynamic presentation they illustrated the psychological effects of inequality, including stress, status anxiety and negative impacts on the quality of social relationships. Dr Anna Macintyre, Research Associate, Centre for Health Policy, gave an introduction to the event and highlighted the importance of this book for research and policy, which aims to embed greater focus on equality and positive mental health and wellbeing. The audience engaged in a lively discussion of what these findings mean for health inequalities in Glasgow and in the UK. For more information on the Centre for Health Policy, visit our website: https://www.strath.ac.uk/research/ internationalpublicpolicyinstitute/ centreforhealthpolicy/
The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Winter 2018, Issue No.2 ]
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The World’s First Contemporary International Childhood Coproducing Conference The third biennial multi-disciplinary Justice and international Contemporary Childhood Conference was hosted International by Drs Claire Cassidy and Sharon in the School of Education. Social Economy Jessop The theme of the conference was ‘Children in Space, Place and Time’. Network at Delegates attended from Australia, Strathclyde Canada, China, Czech Republic, Dr Beth Weaver, Social Work & Social Policy, is leading a KE programme which includes a series of events over 2018 and 2019, funded by the Scottish Universities Insight Institute. The series will bring together leaders and academics in the fields of social work, industry, criminology, community justice, economic sociology and governance and public policy to share ideas and expertise across the academic and professional disciplines to build and sustain social enterprise structures internationally. Social enterprise and co-operative structures of employment can circumnavigate some of the systemic obstacles to employment, such as criminal records and employer discrimination that people routinely encounter. Yet, not only are such structures providing paid work a rarity in the UK justice system, their potential has hardly been explored. See the Network’s page at: https:// www.scottishinsight.ac.uk/ Programmes/OpenCall201819/ CoproducingJustice.aspx
England, Finland, Germany, India, Scotland, South Africa and the USA, representing a wide range of disciplines. The keynote speakers were Prof Hugh Cunningham, University of Kent, who spoke about ‘The history of childhood as narrative’, and Prof. Lorraine van Blerk, University of Dundee, who presented on her project ‘Growing up on the streets’, a study based across three African cities.
The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research’s Annual Lecture Hosted at Strathclyde
On 13 November, the School of Social Work & Social Policy and the SCCJR were delighted to be joined by Prof Maggy Lee, University of Hong Kong, who delivered the annual lecture titled ‘The Changing Nature of Border, Criminalization and Mass Deportation in An Age of Migration Control’. This is the first time Strathclyde has hosted the Centre’s annual lecture, which attracts a significant national and international audience.
Invited Keynote at Conference on ‘The Other Voice’ in Literature and Culture Dr Kate Mitchell gave an invited keynote at this conference in October, organised by graduate students at the Scuola Normale in Pisa, Italy. Her talk, titled ‘Gender and ‘Envoicing’ (?) on Page, Stage and Screen’, was based on Kate’s second monograph, Gender, Writing, Spectatorships: Evenings Out in Italy and Beyond, 1853–1915, which is currently under review with Routledge. The archival research for the book has been supported thanks to generous funding from the British Academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland grant.
Prof Maggie Lee (right) with Dr Sarah Armstrong, Director of SCCJR
Events
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EPRC at the European Week of Regions and Cities 2018
The EPRC was involved in the biggest event worldwide on regional and urban development and EU Regional Policy. Held annually in Brussels, the event welcomes thousands of participants for over 100 workshops and debates, exhibitions and networking opportunities. EPRC researchers led on and contributed to several sessions. Prof Fiona Wishlade and Ms Rona Michie led two events on financial instruments (FI), featuring a ‘bottomup’ practitioner perspective on experience with FIs and hopes for the future, and a ‘top-down’ institutional perspective on the FI reforms under debate. Both events were linked to current work for ESPON on financial instruments and territorial cohesion and aimed to enrich our understanding of the best way forward for FIs in Cohesion policy. The session ‘Financial instruments in Cohesion Policy: practitioner perspectives on lessons from the past and hopes for the future’ on 9 October was a panel discussion among practitioners on the implementation of FIs under Cohesion policy. The second event, ‘Financial instruments and territorial cohesion: current debates and future perspectives’, on 10 October, was hosted by ESPON in partnership with EPRC, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank, featuring contributors from the key institutions involved in the design, implementation and scrutiny of FIs. The workshop engaged with current debates on financial instruments and territorial cohesion. It also looked at the latest findings from the ongoing ESPON project on financial instruments. Dr Laura Polverari was invited speaker in the EWRC session
‘30 years of EU Cohesion Policy: What works? Where? for Whom?’. Participants discussed the measurable results achieved by Cohesion policy over the past 30 years and lessons about the conditions to maximise achievements and address local needs with limited resources. The session included speakers from the London School of Economics, OECD, the World Bank, Milan Polytechnic, DG Regio and JRC Smart Specialisation Platform. Laura also moderated a panel on ‘Strengthening the capacity of PAs & stakeholders: the role of ESIF Programmes’, which explored the compound role of the ESI Funds in supporting the strengthening of institutional and administrative capacity, with a focus on public administrations and stakeholders. EPRC’s Director Prof John Bachtler ran the annual Master Class on EU Cohesion Policy as part of the EWRC. The Master Class included presentations of papers, lectures and panel debates with policymakers, EU officials and senior academics. John chaired the paper presentation session on ‘Reshaping governance and institutional relations’, presented the findings of the EPRC-led H2020 project COHESIFY on the impact of EU Cohesion Policy on European identification, and the panel debate with representatives from EU institutions focusing on EU Cohesion Policy for 2021–2027. Viktoriya Dozhdeva delivered a presentation on the scope for EU Cohesion Policy to support culturerelated investment, which builds on her wider research on the role and potential of cultural assets for regional development. Further information on the event, including Highlights of the Week and details on all the sessions, can be found on the website of the European Week of Regions and Cities 2018: https://europa.eu/regions-andcities/ More on EPRC’s work: http://www. eprc-strath.eu/ Follow EPRC: @eprc_eu
The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Winter 2018, Issue No.2 ]
IN PRINT Catharsis, Containment and Physical Restraint in Residential Child Care An article by Laura Steckley which explores the relationship between physical restraint and catharsis in residential child care has been selected as Editor’s Choice in the current issue of the British Journal of Social Work. The article synthesises containment and catharsis theories to illuminate a recognisable but rarely discussed dimension of physical restraint, calling for a more contextualised understanding of intense emotional expression in order to reduce, and where possible, eliminate the use of restraint in residential child care. Such an understanding also increases the likelihood that when restraints do happen, they are experienced as acts of care rather than brutality. Access Laura’s article as OA here: https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/ article/48/6/1645/4657142
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STUDENT SUCCESSES Nuffield Research Placement – Increasing Access to University Nuffield Research Placements provide students in the first year of a post-16 STEM course and from low-income families or those without university experience to come to a university setting over the summer and work alongside professional scientists (including quantitative social scientists), technologists, engineers and mathematicians. At the Laboratory for Innovation in Autism, we thought this was an excellent idea that embodied the spirit of Strathclyde, and given that we work on (serious) computer games for kids, we thought it could be a lot of fun, too.
Jack, a student from Vale of Leven Academy, worked with Dr Szu-Ching Lu and Ms Erin Lux to develop a smartphone maze game for fingertip force quantification via gameplay. Jack developed the game using Xcode and Swift programming tools, and we called the game ‘Get the Crown’. The
game was designed for iOS devices with 3D touch features. It provided visual feedback of fingertip force during gameplay, while the player moved a stickman figure through a maze to get the crown. To showcase his six weeks of hard work, Jack presented the project and demonstrated the game at the Nuffield celebration event in Edinburgh. Jack’s work was impressive. His smartphone app now serves as a foundation for future research in motor control carried forward in the lab. Compared with typically developed children, less accurate and more variable force control has been observed in the children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Jack’s smartphone app will now be refined to help us better understand force control in children with ASD, to provide new insight into autism motor control important for therapeutic gains. Despite his young age, Jack quickly become a valued member of our team. We would encourage all colleagues in HaSS to support this Nuffield programme, have some fun, and advance your research in exciting new ways.
Viva Successes
We’d like to congratulate the following students and their supervisors for successfully defending their doctoral theses since July 2018. PhD in Law Mark Leiser Behavioural regulation Mohanad Ahmed Formation of electronic contracts of sale and its impact on Iraqi traditional commercial contracts PhD in Physical Activity for Health Sarah Deans Physical behaviours in adults with lower limb absence PhD in History Andrew Glen What attitudes about opium were driving government of India’s policies between 1857–1906? Michelle Delaney Advance work: Art and advertising in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West PhD in Psychology Micaela Jimenez Borja Measuring clients’ modes of engagement in humanistic experiential psychotherapy PhD in English Jacqueline Ryder Politics and the problem of speaking for others in the work of Naomi Mitchison Well done all and good luck in your new careers!
Jack working in the Laboratory for Innovation in Autism and presenting the project at the Nuffield celebration event in Edinburgh
In Print / Student Successes
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NEW COURSE STRATHCLYDE MSc Diplomacy and AGEING International Security NETWORK Diplomacy and international Security are among the most pressing issues facing the world today. Success or failure can have huge implications for the international community and society as a whole. This new interdisciplinary MSc will bring together expertise from History, Politics and Law to give students the opportunity to examine these issues in a more holistic manner and engage with distinguished diplomatic and foreign policy practitioners. Students will have the opportunity to visit the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London and NATO Headquarters in Brussels. The MSc Diplomacy and International Security gives graduates from a range of academic backgrounds the opportunity to gain expertise in a vital area of international engagement. It will also appeal to professionals interested in moving into positions requiring a breadth of knowledge on diplomacy, history and security issues. For further information, contact: Dr Rogelia Pastor-Castro rogelia.pastor-castro@strath.ac.uk
The Strathclyde Ageing Network is a multi-disciplinary network of academic and professional staff, as well as PhD students, who are engaged or interested in ageing-related research. The network is attached to the University’s Health & Wellbeing strategic theme and has representation from all four faculties. It meets regularly during each semester, normally on the last Wednesday of the month, from 1pm to 2pm. Meetings typically involve general discussion and a short talk by a member or visiting speaker. Members also share relevant information and updates via email, including external partnerships, grant opportunities, and conferences/seminars. If you are interested in joining the group, please contact Dr Louise Nicholls (l.nicholls@strath.ac.uk) for further information, and to receive meeting invites and email updates.
The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Winter 2018, Issue No.2 ]
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MEDIA ENGAGEMENT
Research Informs Channel 4 News Story on EU Migrant Children
ESRC-funded research into the lives of EUborn young people and their families which featured in the first issue of this magazine has now been used as the source of a Channel 4 News story. Dr Daniela Sime, PI on the Here to Stay? project, which featured in People & Society Issue No. 1, contributed with research and an interview for the programme. You can watch the clip on the Channel 4 News website: https://www.channel4.com/news/the-brexitfears-of-the-children-of-eu-nationals
Going to University From Care CELCIS has published a new briefing which goes behind the common headlines that indicate only a small proportion of care experienced young people in Scotland go to university, compared to their peers. The launch of Going to university from care coincided with students either starting or returning to their studies for the new academic year, and is part of a wider series of briefings that CELCIS is putting out, called ‘Beyond the Headlines’. The series is aimed at providing further information and analysis on some commonly reported statistics relating to young people in care, care leavers, and care experienced people in Scotland. Interrogation of data concerning care experienced young people’s educational journeys starts to reveal a more complicated picture than the ‘going to
MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN TO JOURNALISTS
university gap’ between students that are care experienced and those that are not. Achievements of care experienced young people in further education are often overlooked. It also shows that while routes to university may be less direct, this is a route taken more often than headline figures used alone would suggest.
Would you like to contribute to the news stories aired by major news channels and media outlets? Journalists are more and more relying on personal contacts for news stories. News teams are looking for experts who could contribute to programmes or suggest research-related stories. Just get in touch via email or social media.
The relevant policies, legislations and bursaries in place for care experienced students based at Scottish institutions are also set out within this briefing, as well as looking at why declaring care identity matters. The Briefing has attracted media coverage in The Times and The Herald newspapers, as well as extensive social media interest.
Ciaran Jenkins Scotland Correspondent Channel 4 News E ciaran.jenkins@itn.co.uk
Read the Briefing here: https://tinyurl.com/ ydaexq5n
Two contacts who have recently asked HaSS for experts and research-informed stories: Franchesca Hashemi Nine O'Clock News programme BBC Scotland News E: franchesca.hashemi@bbc.co.uk
THE CONVERSATION
Do you want to get your research out to a wider audience? Strathclyde is now a subscribing member to ‘The Conversation’, an online information channel, written by academics for wide audiences. Blog items often reach thousands of readers, making research accessible to many. Why not have a look at their site, and perhaps become an author? https://theconversation.com/uk See all Strathclyde articles at this link: https:// theconversation.com/institutions/strathclydeuniversity-1287
New Course / Strathclyde Ageing Network / Media Engagement
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PROFILE: NICE TO MEET YOU co-edited a special issue on queer and feminist approaches to higher education in the Journal of Applied Social Science.
and related fields. We had our first meeting at the end of October; watch this space for further meetings and events.
I’m spending most of my time at the moment working with colleagues from Australia (Dr Jackie Ullman) and Italy (Dr Samuele Grassi) and Prof Yvette Taylor on a bid about LGBT+ people’s experiences of sex and relationship education.
I also co-ordinate the British Sociological Association Gender Study Group with Dr Grainne McMahon at Huddersfield and Dr Erin Saunders-McDonagh at Kent. I am lecturing in 2019 on the MSc Applied Gender Studies lead by Prof Karen Boyle, and altogether it is an exciting time for gender studies at Strathclyde.
What have been the benefits of the Chancellor's Fellowship for you?
Dr Maddie Breeze Chancellor’s Fellow Thanks for agreeing to feature in the Bulletin, Maddie. Tell us a bit about your research and people you collaborate with.
My background is in sociology and I’m broadly interested in gender and sexuality, and related inequalities. I’m really fascinated by the relationship between structure and agency; the messy place in between polarities of determinism and voluntarism and how people negotiate their complicities and investments in, and attachments to, institutions and systems of power that they opposed to or are working to change. Right now, I’m exploring these issues in HE and academic labour. I’ve done this by investigating ‘imposter syndrome’ in HE as a public feeling (rather than a private problem) and, in collaboration with Prof Yvette Taylor, exploring how feminist academics collaborate across ‘the’ career course. We’ve also recently
First, a medium-term employment contract. I started the fellowship in September 2017 and this was the first time I’d had a contract longer than 12 months since PhD completion in 2014. Insecure and casualised forms of employment are common, particularly subject to critical attention in the ‘early’ career, and can include a great deal of unpaid work. Being able to turn my attention away from the job market is a huge relief: short-term contracts can inculcate a particular kind of fear – every work task and relationship is laden with significance, in case it might secure a contract extension. Second, getting to know colleagues and learning from their experiences and teaching and research expertise. I’ve benefited immeasurably from the mentorship of Prof Yvette Taylor, and I feel like I’m learning more and more about how universities work. What other initiatives have you been involved with in the Faculty and further afield? With Dr Laura Lovin and Prof Yvette Taylor I co-ordinate the Feminist Research Network, organising seminars with a guest speaker and a respondent from Strathclyde. The seminars are open to all and usually followed by a modest reception – come! I recently started co-ordinating the Strathclyde Gender sub-theme, under the strategic Society and Policy research theme, for anyone with a research interest in gender studies
The HaSS Research & Impact Bulletin [ People & Society - Winter 2018, Issue No.2 ]
What are you reading at the moment – for work and for leisure? For leisure I just finished reading Olivia Laing’s Lonely City, which was great, and inspired me to re-read Moving Politics: Emotion and ACT UP’s Fight Against AIDS by Deborah B. Gould (for work). Also for leisure I just started reading Hilary Mantel’s A Greater Place of Safety – her writing is amazing and I love getting immersed in a time and place I know nothing about. I can’t wait to read Revolting Prostitutes by Juno Mac and Molly Smith and learn more about the fight for sex workers’ rights. Where do you see your work in five years' time? This is an interview question! I know I’d like to carry on working with interesting people about topics that matter. Final question, and since it's Christmas soon . . . what would you like to find under the Christmas tree? Keeping it work-related: an end to tuition fees everywhere; for UK universities to stop acting as border guards and monitoring staff and student visa status and location; abolish PREVENT; abolish zero hours contracts; effective equalities and diversities policies across the HE sector; accountability for those who bully, harass, and abuse; the reinstatement of final salary pensions.
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PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Card and Global Matrix
On 27 November, the Active Healthy Kids Scotland Report Card 2018 was launched, simultaneously with report cards from 48 other nations. These report cards provide rigorous but accessible ‘state of the nation’ and ‘state of the world’ reports on physical activity and health of children and adolescents, and build capacity in physical activity and health in low- and middle-income countries. The 2018 report cards show that levels of physical activity are well below recommendations in Scottish children and adolescents, levels of exposure to screens are well above recommendations, and levels of these behaviours in Scotland are amongst the worst in the world. The 2018 Active Healthy Kids Report Card Scotland (www. activehealthykidsscotland.co.uk) theme was obesity, specifically the fact that childhood obesity is at least twice as prevalent than reported in national surveys and official publications. In national surveys childhood obesity is defined using a very crude proxy measure, the Body Mass Index (BMI). The extent to which the BMI underestimates the true prevalence of obesity (i.e., excessive body fatness) was demonstrated for the first time in African children in an important publication led by Prof John Reilly in this month’s issue of the WHO Bulletin. The International Atomic Energy Agency funded this study of over 1,500 African primary school children across 8 countries – the prevalence of obesity as defined by BMI-for-age was only 9%, but the true prevalence of obesity (excessive fatness as measured by total body water) was actually 29%. This study suggests that there is no longer any room for complacency about childhood obesity; even in Africa, urgent measures will be required to prevent and control the problem.
HaSS RESEARCH IMPACT AWARDS
The new HaSS Impact Prize is an annual opportunity to recognise and reward the successes in our Faculty on projects which are making a difference and are achieving outstanding societal impacts. A prize of £200 is awarded to the winners of each category. The application is open to all staff, independent of stage of their career or contract type.
This prize will recognise research that has made a contribution benefitting a specific group within the public or society more widely. This could include impacts arising from working with local or community groups, charities or wider society.
This prize will recognise research that has contributed to the development of public policy at the local, regional or national government level. This could include direct changes in policy, changes to how decision makers view issues, and the development of more effective and efficient practice by professionals or the users of public services. Entries should be supported by evidence that the research has been taken up and used by policy makers and public service practitioners.
Early Career Impact
There are four prize categories:
Outstanding Impact for Society
Outstanding Impact for Policy
Outstanding International Impact
This prize will recognise research that has achieved impact at an international level across countries in business, policy or societal issues.
This prize will recognise social scientists at the beginning of their academic careers who have achieved or show potential in achieving outstanding impacts in any of the above categories. This includes current PhD students and early career academics in their first three years post-PhD. An application form is now available through RAKET’s Sharepoint site. Closing deadline: 28 February 2019 Prizes announced: 15 March 2019
Profile / Public Engagement / HaSS Research Impact Awards
Do you have a research story to feature in the next issue? Submit a ‘News story’ through Sharepoint or email: hass-marketing@strath.ac.uk
the place of useful learning www.strath.ac.uk University of Strathclyde Glasgow The University of Strathclyde is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC15263