The Gatsby Foundation and the JP Morgan Chase Foundation are supporting the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick to undertake research to understand how parents and carers can be better supported by schools and colleges to feel more informed and confident with the advice they give to their children. Dr John Gough from our Careers team has been involved in the research project on 'The role of parents in providing careers guidance and how they can be better supported.'

You can read the report findings along with the recording of a live webinar explaining more about the project here.

Two members of the Department are taking on leadership roles in the University’s Research Spotlight programme, a new programme designed to promote collaborative work on urgent global challenges.

Professor Daniel Sgroi has been appointed Chair of the new interdisciplinary Behaviour Spotlight, and Professor Thijs van Rens is a member of the leadership team for the Health Spotlight.

A total of six interdisciplinary ‘Research Spotlights’ have been created. Each of them identifies a major global challenge: “They are all serious interdisciplinary areas that are going to make a big difference,” Daniel explains. “The University has asked, ‘what are the big issues facing the world?’ and decided to put a spotlight on each of them and bring people from every department together to work on them.

“This is important because most of the world’s big problems are problems that can only really be solved by disciplines working together – for example, how we deal with climate change, how we tackle political polarisation, how we handle pandemics.

“We know from COVID that medics worked with behavioural scientists so that they didn’t just develop vaccines, they developed strategies to ensure people would take them.

“Our Behaviour Spotlight aims to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration between behavioural researchers that seek to understand and address some of the biggest problems faced by the world today.

“We can provide seed funding for pilot experiments or to kick-start projects, we can create and financially support new seminar series, workshops and conferences, and help fund early-stage research.

“We have a big network already, inherited from the Behaviour, Brain & Society GRP, but we now want to reach across the whole university. We’ll be inviting anyone doing behavioural research at Warwick to join us as part of our mission to build a university-wide network of active researchers.”

A new Health Spotlight has also been created. Professor Thijs van Rens is one of four academics on the leadership team. He said:

"There are many people at University working on research that is relevant to health, at Warwick Medical School, of course, but also in Business, Chemistry, Economics, Engineering, English, History, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology, Statistics and probably other departments as well.

“Our aim is to build the network and infrastructure to bring these people together so that together we can make better progress on the big questions that cannot be addressed from a single discipline.

“Some of the interdisciplinary areas that we will focus on are technologies in health, prevention and public health, mental health and wellbeing, and interdisciplinary methodologies. Warwick has strengths in all of these areas, and we hope that by providing a supportive environment for collaboration, we can further build on these strengths and encourage ‘blue-skies’ research ideas.”

“My own research on healthy and sustainable diets has made me realise how the quality of the research can benefit from an interdisciplinary team, and how much it helps to secure funding for that research."

Professor Ben Lockwood, Head of the Economics Department, said “I am delighted that Daniel and Thijs have been appointed to these leadership roles and will be contributing to the University’s ambitious interdisciplinary research programme.”

The Spotlight programme is intended to run for at least 10 years and is an indication of the University’s long-term commitment to world-changing research.

 FIND OUT MORE

• Behaviour Spotlight : Behaviour | Research at Warwick
• Health Spotlight: Health | Research at Warwick

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has launched the first government survey of the UK-wide research and innovation workforce.

We ask anyone in the diverse occupations that are vital to innovation and research in the UK to complete it to offer better data for policy decisions that impact this whole workforce.

Find out more about the short survey and complete it online here.

We are thrilled to share that Dr Hyo Yoon Kang, Reader/Associate Professor at Warwick Law School has been awarded the British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship for the next academic year.

Dr Victor Agboga has successfully defended his PhD thesis, passing with minor corrections. His thesis, "Where Do Your Loyalties Lie? Party Switching and Voters' Response in Nigeria," was examined by Adrienne LeBas from American University, Washington DC, and Jessica Di Salvatore from PAIS, Warwick. Supervised by Gabrielle Lynch and Andreas Murr, Victor is now a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

With increased use of front-facing cameras, mirrors and Zoom calls, we’re being faced with our own reflections more than ever before.

Is it heightening our preoccupation with the way we look?

Warwick’s Professor Heather Widdows (Philosophy) spoke to Dazed Digital about how our sense of self has changed in recent years

Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships aim to provide career development opportunities for those who are at a relatively early stage of their academic careers, but who have a proven record of research. The expectation is that Fellows should undertake a significant piece of publishable work during their tenure, and that the Fellowships should lead to a more permanent academic position, either within the same or another institution. Approximately 145 Fellowships will be available in 2024. Fellowships can be held at universities or at other institutions of higher education in the UK. Full details of the scheme, funding and eligibility are available on the Leverhulme websiteLink opens in a new window.

The closing date for applications to Leverhulme is 22 February 2024 at 4pm, with decisions released in May.

Sociology is inviting applications from suitably qualified candidates and up to three applicants will be selected for departmental support through a competitive selection process.

The procedure is as follows:

1. Expressions of interest in the scheme should be sent by email to Amy Clarke at Amy.Clarke@warwick.ac.uk by 12noon on Monday 4th December. 
2. All expressions of interest should include the following materials:

1. An outline project proposal (2 pages maximum)
2. An academic CV
3. An email or letter confirming support for your application from your chosen mentor in Sociology (who must be a permanent member of staff).

• All submissions received by the deadline and meeting these requirements will be reviewed by the Department Selection Panel.
• The criteria for selection are:

• Research track-record of nominee
• Quality of proposed research to be conducted while at Warwick
• Fit with the mentor and the strength of their support
• Fit with broader aims of the Leverhulme competition.

5. Decisions will be reported back to applicants by 12 January 2024.

6. Successful applicants will receive feedback and administrative support from the Department and University prior to the Leverhulme deadline on 23 February 2024.

Queries about the scheme or process should be sent to Professor Goldie Osuri (Director of Research & Impact) at G.Osuri@warwick.ac.uk

Useful Links:

Scheme overviewLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window

Key Dates:

Deadline for Expressions of Interest: 12noon on Monday 04th December 2023

Leverhulme Deadline: 4pm on 22 February 2024