INFORMATION & UPDATES UPDATES & INFORMATION People
ESRC APPOINTS TWO NEW DIRECTORS Professor Paul Nightingale has been appointed as ESRC’s new Director of Strategy and Operations, and Professor Alison Park will be ESRC’s new Director of Research. Professor Alison Park will be joining ESRC as our Director of Research, from the UCL Institute of Education.
Alison is a Professor of Social Research and the Director of CLOSER (Cohort and Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resources), a significant ESRC-funded collaboration. CLOSER brings together eight leading UK longitudinal studies, the British Library and the UK Data Service to maximise the use, value and impact of longitudinal studies. It does this by stimulating longitudinal research, developing and sharing resources, and providing training. Prior to joining UCL, Alison led a research team at NatCen Social Research which carried out a range of government and academic studies, both qualitative and quantitative, including Understanding Society, the British Social Attitudes Survey and the UK arm of the European Social Survey. Professor Paul Nightingale will
be joining ESRC as our Director of Strategy and Operations, from the University of Sussex. Paul is a Professor of Strategy at the University of Sussex and was Deputy Director of the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU). He is one of the UK editors of Research Policy, the leading international innovation studies journal.
Originally trained as a chemist, p
he worked in industry before undertaking a PhD in Science Policy at SPRU. His main areas of research are science policy and the strategic management of technology, and he has researched extensively on innovation and its management and financing. Paul spent most of his career as a contract researcher and spent 10 years with the Complex Product Systems Innovation Centre, funded by the ESRC. n
34 SOCIETY NOW WINTER 2018
ESRC APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR FOR ADRP STRATEGIC HUB Dr Emma Gordon will be joining ESRC as Director of the ADRP (Administrative Data Research Partnership) Strategic Hub on 10 December. Emma is currently a Deputy Director at HM Treasury, leading the team supporting government economists and social researchers across government. As part of this, Emma also led the development of the new Government Economic Service Degree Apprenticeship Programme. The Strategic Hub will be based
in Swindon, England, and Dr Gordon will work with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the three ADRP hubs in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The ONS will provide secure access to data for researchers and utilise its existing infrastructure and its expertise in data acquisition, curation and provision to support ADRP. The centres in the devolved administrations have a wealth of knowledge gained from the previous work undertaken on the Administrative Data Research Network. These centres will work with devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and also a range of partner universities, utilising datasets acquired by ONS alongside data from devolved services. Professor Jennifer Rubin, ESRC
Executive Chair said: “I am delighted to be welcoming Emma Gordon to her new role at the ESRC. The Strategic Hub will link existing data across government specifically to catalyse and support high-quality research to inform policy, and help address major societal challenges in areas as diverse as housing, education, health and wellbeing. This will be a great asset to the ESRC in delivering social science research that makes an impact at a national level.”
Before joining HM Treasury, Emma was Head of Health Analysis at the ONS. At the start of her career, she worked as a post-doctoral researcher on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, identifying the prevalence of developmental impairments in the cohort. n
ESRC WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARDS FOR IMPACT VIDEOS ESRC has won first and second prize for videos highlighting impact made in social sciences at the SSH Impact Conference in Vienna. The conference, hosted by the Austrian EU Council Presidency, focused on the impact of social sciences and humanities (SSH) in European research, attracting around 350 participants from all over Europe and international partner countries. The videos were judged on
three criteria – content and scope, dramaturgy of the video, and technical quality. Both of our videos presented research by winners of the ESRC Celebrating Impact Prize. First prize was awarded to ESRC’s
video ‘Preventing HIV risks in Southern Africa’, which achieved the maximum possible score from the jury. This video documented research on HIV prevention by Professor Lucie Cluver that has led to a ‘Cash plus Care’ programme helping over two million girls in 10 African countries avoid contracting HIV/AIDS since 2014. Professor Lucie Cluver at the University of Oxford said: “We are delighted and honoured with this prize. We have been lucky to benefit from a European and UK research agenda that supports major impact for those who need it most.” ESRC also won second place with the video ‘Using crowd psychology to boost public safety’, presenting research by Dr John Drury. This research has improved crowd management practices for over 700 local emergency specialists and changed safety proceedings in the UK and abroad. Dr John Drury, Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Sussex, said: “It’s great to have our ESRC-funded research impacts recognised in this way, and it shows that social science research can create positive change.” First place was awarded €1,000, and second place €500. ESRC will be donating this money to the charity Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). For more information, see: www.
youtube.com/user/theesrc n
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
