Annual Event 2020

This year’s Aspect annual event will focus on the overarching theme of Building prosperity and wellbeing through social science innovation.

Taking place across September and October, the event will run as a series of webinars covering a broad range of topical and important areas within social science commercialisation and entrepreneurship.

Some sessions will be thematic in nature – with high profile panellists offering valuable insights – while others will take more of a ‘how to’ focus on some of the key operational challenges in this area.

Whether you’re an academic, researcher, KE professional/university practitioner or from industry, we’re sure you will benefit from our programme of sessions.

All sessions are open to members and non-members of the Aspect network (and are free to attend).

You can explore the full programme below and register for sessions via Zoom now.

  • 28October

    The future of social science commercialisation

    11:00 - 11:45
    Organiser: Aspect

    The future of social science commercialisation

    REGISTER

    This session will explore where the biggest opportunities lie for the commercialisation of social sciences, how academia and industry can look to take advantage, and Aspect’s future plans in terms of driving and supporting social science commercialisation.

    Professor Julia Black (Chair)
    Strategic Director of Innovation and Professor of Law at the LSE, and Chair of the Aspect Steering Group
    Julia Black is Strategic Director of Innovation and Professor of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is also an External Member of the Prudential Regulation Authority, Senior Independent Member of the Board of UKRI and a member of the Council of Science and Technology. Julia recently joined the Board of the Courtauld Institute of Art and will be the new President of The British Academy in 2021. Her primary research interest is the legitimacy and dynamics of regulatory systems, and she has written extensively on regulatory issues in a number of areas, advised policy makers, consumer bodies, law reform bodies and regulators on issues of institutional design and regulatory policy in the UK and overseas.
    Melanie Knetsch
    Deputy Director, Innovation and Impact, ESRC:UKRI
    Melanie leads on strategic knowledge exchange and innovation activities to ensure that ESRC:UKRI’s research portfolio is visible to potential users as well as creating opportunities for researchers to undertake impact-led activities. This includes supporting the social science community to respond to impact opportunities in more flexible, responsive and creative ways, ensuring research knowledge is shaping policy and Parliament, and responding to business challenges. She also leads on the commercialisation opportunities for social sciences. Melanie joined the ESRC in 2008 and has worked in a variety of roles since then including communications, public engagement, the Newton Fund and Deputy Director of the Office in India.
    Ian Tracey
    Co-Founder, Anchored In
    Ian is Co-Founder of Anchored In, which helps companies to understand the mix of funding and connections that they need, and helps them tell their story with clarity to prospective customers, grant providers and investors. Previously, Ian was the Head of Access to Funding & Finance at the Knowledge Transfer Network, where he helped companies to identify the most suitable form of funding to allow them to grow. Before this, he was Head of Entrepreneurship at STFC where he focused on helping start up and early stage companies take their ideas from conception to implementation. Ian started his career as a bench scientist for BT Labs, where he worked on "Home of the Future" and "Virtual reality for team working".
    Vikas Shah MBE
    CEO, Swiscot Group and Honorary Professor of Business, University of Manchester
    Vikas Shah MBE is a serial-entrepreneur & philanthropist. He is Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan (The Lisbon MBA), Honorary Professor of Business at The Alliance Business School, University of Manchester and an Honorary Industry Fellow at the University of Salford Business School. Vikas started his first technology business aged just 14, and is currently CEO of Swiscot Group (a diversified international trading business). He is a venture-investor in fast-growing technology businesses internationally and sits as a Non-Executive Director and advisor to numerous organisations. Vikas was awarded an MBE for Services to Business and the Economy in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List.
  • 7September

    Webinar Recording - Sustainability at scale: The role of social science research in building long-term solutions

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of Glasgow

    Webinar Recording - Sustainability at scale: The role of social science research in building long-term solutions

    Using the frames of health, literacies, ecology and governance, this session will explore how we work across disciplines and sectors to engage with sustainability at a micro and macro level. Featuring a broad range of research and practice at the University of Glasgow and associated partners, the presented approach strives towards a long-term and holistic approach to policymaking and planning for sustainability.

    Professor Jude Robinson
    Professor in Health & Wellbeing & Deputy Head of College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow
    Jude is a social anthropologist teaching and researching in the field of critical public health. Her research centres on developing understandings of how people can develop and sustain their health and wellbeing outside conventional health care settings, with a particular interest in (feminist) research methodologies, visual methods and material culture, gendered inequalities, issues around social justice, alternative moralities and ‘othering’, and the health of women, children and their families.
    Dr Mia Perry
    Senior Lecturer in Community Development and Adult Education, School of Education, University of Glasgow
    Mia specialises in literacies and learning, arts and cultural production, and methodologies of research and teaching. Her work in education spans inside and outside schools, community and public contexts, digital and informal learning. Mia is particularly interested in the interplay of humans and environments, the role of cultural practice and play in learning, and perspectives in research that account for plural views and ways of making meaning.
    Dr Jill Robbie
    Lecturer, School of Law, University of Glasgow
    Jill is a Lecturer in Private Law at the University of Glasgow. Jill's research interest lies within the field of property law and natural resources. She is currently investigating the tensions between social justice, economic development and environmental protection in the context of the law regulating land use. She is particularly interested in analysing these tensions in relation to water.
    Dr John Shi
    Senior Lecturer in Hydrology, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow
    John is a senior lecturer in hydrology and climate change in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies. John is an expert on water and climate research, with interests on modelling and predicting the role of water resources in the climate system and understanding the nature of hydrologic variability and change under changing climate at local, regional, and global scales.
  • 7September

    Webinar Recording - Building a better world after COVID-19: Transforming how we think about social science commercialisation

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: Aspect

    Webinar Recording - Building a better world after COVID-19: Transforming how we think about social science commercialisation

    This session will explore the crucial role that social sciences can play in the post COVID-19 recovery, the challenges involved in commercialising social sciences and strategies for overcoming them, and how Aspect is looking to bridge the divide between social sciences and business.

    Professor Julia Black (Chair)
    Strategic Director of Innovation & Professor of Law at the LSE, & Chair of the Aspect Steering Group
    Julia Black is Strategic Director of Innovation and Professor of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is also an External Member of the Prudential Regulation Authority, Senior Independent Member of the Board of UKRI and a member of the Council of Science and Technology. Julia recently joined the Board of the Courtauld Institute of Art and will be the new President of The British Academy in 2021. Her primary research interest is the legitimacy and dynamics of regulatory systems, and she has written extensively on regulatory issues in a number of areas, advised policy makers, consumer bodies, law reform bodies and regulators on issues of institutional design and regulatory policy in the UK and overseas.
    Professor Tom Ormerod
    Director of Applied Behavioural Science, University of Sussex
    Tom is a cognitive psychologist with research interests in human thinking and expertise. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles on expertise, systems design, and human decision-making, and has managed over $15m external research funding with a focus on designing methods and technologies for supporting investigation and security practitioners. His recent applied research focuses on developing effective and methods for evaluating human behaviour during security screening, investigative decision-making, persuasion, and detecting deception in interviews. Tom has served on a number of Government advisory committees and was elected a Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 2013.
    Don Spalinger
    Managing Director, PDT International Ltd & Director, ICURe Programme
    Don brings his serial entrepreneurial and international management experience to rapid commercialisation of early stage research activities. He has founded five companies that have taken technologies out of the research laboratories and into the marketplace, raising over $70 million in venture capital investment to fund the growth of the companies. Don has been the Chair of the SETsquared Partnership which has been ranked as Globally #1 in business incubation by UBI, three consecutive times. He developed and continues to evolve the ICURe Programme.
    Rosalind Lowe
    Head of Policy and Engagement at the National Centre for Universities and Business
    Rosalind leads NCUB’s policy and engagement team, which promotes, develops and supports university-business collaboration across the UK. Prior to joining NCUB, Rosalind worked as a Director at the University of Bedfordshire and researcher at Universities UK.
  • 9September

    Webinar recording - Social science commercialisation 101

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: London School of Economics and Political Science & Cardiff University

    Webinar recording - Social science commercialisation 101

    Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation (KEC) is an integral part of most universities and aims to share the knowledge, evidence and expertise generated by the university with the wider world. KEC can provide huge benefits to the university (impact, revenue, prestige) but, prior to Aspect, very little attention was given to social sciences research commercialisation and the associated ecosystem.

    In this session we discuss how the traditional KEC process can be developed into a framework that suits social sciences research and how to practically implement that framework.

    David Ai
    Head of Innovation, LSE
    Mr. Ai is Head of Innovation at the LSE. Previously, he was Chief Innovation Officer at the University of Hawaii System (2018-2020), and was chairman of the International Strategy Committee at AUTM from 2017 to 2019. Prior to Hawaii, he was Director of Knowledge Transfer at the City University of Hong Kong. He also worked for Stanford’s Office of Technology Licensing for six years, managing inventions while spearheading Stanford’s technology marketing effort in China. Earlier in his career, Mr. Ai was VP Chief Advisor at Hitachi Corporate VC and he founded an award-winning e-healthcare business in Beijing. During the 1990s, he was Corporate VP at Varian Medical, VP of Marketing at Cirque and a Project Manager at Hewlett-Packard.
    Morven Fraser-Walther
    IP & Innovation Manager, University of Glasgow
    Morven is IP & Innovation Manager at the University of Glasgow, helping academic staff to understand the complex mix of funding, connections and business support to enable them to access the best possible commercialisation outcome for their project. In addition, she supports academics with the provision of training and developing best practice across the University. Morven comes from a background in intellectual property in the private sector, as well as previously working with Aspect as the Aspect broker at the University of Glasgow.
    Dr Nick Bourne
    Deputy Director, Head of Commercial Development, Cardiff University
    Nick is Head of Commercial Development at Cardiff University’s Research, and Innovation Services Division, with responsibility for the commercial development of the University’s research base. Nick is an Executive Director of the University’s patent and licensing company and was responsible for establishing the University’s seed venture capital fund, the Cardiff Partnership Fund, and is a member of its General Partner Board. He was appointed to the Board of Fusion IP Cardiff Limited and is also a Non-Executive Director of the Board of Cardiff Business Technology Centre Ltd, Cardiff Medicentre, Cardiff Scintigraphics Ltd and Sequestim Ltd and is a past Chair of the UK Companies Association (UNICO), now PraxisAuril.
  • 15September

    Webinar recording - A practical guide to operationalising intrapreneurship within institutional frameworks

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of Glasgow

    Webinar recording - A practical guide to operationalising intrapreneurship within institutional frameworks

    This session will explore how intrapreneurship as a model can be embedded within institutions whilst exploring the advantages of an intrapreneurship model for developing employability within student populations. Featuring a broad range of operational practice at the University of Glasgow, the presented approach will develop strategies to form institutional decision-making.

    Dr Fiona Heatlie
    Head of Research and Business Development, University of Glasgow
    Paige Mccaleb
    External Partnership Co-ordinator, University of Glasgow
  • 16September

    Webinar recording - Could small and medium size businesses be the key to sustaining the economy and our communities?

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of York

    Webinar recording - Could small and medium size businesses be the key to sustaining the economy and our communities?

    Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the key to economic growth: a loud refrain heard from all quarters in the UK these days. This event highlights how SMEs could be the key to sustaining the economy and our communities. We explore how we support and sustain SMEs and provide practical advice and insights on navigating the future.

    The event brings together a panel of speakers who are shaping and influencing policy insights, leading innovative initiatives to support SMEs and illuminating the crucial role that SME businesses have to play.

    Professor Kiran Trehan
    Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of York, and President of the Institute for Small Business and Enterprise
    Kiran is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Partnerships and Engagement at the University of York and Director of the Centre for Women’s Enterprise, Leadership, Economy & Diversity. She is a key contributor to debates on leadership, enterprise development and diversity in small firms and business. Kiran has led a number of leadership, enterprise and business support initiatives and has extensively published a number of journal articles, policy reports, books and book chapters in the field. In 2019 she was elected to be the President of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE).
    Jordan Butcher
    Sketch Creative
    Co-Founder at Digital Design and Marketing Agency Sketch Creative, based in Colmore Row, Birmingham. It wasn't until later into my school years that I took an interest within the digital space. I had a desire to learn more, leading me on to complete a level 3 diploma in Media Production. With an obsession to get experience, I started working with friends who owned business' wanting to evolve their online presence. Five years later, I'm Co-Founder of an award-winning digital agency made with ten employees working with startups to national and global brands, including Rolls Royce.
    Andy Lee
    Enterprise Team, Commercial & Private Banking, NatWest
    Andy is the Strategic Lead for Inclusive Business Support at NatWest, working with specialist business banking teams across the UK to connect with enterprise support agencies, local government and education bodies to provide access to business advise and support to those facing higher barriers to entry, with a specific interest in how the business support environment can improve its support for migrant and refugee entrepreneurs. Andy has been with NatWest for 14 years, starting as a call centre agent in the early years before moving into Anti Money Laundering, Data Analysis and Project Management, he has spent the last 5 years in the Enterprise and Community Finance team.
    Sue Jefferson
    Founder & CEO, Possibilities Realised
    As founder & CEO of Possibilities Realised, Sue has over 30 years’ experience operating in senior and director roles in major FMCG companies - transforming markets, brands, private label supply, innovation, manufacturing plants and business units, both in the UK and globally, consistently delivering unprecedented results. She is currently also Deputy Chair of North Yorkshire LEP Business Board and a Panel Assessor of Innovation bids for SparkFund. Alongside consulting, Sue delivers corporate workshops and is a frequent media commentator on the gender balance conundrum.
  • 17September

    Webinar recording - FinTech: A good practice example of effective university-business engagement

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of Bristol

    Webinar recording - FinTech: A good practice example of effective university-business engagement

    During this session you will hear from business leader Stuart Harrison, FinTech West, and Professor Jon Beaverstock, University of Bristol, who will explore what good looks like with regards to engagement between universities and businesses.

    We will explore the pros and cons, some of the pitfalls and the benefits of collaboration. This session is directed at both business people and university social science researchers and there will be an opportunity for you to pose questions. We focus on Fintech as our sector example, but much of the experience can applied to any knowledge-intensive business sector and indeed to any university-business engagement.

    Dr Ruth Welters
    Business Engagement Coordinator, University of Bristol
    Dr Ruth Welters has over 15 years’ experience working in Universities and the Research Councils in research communication, impact and business engagement roles. Since January 2020, Ruth has focussed specifically on social sciences business collaboration, in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law at University of Bristol.
    Professor Jon Beaverstock
    Professor of International Management, University of Bristol
    Jonathan Beaverstock is a Professor of International Management in the School of Management, Faculty Social Sciences and Law, University of Bristol. Jon is a world-leading expert on the competitiveness of financial centres’ banking, financial and professional service spatial economies and clusters.
    Stuart Harrison
    Founder and Co-Director, FinTech West
    Stuart Harrison is the Founder and Co-Director of FinTech West, which is the representative body for FinTech in the West and South West of England, part of the FinTech National Network supported by Innovate Finance. FinTech West provides a focal point for communication, engagement and collaboration between FinTechs, local authorities, academia, and financial and professional services. Stuart is also actively involved in a range of technology business advice, activities and mentoring in areas such as blockchain, AI/machine learning, robotics and quantum. He is a University of the West of England Business Fellow and Mentor in Residence at the Bristol Business School plus a Visiting Industrial Fellow at the University of Bristol.
  • 22September

    Webinar recording - Creating ventures during COVID-19: Challenges and opportunities

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of Oxford

    Webinar recording - Creating ventures during COVID-19: Challenges and opportunities

    Lockdown posed a sudden and dramatic switch of all activities to the virtual world as everyone scrambled to cope with the new reality. Creating ventures – often a deeply personal process involving networking, workshops and travel – has been particularly affected. This panel session will take in the experience from 3 different organisations and look at how they managed the challenges, the opportunities and what will change as we look to 2021.

    Nelly Lavielle
    Partner, Bethnal Green Ventures
    Nelly is a Partner at Bethnal Green Ventures (BGV). BGV is an impact investor for technology start-ups who are building transformational solutions to social and environmental challenges. BGV has invested in and helped grow over 150 mission-driven start-ups covering their three impact themes of a better society, healthy lives and a sustainable planet. In her role at BGV, Nelly leads on ensuring that BGV provides world-class support across their portfolio as well as follow-on investments. 
    LJ Silverman
    Head of LSE Generate, LSE Research & Innovation, LSE
    I get to spend my waking hours alongside the best and brightest socially driven entrepreneurs at LSE, leading the entrepreneurship centre at the School here in London as well as our global start-up hubs. I manage LSE Generate which is a community of innovators who can engage with our programme, seek mentorship, funding and a home where they can be equipped to go out and solve some of society's most pressing problems. Prior to LSE I ran my own careers and recruitment consultancy focussed on climate change and before that I worked in TV. Many moons ago, I studied languages at Cambridge Uni. I am passionate about parent-tech, and any innovation that clearly contributes to a better tomorrow.
    Kate Parkinson
    Co-Founder, Head Set
    As a journalist, Kate Parkinson covered the world’s most violent conflicts for over a decade; from Syria and Iraq to Ukraine and the Central African Republic. In 2011, Kate was reporting on the civil war in Libya when her cameraman and husband Olivier Sarbil was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. His survival motivated her to co-found Head Set, using immersive technologies to allow journalists to do their jobs safely and with a strong mindset. Kate has led three Innovate UK research grants and was part of the 2020 Bethnal Green Ventures spring cohort. She sits on a panel at the Frontline Freelance Registry and is a volunteer for the VR Diversity Initiative.
    Aela Callan
    Co-Founder, Head Set
    Aela Callan spent two decades as a foreign correspondent and documentary filmmaker before co-founding Head Set, an immersive learning ecosystem that is transforming the way journalists prepare for risk in the field. Her work as one of the first western journalists to live in Myanmar won her a prestigious John S. Knight Fellowship at Stanford University in 2014, where she built her skills in human centred design at the renowned d.school and attended the Graduate School of Business. As a leader and innovator, Aela has been at the forefront of experimentation with immersive storytelling from 360-videos through to fully interactive, multi-user virtual reality.
  • 23September

    Webinar recording - Driving entrepreneurship in the social sciences

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of Manchester

    Webinar recording - Driving entrepreneurship in the social sciences

    A lack of entrepreneurial skills among social scientists has been noted as a key barrier to the commercialisation of social science research. An important aspect of any strategy that aims to achieve this goal must therefore be to accelerate the growth of social science entrepreneurship.

    This webinar will showcase the work of the Masood Enterprise Centre in developing entrepreneurial skills among social scientists and discuss best practice in driving entrepreneurship.

    Tony Walker
    Deputy Director of the Masood Enterprise Centre, Alliance Manchester Business School
    Tony worked for fifteen years for the Royal Mail, firstly in direct marketing and then in new product development. He joined the University of Manchester in 2000 in a Business Development role for ICT and Digital Technology development and then as an Incubation Manager on its high-tech business activities. He then moved into the university technology transfer office UMIP and focused on spinout and licence creation and provided support to dozens of researchers, entrepreneurs and companies throughout the commercialisation ‘pipeline’. Since 2019 he has worked in the Masood Enterprise Centre focusing on staff, student, and graduate entrepreneurship development and is part of the Aspect programme.
    Laura Etchells
    Enterprise Business Development Manager, Masood Enterprise Centre, Alliance Manchester Business School
    Dr Laura Etchells has over 10 years’ experience of project management, technology transfer and business development in a University setting. Since August 2019 Laura has been actively championing entrepreneurship and supporting the creation of University start-up businesses from within the Masood Enterprise Centre at The University of Manchester.
    Ricardo Climent
    Professor of Interactive Music Composition, University of Manchester
    Ricardo is Professor of Interactive Music Composition at the University of Manchester, where he serves as director of the NOVARS Research Centre. Working at the cutting edge of music, gaming, digital twins and the potential for new forms of philanthropy driven by the impact of Fortnite, Dota 2, Sky; Children of the Light and other platform games he describes how this has inspired him to develop a new approach through Keep It Human, a Digital Game Ecosystem for Collaborative Altruism.
    Alison Edmonds
    Director, Epic Steps Careers+
    Alison is a social entrepreneur and executive careers coach passionate about supporting everyone to contribute to a sustainable future. Founding Epic Steps CIC in 2015, Alison leads innovative events with school children around leadership, career awareness and sustainability. Her work is published in the UN’s SDG Online Collection. Formerly director of the Global MBA Careers Service at Alliance Manchester Business School, Alison designed and led careers for over 4000 MBAs internationally. Previously, Director of the full-time MBA Careers Service, after leaving the recruitment industry. Alison is a qualified executive coach, an RSA Fellow, a qualified teacher and an UnLtd award winner.
  • 24September

    Webinar slides - Combatting misinformation online: The role and relevance of the social sciences

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of Manchester

    Webinar slides - Combatting misinformation online: The role and relevance of the social sciences

    View the webinar slides

    Misinformation online is widely acknowledged to be a growing problem, one which poses a threat not only to the integrity of elections but also to public health, for example through impacts on citizens’ mental wellbeing.

    This session will showcase the relevance of social science expertise to combatting online misinformation, and outline how more effective engagement can be built between academics, industry and government to put this knowledge to practical use.

    Rachel Gibson
    Professor of Political Science, University of Manchester
    Rachel Gibson is a Professor of Politics at the University of Manchester and her research focuses on how digital technologies are changing the way in which election campaigns are fought and won. Her work is comparative in nature with a particular focus on developments in the UK, the U.S., Australia and France. I have published a wide range of articles and books on this topic, including a forthcoming monograph with Oxford University Press ‘When the Nerds Go Marching In: How Digital Technology moved from the Margins the Mainstream of Political Campaigns’. She currently holds a 5 year European Research Council Advanced Investigator Grant to examine Digital Campaigning and Electoral Democracy (DiCED).
    Dr Ariadna Tsenina
    Research Associate, Democracy@Risk Project, University of Manchester
    Dr Ariadna Tsenina is a Research Associate with the DILPS (Digital Information Literacy Programme for Schools) project, designed to boost digital information literacy among teachers and students by integrating social science research with commercial education resources. Previously, she worked as Research Associate with the Democracy@Risk project at the University of Manchester, focusing on the threats that digital technologies and AI pose to democracy. She has recently completed her DPhil in Politics at the University of Oxford, examining the use of manipulation in Russian elections. Her research interests are electoral manipulation, digital threats to democracy and Russian politics.
    Professor Martin Innes
    Director, Crime and Security Research Institute & the Universities' Police Science Institute and a Professor in Social Sciences
    Martin Innes is Director of the Crime and Security Research Institute, the Universities' Police Science Institute and a Professor in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. His work in the following areas has been influential in the UK and globally: Disinformation – he has led a major international research programme to understand the causes and consequences of distorting and deceptive digital communications; Counter-terrorism – he has pioneered the use of social media analytics to study processes of reaction to terror attacks, and his research has directly impacted the Prevent Strategy; and Policing – he designed many of the core processes and systems underpinning the Neighbourhood Policing model across England and Wales.
    Dr Vladimir Barash
    Science Director, Graphika
    Dr Vladimir Barash is the Director of Graphika Labs at Graphika, Inc. His team performs industrial research at the cutting edge of computational social science, including patented algorithms for mapping networked data. Dr Barash is a co-author of and contributor to a number of major reports on social media disinformation campaigns: around the 2016 US elections (with the Knight Foundation); and the 2017 German elections (with the London School of Economics and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue). In November 2019, Dr Barash testified before the US House Veterans Affairs Committee on foreign information operations targeting US veterans and military service members.
  • 29September

    Webinar recording - Data, IP and commercialisation: A strategic view

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: London School of Economics and Political Science

    Webinar recording - Data, IP and commercialisation: A strategic view

    The work of research institutions, academics and businesses often involves collecting, analysing and publishing third-party data. Whether you are working with big data sets from databases or small datasets from websites, personalised data, anonymised data or publicly available data – there are laws that regulate its use by a third-party.

    Understanding data regulations (even if just for research use) can be complex but this strategic session aims to outline the risks, opportunities and challenges that researchers and businesses encounter when managing data. It provides professionals involved in research and commercialisation activities with practical information to help you use third-party data lawfully, and to protect your intellectual output.

    Hugh Tebay
    Partner, Taylor Vinters
    Partner with Taylor Vinters with a specialism in intellectual property and commercial law. Hugh advises clients across a number of industry sectors, and in particular technology clients, on the effective protection, management and commercialisation of their intellectual property rights.  He regularly advises clients involved in collaborative projects where the parties’ respective rights to background and foreground data is a critical factor.
    James Boyle
    Senior Associate, Taylor Vinters
    Senior Associate with Taylor Vinters, leading the firm’s privacy and data protection team. James’s work focuses on designing data collection mechanisms and helping organisations use personal data in a manner that’s compliant with data protection legislation. He regularly advises on the exemptions available when personal data is used for research, as well as helping clients anonymise and securely share the data they hold.
    Geraldine Wildman
    Data Licensing and Delivery Lead, British Geological Survey
    Geraldine leads the data licensing and delivery teams at the British Geological Survey (BGS) and is responsible for the supply of both commercial and open data products. It is her remit to not only increase the visibility and access to BGS data but also to ensure BGS operates a fair and balanced charging model while promoting BGS’s open data. Geraldine works across a range of stakeholders including the insurance and conveyancing sectors, infrastructure and transport bodies, as well as central and local government, ensuring that BGS data is delivered in an appropriate and cost effective medium.
    Dr Martin Husovec
    Assistant Professor of Law, Department of Law, LSE
    Martin Husovec joined LSE in July 2020. He teaches and conducts research in the areas of intellectual property, digital rights and EU law. He holds a PhD from the Ludwig Maximilian University and Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition. Martin is also a fellow at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet & Society (CIS), CREATe, and Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC). Previously, he was an Assistant Professor at Tilburg University and has held visiting appointments at Stanford Law School (2014), the Japanese Institute for Intellectual Property (2015), the Central European University (2018), the European University Institute (2018) and the University of Cambridge (2019).
  • 29September

    Webinar recording - How can social scientists engage business effectively?

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of Bristol

    Webinar recording - How can social scientists engage business effectively?

    This session will consider the top three success factors for effective engagement between social scientists and business: alignment of opportunity, purpose and outcomes.

    Dr Ruth Welters from the University of Bristol will chair the session. University of Bristol social scientists will bring each topic to life, drawing from their live experiences of their ESRC-funded Accelerating Business Engagement projects and of course their own previous collaboration expertise.

    The session is directed at knowledge exchange professionals, business people and university researchers, and there will be an opportunity for you to pose questions.

    Dr Ruth Welters
    Business Engagement Coordinator, University of Bristol
    Dr Ruth Welters has over 15 years’ experience working in Universities and the Research Councils in research communication, impact and business engagement roles. Since January 2020, Ruth has focussed specifically on social sciences business collaboration, in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law at University of Bristol.
    Sam Collier
    PhD Student, Sustainable Futures, University of Bristol
    Sam Collier is a PhD Researcher at the University of Bristol on the interdisciplinary ESRC Sustainable Futures pathway, and Research Associate at Homelync, a Bristol-based Internet of Things (IoT) startup working to improve social housing. His PhD explores the uptake of domestic solar PV in the UK and seeks to understand how we might accelerate its rollout through enhanced user acceptance, particularly in the context of the emerging local energy sector.
    Colin Nolden
    VC Fellow, University of Bristol
    Colin joined the University of Bristol Law School in November 2017 as a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow. Colin’s research interests span sustainable energy policy, governance, business models and markets at the intersection of climate change, digital innovations and mobility. He is currently researching community energy, energy system governance and how to capture and value energy demand and carbon emission reductions.
    Mary Wakeham
    PhD student, University of Bristol
    Mary is in the final year of her PhD researching animal abuse in the context of domestic violence and abuse with the Centre of Gender and Violence Research at the University of Bristol. Mary’s research explores the significance of the relationship between human and animal victims-survivors of domestic violence and abuse as well as how and why animals are abused and the impact that this has on all victim-survivors. Mary has a wealth of practice experience in the field of domestic violence and abuse having worked as an Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) and in 2017 Mary founded Refuge4Pets, a charity that provide an animal fostering service to victim-survivors of domestic violence and abuse in the South West of England.
  • 30September

    Webinar recording - Taking poverty measurement research into the private sector

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of Oxford

    Webinar recording - Taking poverty measurement research into the private sector

    Ana Vaz, Director of Research, and Jamie Coats, President & CEO, of Sophia Oxford will talk about how their organisation is taking the methodology to measure multidimensional poverty, developed by ODID’s Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, to the private sector engaging companies in assessing poverty among their workforce and exploring the value of social indicators in informing investment decisions.

    They will discuss how to set an infrastructure, the importance of establishing credibility and managing partners, and the impact of COVID-19 on early ventures.

    Jamie Coats
    President & CEO, Sophia Oxford
    Jamie Coats is the President & CEO of Sophia Oxford, Inc, an Oxford University linked non-profit partner of the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI). Previously Jamie served as the Director, Friends of the Society of Saint the Evangelist (SSJE), an Episcopal religious order of Brothers in Massachusetts. Before SSJE, Jamie worked in Boston for several investment companies, including serving as President of KLD Social Investment Research, co-founder of Redwood Risk Management and for a startup online education company. Previous to his work in the US, he worked for Business in the Community in London, UK, focusing on economic regeneration.
    Ana Vaz
    Director of Research, Sophia Oxford
    Ana Vaz is the Director of Research and Technical Validation at SOPHIA Oxford. Before joining SOPHIA Oxford, Ana was a Senior Research Officer at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford. Ana’s work at OPHI focused on the measurement of multidimensional poverty and women’s empowerment. She holds a DPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford, and she was previously on the faculty at the Catholic University of Portugal and a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
  • 7October

    Webinar recording - COVID-19 and the healthy ageing challenge

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of Sussex

    Webinar recording - COVID-19 and the healthy ageing challenge

    A panel discussion on the work at University of Sussex, and across the region, focused on the UK Industrial Strategy Theme of Healthy Ageing – an issue that is particularly important in the context of COVID-19. This will include lessons from Digital Access, the UKRI Healthy Ageing network and University of Sussex Healthy Ageing Challenge.

    Dr Rotem Perach
    Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Sussex
    Dr Rotem Perach is social and health psychology researcher. His areas of expertise include older persons, health behaviours, sleep, and wellbeing. After earning his PhD in psychology from the University of Kent, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher and teaching fellow in Goldsmiths, University of London. Currently, he is a research fellow in psychology at the University of Sussex.
    Sodi Kakouris
    E-Learning Development Officer, Help The Ageing, The Highlands Third Sector Partnership
    Sodi Kakouris has over 20 years’ experience in the development of online tools and eLearning. His working history covers both academic and commercial fields and more recently working within the third sector.
    Dr Emma Derbyshire
    Immunonutritionist, Nutritional Insight
    Dr Emma Derbyshire BSc, PhD, RNutr (Public Health) is an established nutritionist who has published over 150 peer-reviewed publications within the field of nutrition and public health, winning several writing awards. Her areas of speciality include maternal nutrition, child nutrition, and the role of nutrition in health, COVID19 and nutrition. Emma has had over 10 years’ experience of working in academia, as a Senior Lecturer in Human Nutrition and Physiology. Emma has worked with top publishing houses, established food companies, supplement and pharmaceutical manufacturers, government organisations and communication agencies.
    Dr Ben Hicks
    Research Fellow, Centre for Dementia Studies
    Ben Hicks is a Research Fellow and the Programme Co-ordinator of the DETERMIND project, based at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. His research concerns supporting quality of life and social inclusion in people with dementia through exploring the differing lived experiences of the condition and addressing the inequalities that may arise in the dementia care pathway. His PhD focused on examining and supporting social inclusion in rural-dwelling older men with dementia through a community technological initiative that was tailored towards their multiple masculinities.
  • 8October

    Webinar recording - How to train social science researchers to become consultants

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of Sussex

    Webinar recording - How to train social science researchers to become consultants

    The University of Sussex initiative: SocSci Consulting – Building SocSci Consultancy for Enhanced Revenue Generation aims to upskill academics with no or limited consultancy experience and, in particular, support the Business School in training early career researchers to develop their careers as consultants.

    In this session, you will hear from an early career researcher who will discuss their initial experiences and expectations from the programme in a panel discussion, with an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

    Dr Manjari Khanna Kapoor
    President, Association for Building Security, India
    Dr Manjari Khanna Kapoor is a practising architect with expertise in hotel design at her partnership firm in Delhi. She is Visiting faculty at SPA-Delhi and Amity university, Noida. She is the first in the country to pioneer ‘security through architectural design’, propagating the concepts of CPTED and counter terrorism through design. With that end she founded the ‘Association for Building Security- India’, the Indian chapter of the International CPTED Association (ICA), where she is also a Director. She is the Chairperson of the SEQURE standards for design of buildings and rating systems.
    Professor Altaf Samo
    Entrepreneurship Teacher Fellow, MIT
    Prof Altaf is MIT Entrepreneurship Teacher Fellow, Country Lead Global University Entrepreneurial Student Spirit Survey (GUESSS) and Global Mentoring Program, working as Director EDC, Sukkur IBA University. At EDC he has developed different training programs to equip youths with the skills and knowledge needed for professionals and entrepreneurs. Prof Altaf’s research interest is Entrepreneurship with a focus on entrepreneurial attitude and intentions, student entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education. Prof Altaf has worked on different projects with a range of national and international organisations such as Asian Development Bank, UNDP, Cupola, Continental Biscuit and USAID.
    Dr Tim Strickland
    Consultant CEO, FE Sussex
    Prior to being appointed at CEO of FE Sussex in June 2008, Tim was Director of International Operations at the then Hastings College – a role in which he was responsible for securing and delivering a wealth of education and training contracts both in college and overseas. This work was recognised when the college’s international provision was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher Education by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
    Dr Mark Fisher
    Senior Lecturer in Accounting, University of Sussex
    Mark has around 34 years as a consultant in one form or another, with various types of commissioning experience, including one where as a commercial consultant I commissioned a university team for consultancy work, so lots of observations in relation to being on the other side of arrangements.
  • 13October

    Webinar recording - Sustainable and just food system futures

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: Cardiff University

    Webinar recording - Sustainable and just food system futures

    This session will look at how we can scale sustainable and just food futures, the role of cooperative economies and the role of the Wales Food Network Survey.

    Hannah Pitt
    Research Fellow, Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University
    Hannah is Sêr Cymru II Research Fellow at the Sustainable Places Research Institute where she researches skills and knowledge in food production, focusing on UK horticulture. A human geographer, she specialises in working in collaboration with community organisations.
    Angelina Sanderson-Bellamy
    Research Fellow, Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University
    Dr Sanderson Bellamy is a Research Fellow in the Sustainable Places Research Institute. Her expertise encompasses food production systems, land use and land cover change, ecological resilience and ecosystem services. She uses a social-ecological framework and interdisciplinary methods to investigate the drivers, particularly governance and support structures, of environmental change and the impact of land management on the delivery of ecosystem services. Her experience draws from working across Latin American and UK food landscapes, and she is the Principle Investigator for TGRAINS, a UKRI-funded project on how to make UK regional food systems healthier and more environmentally sustainable.
    Poppy Nicol
    Research Associate, Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University
    Poppy is a Research Associate at the Sustainable Places Research Institute. As a geographer, her research interests are in the connections between people and place. She is particularly interested in the connections between biological and cultural diversity through agriculture. Her current research focuses upon communities of agro-ecological practice. She is also interested in how co-operative ways of working can support sustainable and just food futures.
  • 15October

    Webinar recording - Youth and mental health post COVID-19: Addressing the emerging youth mental health crisis

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: University of Sussex

    Webinar recording - Youth and mental health post COVID-19: Addressing the emerging youth mental health crisis

    This session will focus on the Youth@Risk consortium at Sussex which is addressing the impact of COVID-19 on youth, and how to mobilise applied social science research in the development of social innovation and social enterprise based solutions.

    Alison Frater
    Experienced Director of Public Health
    As a consultant in public health, Alison Frater has a track record of achievement in addressing health inequalities and improving access to health and health care. As a senior leader in the voluntary and public sector she worked as Chief Officer at the Brook Advisory Centres, as Director of Public Health in Bristol and in North Hampshire and was Head of Public Health in NHS England (London) responsible for public health care including in the criminal justice system.
    John Strutton
    Youth@Risk Partner, Institute for Community Safety
    John Strutton is the current Chair of the UK Institute of Community Safety, and is also the Senior Crime Reduction & Operational Security Manager for Transport for London, with responsibility for community safety, crime reduction, crime prevention through environmental design, problem solving delivery and operational security. John has delivered restorative justice programmes, in-house training in basic crime prevention & problem solving, and has developed specialisms in dealing with issues as diverse as graffiti reduction, transport-related theft and urban explorer trespass.
    Dr Emmeline Taylor
    Associate Dean (Research and Enterprise), City University
    Dr. Emmeline Taylor is Associate Professor in Criminology at City, University of London and Director of Aptus Research and Consultancy Ltd. Her research has focused on young people, new technologies and crime. Dr Taylor has published extensively across these topics, including the books: Surveillance Schools (Palgrave, 2013); Surveillance Futures (Routledge, 2017, with T. Rooney); The Palgrave International Handbook of School Discipline, Surveillance, and Social Control (Palgrave, 2018, with J. Deakin and A. Kupchik), and Armed Robbers (Oxford University Press, 2021).
    Professor Lorraine Gamman
    Director, Design Against Crime Research Centre
    Gamman has worked with diverse communities and co-catalyzed and/or co curated at least twenty national and international exhibitions, delivering award-winning design benchmarks including the Makeright.org product range co designed with prisoners as part of a DACRC led collaboration with students. Also design resources and numerous academic papers that advise others how best to design against crime, some co-authored with colleagues from the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science at University College London, with whom she has previously developed several research projects. Recently she has co-authored with Alison Frater a forthcoming report “Beyond knife crime - towards a design led approach to reducing youth violence” (2020).
  • 20October

    Webinar recording - Building a Social Science Research Park: A value-based approach to working with external organisations

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: Cardiff University

    Webinar recording - Building a Social Science Research Park: A value-based approach to working with external organisations

    Cardiff University is creating a social science research park (SPARK) to be housed in a new purpose built 12,000sq.m building that will co-locate with our leading social-science led interdisciplinary research centres with external organisations and business engagement and commercial development staff. In this session we share our approach to creating value for external organisations through a SPARK membership model where external partners will be invited to make a value-based contribution in return for greater benefits from their membership.

    Professor Chris Taylor
    Professor of Social Sciences, Cardiff University & Academic Director of the Cardiff University Social Science Research Park (SPARK)
    Dave Braines
    Director of Emerging Technologies, IBM
    Dave Braines is the Chief Technology Officer for Emerging Technology, IBM Research UK, and is a Fellow of the British Computer Society. As a member of IBM Research he is an active researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence and is currently focused on Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Network Motif analysis. He has published over 100 conference and journal papers and is currently the industry technical leader for a 10-year research consortium comprised of 17 academic, industry and government organisations from the UK and US. Dave is passionate about human-machine cognitive interfaces and has developed a number of techniques to support deep interactions between human users and machine agents.
    Andy Lahy
    Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, DSV Panalpina
    Andrew has worked across the globe in a variety of operational and strategic supply chain roles over the last 20 years. As well as his role at DSV, Andrew is also a director at the PARC Institute for Manufacturing, Logistics and Inventory, a joint Industry and Academic centre that aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice to bring benefits to the economy, environment and wider society. Andrew has published a number of academic and industry articles on global supply chains, innovation, operational excellence and the impact of 3DP on global supply chains. Andrew’s work has also featured in Forbes and was recently included in The Times special report on the future of global supply chains.
  • 21October

    Webinar recording - Early career social scientists: The case for working in start-ups

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: Zinc

    Webinar recording - Early career social scientists: The case for working in start-ups

    Early-stage start-ups represent fertile testing ground for applications of, and contributions to, social science research. This session will focus on the ways in which social science research skills are relevant and valuable to start-ups – with reflections from social scientists playing prominent roles in start-ups, and discussion about the transition from academia to industry, with particular focus on guidance for early career researchers.

    Anja Maerz
    Lead User Researcher at Babylon Health
    Anja Maerz has an MA in cultural anthropology and always wanted to work as an applied anthropologist. She has led user research, UX and service design projects in agencies, government and startups, always passionate about people and how they connect with technology.  Currently Anja is working as Lead User Researcher at Babylon Health and is one of the organisers of a user research meet up, The Research Thing, which brings together the community to exchange knowledge and improve their craft.
    Andre Richter
    Senior Data Scientist at Just Eat
    André Richter is a data science manager with a focus on data-driven decision making at scale. He leverages his social science and economics background to help companies understand and extract value from their data. André currently leads the experimentation team at Just Eat, which feeds into and evaluates the impact of product changes on customer behaviour. Previously, he worked in aviation, where he led a data science team building tools to automate insight discovery and to realise efficiency gains. André holds a PhD in Economics from the Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    Anna Hushlak
    Chief Product Officer at Ferly
    After 10+ years in academia and advocacy, Dr. Anna Hushlak graduated from Oxford and co-founded FemTech app Ferly. Ferly aims to be the first clinically-validated digital therapeutic for women's sexual wellbeing. Combining mindfulness and CBT, Ferly supports the 1 in 4 people navigating sexual difficulties. In less than a year, they've hit 100,000 users across 61 countries, raised £1.5 million, and been featured in Forbes, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and BBC Women's Hour. Ferly's 5 year mission? To empower 50 million people to have healthy, pleasurable and confident sex.
    John Blythe
    Head of Behavioural Science at Cybsafe
    Dr John Blythe is Head of Behavioural Science at CybSafe, a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and an Honorary Research Fellow at the UCL Dawes Centre for Future Crime. He specialises in the human aspect of cyber security. John has a PhD in the psychology of cyber security and has worked in universities and the UK government advising on behaviour change strategy for cyber security.
  • 22October

    Webinar recording - Reducing resource use through shared access to consumer goods: Barriers and motivations

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: Cardiff University

    Webinar recording - Reducing resource use through shared access to consumer goods: Barriers and motivations

    This session will explore the subconscious barriers to nudging behaviour change, the consequences of consumption, alternative consumption models and recommendations in this area for businesses, organisations, and policy makers.

    Dr Nicole Koenig-Lewis 
    Reader (Associate Professor) in Marketing at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University
    Dr Nicole Koenig-Lewis is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Marketing at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, and an affiliate to CAST (Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations). Nicole’s research revolves around the themes of sustainable consumption and aims to inspire truly sustainable approaches to business. She is interested in how consumer attitudes towards sustainable consumption and the circular economy are shaped and how behaviour can be influenced. Her current projects tackle the theoretical debate about drivers and barriers to sustainable consumer behaviours in contexts such as sustainable consumption, environmentally friendly packaging, the sharing economy, and festivals as agents of change. 
    Dr Carmela Bosangit 
    Lecturer in Marketing at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University
    Dr Carmela Bosangit is a Lecturer in Marketing at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. Her research interests include ethical consumption, responsible business practices, the sharing economy, consumer experiences and narratives in social media. Past research projects include ethical consumption and responsible business practices in the jewellery industry, ecolabel certifications, flexible ethical consumption of tourists in St Ives and Tenby and environmentally conscious behaviour of UAE consumers. Her work has been published in marketing and tourism journals such as the Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Organizations and Journal of Sustainable Tourism.
    Eve Kekeh
    Founder, Bundlee
    Eve Kekeh is the founder of Bundlee, the UK’s first baby clothing rental service. As the eldest sister in her family, Eve experienced the problem that many new parents face: babies grow, but their clothes do not. Babies outgrow 7 clothing sizes in their first 2 years. Eve set about to tackle the baby clothing waste problem, using circular economy principles to start Bundlee in 2018. Since then, Bundlee has saved thousands of garments from landfill and over 9,000kg of carbon. This year she was honoured as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs.
    Chris Hellawell
    Founder & Director, Edinburgh Tool Library
    I started ETL in 2015 after visiting similar projects in Canada and being frustrated that such a thing didn’t exist in the UK. I could see the potential of marrying an environmental angle with one that promotes positive social values and wanted to be part of something that made a lasting difference in my community. My educational background is in environmental science and forestry, and professionally, I have worked in the third sector for the last decade, so the Tool Library has been a great way to use my knowledge and my passion to promote sharing as a way of social mobility as well as reducing environmental impact. I was delighted to be asked to join the board of Firstport in 2018 and its sister company First Impact in 2019.
  • 27October

    Building back better: Bridging the gaps in the green economy

    This event has now finished
    Organiser: London School of Economics and Political Science

    Building back better: Bridging the gaps in the green economy

    Will the impact of COVID-19 on the transition to a green economy cause it to accelerate or stall? In this session, we will hear from some innovative social scientists as well as people from industry who are looking at creating new organisations that bridge key gaps in the economic and financial structures needed to build back better.

    Michal Nachmany
    Policy Fellow, Grantham Research Institute, LSE
    Dr Michal Nachmany leads LSE’s Grantham Research Institute’s structured datasets and tools projects, supporting evidence-based decision-making for investors and policy-makers. She manages two major projects: Climate Change Laws of the World– an open-access resource and engagement programme, and the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) – an initiative supported by investors with $21 trillion in Assets under Management and Advice. TPI tracks climate governance and emissions trajectories by the highest emitting companies worldwide, to facilitate evidence-based investor engagement and investment.
    Nick Robins
    Professor in Practice, Grantham Research Institute, LSE
    Nick Robins leads the sustainable finance research theme at the LSE Grantham Research Institute where he is Professor in Practice for Sustainable Finance. The focus of his work is on how to mobilise finance for a just transition. He was co-director of the UN Environment Programme’s Inquiry into a Sustainable Finance System. Before joining UNEP, he ran the Climate Change Centre of Excellence at HSBC and before that the Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) funds at Henderson Global Investors.
    Adam Parr
    Businessman and former chairman and chief executive of the Williams Formula One team
    Dr Adam Parr is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist focusing on strategy and the value that academic discipline brings to business. He is also chairman of the Downforce Trust, which aims to increase traction in combatting climate damage. His previous roles include that of Chief Executive and Chairman of the Williams Formula One team. He is Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia. He is also an investor, adviser and director of several start-ups, including a number of spin-outs from the University of Oxford.