16 February 2015
Horizon 2020
We are delighted to announce that Stephen Osborne has been awarded our first UEBS Horizon 2020 grant for the project SOLIDUS: “Solidarity in European societies: empowerment, social justice and citizenship”, led by University of Barcelona and involving 12 other European partners and awarded under the European Societies after the Crisis call. The current crisis has indirectly contributed to questioning the efficiency of financial markets and democratic institutions at European and national levels. Recent data from the Eurobarometer (July 2013) shows a continuous decrease in the trust levels that citizens from the European Union have on national governments and parliaments, radically decreasing in more than 25 points in the last six years (European Commission, 2013). This situation is jeopardizing the European project while at the same time a lively public debate about the meaning of European identity is taking place across Europe. Several social scientists have argued that the social and economic inequalities in the new global order are contributing to civil social reactions, based on solidarity, aiming to achieve a better society for all (Touraine, 2007; Wright, 2010). This project aims to analyse in depth the acts of solidarity which are being developed across Europe, the extent to which they respond to dialogic and inclusive processes, the related outcomes and the policy developments. The project starts from previous findings on successful actions which are combating the crisis – by creating employment or improving access to health – through acts of solidarity. These acts are thus contributing to construct more inclusive and prosperous societies, by influencing at the macro-level (social inequalities) and micro-level (psychological wellbeing). In this regard, the research will identify common elements among these acts in order to examine their transferability to different contexts. To cover this objective, effects of these actions in five social areas will be studied in depth: housing, education, employment, engagement and health. Simultaneously, special attention will be paid on social investment policies which are supporting these initiatives.
Scottish Universities Insight Institute
Many congratulations to Tina Harrison, who is part of a team led by Robert Mochrie, Department of Economics, Heriot Watt, which has just been awarded £19,991 for a SUII grant on the topic of 'Financing the Future: Achieving Sustainable Growth in Credit Unions'. This will fund a series of knowledge exchange events running from April for 6 months.
PS there is a new round of SUII funding up for grabs now – see http://www.scottishinsight.ac.uk/News.aspx
British Council
Well done to Tony Kinder, who has successfully secured British Council funding for a Research Links Workshop, working with Dr Saltanat Janenova of Nazarbayev University, Kazahkstan – the project is “Public Service Innovations and Modernization using ICT: opportunities and challenges for early-career researchers”. This workshop is a continuation of joint working between UK and Kazakhstan researchers and brings together fifteen, mainly early-career researchers, from the two countries. The workshop has three aims: (a) to share current research and consider future research directions; (b) to explore research impact in the two countries and ways in which best practices in public service innovations may be better disseminated; and (c) to consider joint projects and co-authorship deepening our research links. The participants will get a unique opportunity to improve knowledge on the good international pactices of service innovations and ICT in the public sector (e.g. tele-medicine, e-learning etc), develop joint research proposals and get feedback from the workshop coordinators and Mentors. A site visit to the One Stop Shop and a sightseeing tour are planned during the workshop.
Fulbright Scholar Awards
Dahlia EL-Manstrly has been shortlisted for the Fulbright Scholar Awards (Only five awards finally given across all the disciplines in the UK). The global Fulbright programme is one of the most prestigious awards programmes world-wide, operating in over 150 countries. Good luck Dahlia!
Dahlia has also recently joined the editorial review board of International Marketing Review.
Social Sciences Most Read
Francisco Ascui’s paper ‘A Review of Carbon Accounting in the Social and Environmental Accounting Literature: What Can it Contribute to the Debate?’, which was published in Social and Environmental Accountability Journal has been included in an online article collection featuring the most downloaded articles published in Routledge Social Sciences journals in 2014. The collection features the top three most downloaded articles that were published and downloaded in 2014 in each Routledge Social Sciences journal. The article is freely available on the website until the 30th June 2015, via the collection homepage.
Emeritus Professor News
Many congratulations to John Dawson, who many of our staff still work closely with, whose article “International Retailing as Embedded Business Models” has just been accepted for publication in the 4* publication Journal of Economic Geography.
John has also just received a Fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Great news!