Meet the people at White Rose DTP
Academic Quality Committee
The Academic Quality Committee (AQC) has responsibility for ensuring the successful operation and development of the White Rose DTC and reports into the WRDTC Steering Group (SG).
Members of the AQC include the Faculty Directors of Research & Innovation and Directors of Graduate Training (or equivalents) for each institution and the secretariat is provided by the White Rose DTC Clerical Officer. Students are also represented on the AQC via a rotational appointment. Chairing rotates around its membership on an annual basis. In line with the overall staged development of the DTC the role of the AQC will evolve over time.
The AQC oversees the coordination of the successful running and development of the DTC and ensuring the strategic development of the DTC in line with the original objectives. This includes:
- designing and overseeing a studentship quota allocation system, based on both the ESRC steer and the strategic priorities of the DTC;
- ensuring timely financial reporting;
- overseeing the development of partnerships;
- overseeing DTC events and activities.
Professor Ruth Blakeley
In recent years, she has co-directed (with Dr Sam Raphael, University of Westminster), The Rendition Project, funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council, providing the most comprehensive analysis to date of the CIA’s Rendition, Detention and Interrogation programme. Ruth has published widely on these issues.
She is the Lead Editor of the Review of International Studies, a journal of the British International Studies Association (BISA), published by Cambridge University Press.
Ruth was previously Professor of International Relations and Head of School at the University of Kent, where she was first appointed to a lectureship in 2007.
Professor Craig Watkins
Faculty of Social Sciences Director of Research & Innovation (FDRI), University of Sheffield
Professor Watkins graduated with a BSc (Economics) from the University of Strathclyde in 1989 and, after a (very) brief period in industry, worked as a researcher in the Department of Economics at the University of Strathclyde, the Department of Land Economics at the University of Paisley and the School of Planning and Housing at Heriot-Watt University. For much of this period he also worked part time on a PhD (Land Economics) at the University of Paisley. In 1995, Craig was appointed to a lectureship in the Department of Land Economy at the University of Aberdeen and in 1999 was promoted to Senior Lecturer. He joined the Department of Town and Regional Planning in February 2004 and was promoted to Reader in September 2004.
Mr Stuart Lister
Stuart Lister is Senior Lecturer in criminal justice in the School of Law at the University of Leeds. He is a graduate of the Universities of Durham (BA) and Leeds (MA) and has worked previously at the Universities of Oxford, Durham and Keele. At the University of Leeds, he is currently the Director of Postgraduate Research Studies in the Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (ESSL), the Director of the ESSL Graduate School, a member of the Graduate Board, and of the PGR Programmes of Study and Audit Group. He is also a member of the ESRC Plus 3 Assessor Panel. His research interests focus on exploring changes and continuities in the arrangement and provision of policing. He has a long-standing interest in the mixed economy of policing and security. He has previously been co-editor of ‘Criminology and Criminal Justice’.
Professor Matthew Festenstein
Matthew Festenstein (BA Cambridge, PhD Cambridge) previously taught at the Universities of Hull and Sheffield. Matthew arrived as Professor of Political Philosophy at York in 2006. He was Director of the Morrell Centre for Toleration 2006-8, Research Director in the Politics Department 2008-9, and Head of Department 2010-15. He is currently Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Social Sciences and director of the Research Centre for Social Sciences, and is a member of the ESRC Doctoral Training Centre Academic Quality Committee. Matthew has been an editor of Political Studies and Political Studies Review and a member of the Executive Committee of the Political Studies Association.
Professor Stuart Bell
I am a Barrister and originally pursued an academic career in research and learning and teaching alongside a private practice. I have held academic posts at various universities in England and was first appointed as a Professor in 1998. In 2007, I was fortunate enough to have been appointed as the first Chair in Law and the founding Head of the Law School at York and have subsequently spent my time working hard with others to establish York Law School.
As Academic Coordinator I support all of the Departments, Research Centres and Inter-Departmental Centres in the Social Sciences. In my capacity as a member of York Law School, I lead a module on Alternative Dispute Resolution for Undergraduates and Postgraduates and also supervise postgraduate students. In research, I am a participant in a number of multi-disciplinary research projects, the latest of which is related to the legal aspects of carbon capture and storage.
Professor Peter Wells
Peter Wells is professor of public policy analysis and evaluation, and the Assistant Dean for Research and Business Development for the Faculty of Development and Society at Sheffield Hallam University. He has extensive experience of research on urban and regional issues, specifically in project and programme evaluation, community involvement, community economic development, the funding of the voluntary and community sector including social investment, local government, Structural Funds and EU regional policy. He has undertaken various research and evaluation assignments for the Big Lottery Fund, including the ongoing evaluation of its youth employment programme called Talent Match. He has worked in an expert advisory capacity in a range of contexts including: being a member of the CLG Local Government Research Expert Panel (2008-10); providing peer review support to the Meta Evaluation of London 2012; as a member of the DECC evaluation panel; and submitting invited evidence to the NCVO Funding Commission on the measurement of impact. His own doctoral research was on European Union politics with a particular focus on cohesion policy. He has supervised ten students to completion on topics including regional governance, community involvement and the third sector.
Professor Harry Torrance
Harry Torrance is Professor of Education and Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE), Faculty of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University. His research interests include the interrelation of assessment, teaching, and learning; testing and educational standards; the role of assessment in educational reform and policy development; qualitative research methodology; and the relationship between research and policy, research governance, and research management. He has undertaken numerous research projects investigating these topics, funded by a wide range of sponsors, including ESRC. He is editor of the four-volume Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Education (Sage 2010) and a former editor of the British Educational Research Journal. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research and a contributor to the 4th and 5th editions (Denzin and Lincoln, Eds. 2011, 2018). He is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences.
Professor Chengang Wang
Mostafa Attia
Mostafa Attia is a disabled Egyptian student studying in his third year at the School of Sociology and Social Policy at Leeds University. His research focusses around the Egyptian revolution, global development and disability politics in Egypt. The research aims to understand how the events and consequences of the Egyptian revolution, as well the newly established SDGs, can pave the way to have more solid inclusive policies for the benefit of disabled Egyptians. Alongside this, he is working as a teaching assistant for the third year across five modules in the School of Sociology.
In 2009, he obtained his MA degree in disability studies at the University of Leeds. He has participated at several academic conferences during his studies to present his research findings, e.g. the fifth and sixth Alter conferences for the European Society for Disability, Stockholm and Lausanne. At the professional level, he worked with many policy making organisations in Egypt, such as an expert board member of the National Council for Disability Affairs (2012-2015) as well as taking consultancy work with many international organisations, local NGOs and Disabled People Organisations. He is currently selected to be WRDTC representative for Leeds University.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mostafa-attia-64447938/
Marion Oveson
I am a french-american 1+3 student currently in my first year in the department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield. I’ve lived in England for 6 years now and enjoy it very much- so much so that I married a Sheffielder! My interests lie in learning more about the purpose of the university, its role within its city, how ‘impact’ is used as a research evaluative marker and how this then translates on the ground for ‘real’ people, and how engaged learning fits into all of this. I am passionate about making a difference both as a result of my research and also during the programme and look forward to being a student rep.
I have a Masters degree in Human Geography from the U of Sheffield and a dual Bachelor’s degree in International Studies & Romance Languages. I was a student rep for my Masters degree and have been trained as a community organiser, so I understand the importance of listening and of collective power.
Dr Kate Reed
Kate joined the Department of Sociological Studies in January 2004 as a Lecturer in Medical Sociology. She conducted her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at Liverpool, Lancaster and Southampton. After completing her PhD in 2000 at the university of Southampton, Kate held a lectureship from 2000-2003 in Sociology at the University of Kent before moving to the University of Sheffield.
Kate’s research interests are reproductive screening, early life loss, gender, health technology and social theory.
Dr Pauline Deutz
Dr Milena Buchs
Milena Buchs is an Associate Professor in Sustainability, Economics, and Low-Carbon Transitions in the Sustainability Research Institute at the University of Leeds where she started in 2016. Prior to that she worked as Associate Professor in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Southampton, gained her PhD in Social Policy at the Humboldt University Berlin (2005) and BA/MA in Sociology at the Free University Berlin (2001). Milena’s current research focusses on issues around wellbeing, inequality and practice change in relation to energy use and low carbon societies. She is involved with the EPSRC Programme Grant on “Liveable Cities” and has held several other ESRC/EPSRC grants before that. At Southampton, Milena was Postgraduate Research Director for Sociology and Social Policy, coordinated the ESRC Doctoral Training Centre pathway on environment, energy and resilience, and supervised 11 PhD students across the social and environmental sciences.
Dr Dan Coffey
Management Group
The Management Group is part of the formal governance of the DTP.
The Management Group (MG) agrees and oversees the strategic priorities of the DTP (in the context of the institutions’ and ESRC’s strategic plans) and oversee the implementation of ESRC’s guidance on the distribution of studentships, the establishment of new programmes etc in line with its original objectives.
In terms of the overall strategic direction, the MG:
- focuses on encouraging and embedding collaboration
- initiates the development of interdisciplinary programmes
- maximises the quality of provision
- encourage the spread of good practice.
The MG is responsible for ensuring the output targets of the DTP are met. The MG ensures partner views are sought and considered in reaching decisions and reviews and approves all necessary processes for the efficient and effective conduct of the DTP.
Nicola Reilly
Professor Doug Cleaver
Doug Cleaver (BSc Bristol, PhD Bristol) is Professor of Materials Modelling and founding Director of the Doctoral School at Sheffield Hallam University. He has an extensive research career, having used a range of simulation approaches to investigate soft-matter and ordered-fluid systems, and has undertaken projects with companies including Unilever, HP and Seiko-EPSON.
Through these he has supervised over 20 Doctorates to completion and been awarded the Hilsum Medal of the British Liquid Crystal Society. Having taught and assessed at all levels since joining SHU in 1994, he has led the University’s Doctoral School since 2014.
He has served on the steering committees of several professional bodies in (e.g. groups of the IoP and RSC) and is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the UK Council for Graduate Education.
Pathway Directors
TBC
Dr Nicola Wood
Dr Matt Sleat
Dr Ana Cristina Vasconcelos
Professor Tim Jay
Professor Edward Newman
Dr Simon Mollan
AQUALM Group
Dr Nick Emmel
Nick is a realist methodologist and critical sociologist who is particularly interested in the ways in which our investigation of the social world shapes understandings of the objects of our studies, which are invariably complex. Nick is a founder member of Realism Leeds, a group of over 30 academics from across the University of Leeds and part of an international network of realist researchers. This group develops and conducts interdisciplinary research and contributes to an international network of realist researchers. He is lead editor of Doing Realist Research, to be published by SAGE in the spring of 2018.
Nick has conducted extensive research in the UK and India interpreting and explaining processes of vulnerability and exclusion with a focus on inequalities and inequities in health. He has written widely on these issues and contributes to policy and practice debates. Over the last decade he has conducted qualitative longitudinal and mixed method research in low- income communities in Leeds, with successive waves of this research funded by the ESRC’s Research Methods Programme, National Centre for Research Methods, and Timescapes, the ESRC’s Qualitative Longitudinal Initiative. Through this methodological funding he has developed innovative methodologies and written extensively about accessing hard-to- reach groups, qualitatively driven mixed method research, visual methods, participatory approaches, qualitative longitudinal research, and realist methodologies. His most recent book, Sampling and Choosing Cases in Qualitative Research: a realist approach is published by SAGE.
Nick’s research-led teaching addresses health inequalities and inequities in an international context. He leads the M.A. Social Research and M.A. Social Research (Interdisciplinary) at the University of Leeds and is Director of Advanced Qualitative Methods Training (AQUALM) for the ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Programme.
Professor Nancy Harding
Dr Hugh Lee
Jon Dean
Jon Dean is a senior lecturer in politics and sociology at Sheffield Hallam University. His research focuses on youth volunteering, inequalities within the charity sector, and how public participation is affected by social class. He has also written and published work on qualitative research methodology, particularly on the role of reflexivity and positionality within data collection, and on using innovative tools such as drawing and soundscapes to investigate discrete aspects of society. His work has been published in journals such as Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Qualitative Research, and Sociological Research Online, and his first book Doing Reflexivity: An Introduction was published by Policy Press in 2017.
AQM Group
Professor Gwilym Pryce
Gwilym Pryce is Professor of Urban Economics and Social Statistics and as well as Director of the Sheffield Methods Institute. He was born in 1970 in Cardiff, Wales, the son of a steel worker and former miner. At age 7, he moved with his family to Goole, in North Humberside and completed his secondary education at Goole Grammar School. In 1988 he moved to Leeds to study Economics and Public Policy at Leeds Business School (LMU), from which he graduated with a First in 1991. After a year studying theology at Covenant College in the Midlands, he completed a MSc in Economics at the University of Warwick.
After a short stint at Aberdeen University researching capital charges in the NHS under the supervision of Professor David Heald, he was awarded an ESRC Research Fellowship in the Centre for Housing Research and Urban Studies, University of Glasgow in 1995. He progressed to Lecturer in 1996, Senior Lecturer in 2003 and to Professor of Urban Economics and Social Statistics in 2006.
Dr Nick Malleson
I’m am Associate Professor in Geographical Information Science in the Centre for Spatial Analysis and Policy at the School of Geography, University of Leeds. I have a PhD in Geography and undergraduate degrees in Computer Science (BSc) and Informatics (MSc). My main research interest is in developing spatial computer models of social phenomena and my focus, in particular, has been on crime simulation. Recently I have also become interested in how ‘Big Data’ can be used to learn about the movement and behaviour of people in cities.
I am also interested in other forms of spatial analysis (clustering methods, spatial statistics etc) and how new social data can influence research. We are currently exploring how geo-located social-media data can be used to learn about social systems.
Sean Demack
Professor Chengang Wang
Student Representatives
Student representatives are members of the Academic Quality Committee and attend the monthly meetings.
Their role aims to improve the training of WR DTP students, through representing the views of students at the AQC.
WHAT DO THEY DO?
- Gather feedback from other WR DTP students in their institution
- Attend Academic Quality Committee (AQC) meetings on a rotational basis to provide student representation for their institution
- Inform other WR DTP students in their institution of the decisions made at AQC meetings
- Raise awareness among students of issues discussed at the AQC meetings
WHAT DO THEY GET OUT OF IT?
- The unique opportunity to influence decision making in the WR DTP
- The chance to meet key WR DTP staff and student representatives from other WR DTP institutions
- An in depth understanding of how the governance of the WR DTP works
Mostafa Attia
Mostafa Attia is a disabled Egyptian student studying in his third year at the School of Sociology and Social Policy at Leeds University. His research focusses around the Egyptian revolution, global development and disability politics in Egypt. The research aims to understand how the events and consequences of the Egyptian revolution, as well the newly established SDGs, can pave the way to have more solid inclusive policies for the benefit of disabled Egyptians. Alongside this, he is working as a teaching assistant for the third year across five modules in the School of Sociology.
In 2009, he obtained his MA degree in disability studies at the University of Leeds. He has participated at several academic conferences during his studies to present his research findings, e.g. the fifth and sixth Alter conferences for the European Society for Disability, Stockholm and Lausanne. At the professional level, he worked with many policy making organisations in Egypt, such as an expert board member of the National Council for Disability Affairs (2012-2015) as well as taking consultancy work with many international organisations, local NGOs and Disabled People Organisations. He is currently selected to be WRDTC representative for Leeds University.
Marion Oveson
I am a french-american 1+3 student currently in my first year in the department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield. I’ve lived in England for 6 years now and enjoy it very much- so much so that I married a Sheffielder! My interests lie in learning more about the purpose of the university, its role within its city, how ‘impact’ is used as a research evaluative marker and how this then translates on the ground for ‘real’ people, and how engaged learning fits into all of this. I am passionate about making a difference both as a result of my research and also during the programme and look forward to being a student rep.
I have a Masters degree in Human Geography from the U of Sheffield and a dual Bachelor’s degree in International Studies & Romance Languages. I was a student rep for my Masters degree and have been trained as a community organiser, so I understand the importance of listening and of collective power.
White Rose Social Science DTP Staff
TBC
Charlotte Massarella
Vicky Burrett
Debbie Haverstock
