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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WIRL (Warwick Interdisciplinary Research Leadership Programme)

Teaser

Summary

The Warwick Interdisciplinary Research Leadership Programme (WIRL) is a major new initiative by the University of Warwick to train future generations of Research Leaders in Europe. The programme recognises that future research leaders will work across traditional disciplinary boundaries to create new connections and to develop innovative new research that will have influence beyond academia. WIRL provides training and an environment to foster this ambition by brining researchers from diverse backgrounds together within the interdisciplinary environment of the Institute of Advanced Study.

There is no unifying research theme within WIRL, but the aim of the programme is to form a group of innovative and highly skilled research leaders who will drive innovation in the European economy and will contribute to the European Unionâ€™s plans to build a dynamic, knowledge-based economy. The programme also aims to improve economic growth by addressing three key areas: the need to replace retiring researchers; supporting increases in R&D intensity & economic growth by providing new research leaders; creating research leaders who can work across different sectors and help ensure the transfer of research into economic and social activity.

The research carried out by the WIRL fellows will address some of the major challenges facing society today as it is linked to the themes of Warwickâ€™s Global Research Priorities; Behavioural Science, Connecting Cultures, Cyber Security, Energy, Food, Global Governance, Innovative Manufacturing, International Development, Materials, Science and Technology for Health and Sustainable Cities. The Global Research Priorities bring researchers at all career stages to work together across disciplinary and sector boundaries in order to create innovative new ideas to address issues of global importance.

WIRL fellows will spend two years at Warwick developing their independent research and participating in an innovative training programme. Fellows will also undertake secondments to other research organisations in order to benefit from the expertise available and to gain experience working across sectors.

Work performed

The WIRL programme started in January 2017 and will recruit 30 fellows over a five year period. The first cohort of nine fellows started in September 2017 with a second cohort of nine joining them in the autumn of 2018. Recruitment is currently underway for a third cohort to start in autumn 2019.

Fellows recruited are conducting research in the areas of Advanced Manufacturing, Politics, Classics & Ancient History, Sociology, English, Mathematics, History of Art, Applied Linguistics, Modern Languages, Chemistry and Law, with porjects looking at economic security, reproductive rights in Greece, greek Lyric poetry and its reception in antiquity, sign language and interpreting, cultural remembrance related to mass grave exhumations, social practises in car parking, early Modern travel literature, environmental politics in the post-Soviet region, cross-border governance, literature and censorship in modern Turkey, blue humanities, functional materials for data storage, modelling and simulating real world engineering processes, religious traditions of the late antique Mediterranean world. LGBT activism in South Africa, contemporary photographic representations of urban environments, alternative justice mechanisms in criminal justice and innovative manufacturing technologies for sustainable nanocomposite materials.

The research carried out so far has resulted in the publication of 22 peer-reviewed research articles, 2 books and 6 book chapters. WIRL Fellows have also delivered 35 presentations at research conferences and have delivered training and dissemination to non academic audiences.

Final results

WIRL Fellows are an interdisciplinary grouping and as such, there is no unifying research theme as the aim of the programme is to form a group of innovative and highly skilled research leaders who will drive innovation in the European economy and society by working across disciplines and sectors. Within their individual projects, fellows have been making significant advances within their fields. The research produced has informed other researchers, teaching and has also reached out into industry, public policy and advocacy groups and to the public.

The fellows have all undertake extensive personal development and training activities. These include participation in a weekly group training session which develops skills related to a research career as well as transferable skills, such as communication & interview technique.

In the first year and four months of the programme, WIRL fellows have used this training to advance their careers including five fellows who have secured additional research funding from other funders to support the continuation of their research.