Dr Amy Irwin, Dr Ceri Trevethan and Oliver Hamlet launched a new applied research group this year within the School of Psychology. The Applied Psychology and Human Factors group (APHF) consists of academic staff and researchers whose research is grounded within applied psychology. The APHF group aims to promote applied research through regular research meetings, presentations, events and collaborations with organisations. A strong strand of research within the group is the consideration of non-technical skills (the social and cognitive skills necessary for safe and effective work performance) among helicopter flight crews. This research has primarily been conducted by Oliver as the focus for his PhD work, but this year the group is pleased to announce a second PhD project in this area!
CHC Helicopter and the APHF have been awarded £54,000 to fund PhD research in Crew Resource Management (CRM) and Human Factors training, commencing October 2019 with PhD student Anna Kaminska. The award, made by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science (SGSSS) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), will see Dr Amy Irwin and her team working with the CHC Flight Training Department in Aberdeen to study and develop the latest helicopter operations training methods and evaluation techniques.
Mark Abbey, CHC Regional Director for EMEA, said: “I am delighted that my team can collaborate with Dr Irwin on this cutting-edge research, which will raise standards within CRM, ensuring practical application of a science which has already improved aviation safety. Once again, CHC is at the forefront of developing global standards in helicopter safety.” The collaboration will see this research develop in an exciting direction, integrating many principles of Applied Psychology with the practical knowledge of the CHC EMEA team.
To learn more about the APHF group’s research, or to work with them, visit their website https://research.abdn.ac.uk/applied-psych-hf/ or follow their twitter at https://twitter.com/aphfaberdeen