Getting to Know - Centres and Institutes - Archive

Who’s in the team?

The Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies is an interdisciplinary hub for Humanities research on Ireland and Scotland. The institute is directed by Professor Michael Brown from the Department of History and he is supported by deputy directors Dr Bradford Bow (History) and Dr Sarah Sharp (English). Dr Clare Loughlin joined us in 2023 as a Lecturer in the Jacobite World.

We also have affiliated staff from a range of disciplines and we are always keen to hear from staff who’d like to work with us. We are currently supporting projects from across the Humanities at Aberdeen. We’re also lucky enough to benefit from the participation and input of postgraduate researchers from both LLMVC and DHPA.

 Our Academic Advisory Board includes scholars from Aberdeen and the wider scholarly community who help to steer our work.

What do you do?

 RIISS promotes research into the languages, histories and literatures of Ireland and Scotland, and of their global diasporic communities. 

Here at the institute, we have an annual calendar of events. We host a research seminar series in the Spring that brings noted scholars from outside Aberdeen to campus, and an ever-changing programme of other workshops, webinars and lectures across the year. Many of these events are open to the university community and the wider public. 

Staff from RIISS are active participants in the activities of Aberdeen University Press, including editors for the Press’s open-access journals the Journal of Scottish Thought and the Journal of Irish and Scottish Studies.

We aim to encourage studies that consider the relationship between Ireland and Scotland. However, RIISS has always supported high-quality single-discipline research, as well as comparative and interdisciplinary projects.

We support colleagues to produce exciting new research whether that is by helping to host seminars and conferences, providing opportunities to share ideas and form collaborations at our research events, or by providing seed funding for larger future projects.

Why is it important?

RIISS was founded in 1999. Our creation was inspired by the changes instigated in the governance of the islands by the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement of 1998 and the establishment of the Scottish Parliament the year after. Our mission has continued importance as both countries experience changes like Brexit. We are one of a very small number of research centres whose central aim is to bring Scottish studies into dialogue with our close neighbours. We’re invested in exploring the interlocking nature of Ireland and Scotland’s languages as well as historical and literary connections.

More broadly, we aim to champion and platform the Arts and Humanities. It is important that we continue to draw attention to the importance of heritage and culture at a time when these areas of study have come under significant pressure.

What are some of your big projects right now?

RIISS is fortunate enough to be a collaborator in an array of major projects at Aberdeen, some long-standing and others very new. We’ve been a partner in the highly successful Aberdeen Burgh Records Project since its inception in 2012. More recently we supported colleagues in LLMVC in their application for Royal Society of Edinburgh funding for the project Towards a New Companion to Scottish Literature.

We work extensively with institutions and organisations beyond Aberdeen. We’ve formally partnered with the Jacobite Studies Trust for our Jacobite World Project. Meanwhile the Teaching Politics in an Age of Revolution: Scottish Universities and the Shaping of Citizens, 1775-1815 combines expertise from Aberdeen with colleagues at the University of Stirling and the Open University.

Beyond these research themes we’re also very interested in supporting the ongoing health of the field as a whole. Our New Voices in Irish and Scottish Studies initiative is focused on supporting researchers in the early stages of their careers. It comprises of a flagship Autumn webinar series, which is open to the public, alongside a biannual writing retreat and journal special issue. We’re hoping to have the opportunity to host postdoctoral researchers as part of this scheme in the future.

We’re continuing to build projects with local community groups and have some more exciting potential projects on the horizon. Stay tuned!

What’s the best thing about being part of your team?

At the core of what makes RIISS special is the experience of coming together to share research. We’re all passionate about our field and being part of the institute means meeting scholars from around the world and seeing new ideas and connections develop in real time.

You can keep up with what we’re doing via our website or by following us on Twitter. We hope to see you at a RIISS event soon.

Website: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/riiss/

Twitter: @AbdnRiiss

Who’s in the team?

The Centre is led by director Professor Pamela Abbott, alongside deputy director Dr Lucia D’Ambruoso, associate director Dr Nigel Dower; and research project manager Isabel Stanley. Alongside this are a number of academics from the School of Education, research associates, external associates, honorary staff and PhD students.

What do you do?

The Centre for Global Development is a centre of excellence committed to inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary working for equity, social justice and sustainable futures. The centre is a space at the University for staff, students, practitioners and the public to develop collaborative teaching and research.

Why is it important?

Our four key research themes explore areas affecting people of all ages and geographies, delivering impactful recommendations that help improve lives. The research areas are:

Gender - our interdisciplinary gender projects focus on promoting equality for women in low-income countries, particularly around paid and unpaid work.

Health and Wellbeing - our transdisciplinary health and wellbeing research includes children and adolescent mental wellbeing, expanding the knowledge base of health research and health equity, and supporting access to timely and quality healthcare across the world.

Socioeconomic Transformation and Democratisation - ranging from supporting post-COVID recovery in low-income countries to understanding democracy.

Education - fostering approaches to support literacy in low-income countries.

What are some of your big projects right now?

Our largest project is a 4-year, £2.88 million project funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) and in partnership with the University of Rwanda and Addis Ababa University. We are developing, implementing, and evaluating a culturally appropriate, affordable and effective whole-school mindfulness intervention in Rwanda and Ethiopia to improve the mental wellbeing of children and adolescents. The mindfulness intervention has been co-designed with the local communities to ensure it is culturally appropriate and relevant. We are currently completing feasibility testing of the mindfulness intervention training programme and delivery, and the research tools, ahead of the ‘intervention’ stage beginning in September 2024.

We have also recently closed our seven-year ‘Scottish Literacies Project’ which developed, implemented and embedded a social practice approach to adult literacies education in Western Rwanda. A social practice approach embeds literacy in everyday activities of adult learners’ daily lives, and we found it is more effective than traditional teacher-centred approaches for adult learners. The project had almost 18,000 direct beneficiaries and 50,000 indirect beneficiaries.

Any other key takeaways about your team?

We’ve also launched our seminar series, which is a space for different perspectives and conversations on topics relevant to CGD research. Previous seminars available and details on our upcoming programme are regularly added here: Seminar Series | Education | The University of Aberdeen (abdn.ac.uk)

What’s the best thing about being part of your team?

The CGD has a range of innovative, exciting projects, all focused on improving peoples’ lives and the world we live in. It’s a very inspiring space to work within!

Who's in the team?

The Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work (CMHW) , co-funded by Versus Arthritis and the Medical Research Council , is a cross-institution collaboration led by the University of Aberdeen and involving nine partner institutions across the UK: Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Keele University, King's College London, Lancaster University, Liverpool John Moores University, University of Manchester, University of Salford and University of Southampton.

At Aberdeen our team is led by Centre Director Professor Gary Macfarlane , with coordination provided by Centre Manager Stuart Anderson . Our local co-investigators include Dr Rosemary Hollick , Professor Gareth Jones , and Dr Elaine Wainwright , with research members Dr Cara Ghiglieri , Dr LaKrista Morton , Dr Martin Stevens and Dr Lili Xu completing the Aberdeen team. Overall, the Centre comprises 35 affiliated staff members.

What do you do?

The Centre has a core remit to to undertake research which informs policy to minimise the adverse impacts of musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions on work for the benefit of workers, patients, employers and society at large. In practice this encompasses a wide range of studies covering subjects as diverse as developing and testing work support interventions, producing a consistent set of outcome measures for work and health research, assessing incentives for employers to invest in work support and adjustments and support mechanisms for disabled entrepreneurs. Our research incorporates a broad variety of study designs including epidemiology, randomised controlled trials, qualitative studies and mixed-methods research.

Why is it important?

An estimated 1 in 10 employees in the UK live with an inflammatory or non-inflammatory MSK condition. They are one of the leading causes of lost productivity due to ill health, with over 23 million work days lost per year, at an estimated annual cost to the UK economy of £2.58bn (set to rise to £3.43bn by 2030). From an individual perspective, we also know that being in work (especially 'good work ') provides a range of physical and psychological benefits .

There are particularly worrying trends post-pandemic: there is a rise in economic inactivity amongst people aged 50+ (people who are not in employment and not looking for work), with these people taking with them valuable skills and expertise vital for the UK's economy, and musculoskeletal conditions (including chronic pain) are thought to be important drivers of this trend. At the other end of the age range, there has also been a recent decline in employment and economic activity rates for 16-24 year olds.

Our work seeks to support people with a musculoskeletal condition to enable them to remain in work, should they wish to do so, throughout their working life.

What are some of your big projects right now?

As we move into the second phase of our seven-year funding programme, the emphasis is now firmly on maximising the impact from our research work.

The QUICK study has been engaged with designing a new questionnaire tool which captures a broad range of work impacts of chronic pain, and takes account of the modern ways people work (using platforms, multiple jobs etc). Our questionnaire is currently undergoing final evaluation and will be ready in Spring 2024, and we plan to then quantify these impacts across a broad range of people in different types of work.

Making it Work™ - Scotland is a Chief Scientist Office (CSO) funded programme which seeks to support workers with MSK conditions to remain in work, specifically addressing issues that they see as barriers to continuing to work (such as managing fatigue, requesting work modifications, etc). The project team is currently developing an online support programme which will be ready by mid-2024.

We have also recently secured NIHR funding via their Work and Health Programme Development Grants to further support translating our work for the benefit or patients: this includes impact development from Centre projects about how best to manage arm pain, how to identify people with chronic pain who are likely to need to take time of work (so that support can be targeted to them), and increasing the reach and uptake of programme to aid young people with MSK conditions to make the transition to higher and further education, and on to employment.

Any other key takeaways about your team?

The area in which we are working is now a key priority for the UK Government and we have been spending a lot of time working with civil servants from the Departments for Work and Pensions and Health and Social Care to make sure they know about our work and how it can fit into their policy plans.

What's the best thing about being part of your team?

CMHW is a truly cross-disciplinary research collaboration, with all participants able to call on the expertise of a host of personnel with their own specialities, strengths and expertise, including leading figures in the field of MSK health and work. Our strength lies in the breadth of our collaboration, and ongoing conversations between participating institutions ensure we are able to mutually support one another, and ultimately come together so that the Centre is more than the sum of its parts.

Who's in the team?

The Centre for Autism and Theology involves a couple of different groups. We have an Advisory Group , who meet regularly with our Centre's co-directors, Grant Macaskill and Léon van Ommen to discuss and plan the ongoing work of the Centre. We also have our researchers who meet once a week online to discuss emerging work in the field of Autism and Theology, and support one another. This group is made up of postgraduate researchers and other academics who are doing related research. While most are at the University of Aberdeen, we are grateful to have members from different organisations and disciplines.

You can find out more about our researchers on the Centre's website .

What do you do?

The Centre intends to host research that will help to foster positive Christian understandings of autism, drawing on Scripture and theological traditions, and sometimes challenging the misuse of these. In the first instance, this is intended to help churches to respond well to the lived reality of autism. Beyond this, however, the Centre intends to facilitate the sharing of research into the experience of autistic Christians with other communities of faith, associated with other religions and traditions, and with the medical world itself. Thus the Centre has a triple focus: 1) it engages in rigorous theological research, informed and often led by autistic researchers; 2) it seeks to serve and work with autistic people and Christian communities; and 3) it interacts with other faith communities and academic disciplines.

Why is it important?

Autism is now recognised to be common, and most Christian communities or families will include autistic people. However, autistic people often experience barriers to inclusion in churches. Through encouraging research that promotes positive theological understandings of autism that promote thriving, communities can become more welcoming spaces where people are understood and belong.

What are some of your big projects right now?

One of CAT's co-directors, Léon van Ommen, has secured two grants of £200,000 each to work with two groups that are vastly underrepresented in autism research: non- or minimally-speaking and Black autistic people. One of the projects looks specifically at the spiritual and religious lives of these two groups in the UK and is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The other project is an interdisciplinary study, with Dr Katy Unwin, a psychologist based at La Trobe University, Melbourne, and focuses on the role of language in the spirituality of non- or minimally-speaking autistic people. This latter project is part of a larger project (£1,5 million, funded by the John Templeton Foundation) led by Dr Joanna Leidenhag at the University of Leeds

The Centre is involved with several public engagement and impact activities. One highlight is the recently launched the Autism and Theology Podcast . The podcast is a space for discussions on autism and theology, hearing life stories, and sharing practical advice for making faith and other communities places of belonging for autistic people.

Our main episodes are released on the first Wednesday of every month where we hear from a guest speaker on a topic related to autism and theology. Our guests range from academics, practitioners, and individuals sharing life experiences.

We also have CATChat on the third Wednesday of every month where our hosts will recommend resources and answer questions from listeners.

What's the best thing about being part of your team?

Something that is mentioned regularly by those involved with the Centre is how beneficial the community aspect is. This is particularly the case for those who attend our weekly researcher meetings. These meetings are great opportunities for people to connect and engage with difficult topics in a safe and encouraging environment.

“The CAT community has been incredibly supportive and helpful. I've had a number of communities in my life, but very few that have seemed to 'get' me, especially so quickly.” - Ian

“CAT has given me the space to explore autism and theology at a pace that is well-suited to me. I find that my voice is heard even if it takes me a little longer to speak up. My experience of being an autistic researcher is not seen as something I have to overcome. Rather, introspection on my autistic self is encouraged and valued by a group that is genuinely interested to hear about my experience.” - Harry