Business and Research

CONTENTS 00-00 RESEARCH SERVICES 00-00 FACULTY OF ART & CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES 00-00 HEALTH SCIENCES 00-00 FACULTY OF COMPUTING ENGINEERING & SCIENCES 00-00 BUSINESS EDUCATION LAW 00-00 RESEARCH EXCELLENT FRAMEWORK 00-00 BUSINESS BRAINS

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RESEARCH MINDS At Staffordshire University, we’re not just in the heart of the country; we’re at the heart of great applied research undertaken in the UK, and around the world. Because we don’t confine ourselves to the classroom, we make an impact in the real world.

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With a range of experienced academics across our four faculties, including <XX> publishing researchers, we’re renowned for our excellence in applied research. In fact, 78% of Staffordshire University research was ranked as world leading or of international importance in the recent Research Excellence Framework.

With our Centres of Research, we can offer your business or organisation specialist help in a wide range of areas, so even your biggest challenges will seem manageable.

Through our Business Services team, we also deliver specialist training, help with funding, encourage knowledge transfer and assist both private and public sector bodies to develop new processes that aid their organisation. And we support postgraduate research, ensuring that it’s done not just for academic curiosity, but also for the benefit of businesses, organisations and authorities everywhere.

Whether it’s in commerce, industry, healthcare or the community, everything we do is designed to inspire businesses to get ahead and stay ahead. We do this across multiple disciplines, from long-term business strategies to product development.

OUR EXPERTISE Locally, nationally and globally our work makes a real difference. With a university full of committed academics, we are committed to discovering new knowledge and delivering real benefits to industry, the economy and society. And we can start doing this for your company whenever you need us to.

Our research at Staffordshire University embraces the fields of economic, environmental, cultural, technological, scientific, health-based and social development. Each Centre of Research sits within one of the following faculties: Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies • Centre for Applied Creative Thinking • Centre for Media Arts and Technologies Faculty of Health Sciences • Centre for Sport, Health and Exercise Research • Centre for Health Psychology • Centre for Practice and Service Improvement • Centre for Psychological Research Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Sciences • Centre for Energy Efficient Systems • Centre for Information, Intelligence and Security Systems • Mobile Fusion Centre • Centre for Applied Sciences Research Faculty of Business, Education and Law • Centre for Applied Business Research • Centre for Research on Emerging Economies • Institute for Education Policy Research • Institute of Industrial Law Studies • Centre for International Sports Law • Centre for Family Law and Policy You can find out exactly how our expertise is making an impact in the real world by reading our case studies.

GETTING STARTED If you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait to start taking your business or organisation forward, you can head online now to find great help and advice from the team at Staffordshire University.

For more information about how we can help your business, organisation or local authority, read more at www.staffs.ac.uk/business Alternatively you can call our Business Services team on 0800 169 2148 or email businessservices@staffs.ac.uk You can also go to Expert Explains, our showcase of exciting web talks from our world class academics, giving you a bite-sized look into a range of subjects. www.staffs.ac.uk/expertexplains If you want more specific help for your business, you can search our Experts Database to find an academic thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perfect for your challenge. Or if you work in the media and want a credible expert opinion, you can head to the designated press area to find a relevant specialist. www.staffs.ac.uk/expertsdatabase

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FACULTY OF ARTS AND CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES Home to the schools of Art & Design, Film, Sound & Vision and Journalism, Humanities & Social Sciences, this faculty is the creative heart of Staffordshire University.

Much of the excellent research conducted in this faculty comes from two research centres: The Centre for Media, Arts and Technologies, and the Centre for Applied Creative Thinking.

This faculty offers expertise in all aspects of the arts, including media and journalism, design, music composition, film production, performance and technology. Staff here engage in all sorts of creative practices, from fine art and drama to creative writing. And their work is regularly published in high-ranking academic journals and exhibited internationally.

To get an idea of the in-depth expertise you can expect to see in the Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies, you can read the following case studies in this brochure.

CASE STUDIES 00– THE ART OF MAKING AN IMPACT 00 – TIME TO TALK ABOUT TERRORISM 07

FACULTY OF ARTS & CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

THE ART OF MAKING AN IMPACT • Solo and group exhibitions explore the relationship between

man-made technology and the natural world

• Worldwide acclaim for works created by

Staffordshire University Professor of Fine Art

• A pioneering collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens

at Kew is due to begin in September 2015

Few academics have the privilege to lead as varied a working life as Ian Brown, Professor of Fine Art at Staffordshire University. His artworks include everything from short films dissecting the theme of tourism to wax-cylinder recordings of folk ballads, and have been exhibited across Britain, Europe and the United States.

He explains: “My research is predominantly formed around the production of artefacts – artworks for the public realm – and I also curate exhibitions and take part in symposia. I produce my own artworks as an individual artist and researcher, but also work as part of the collaborative artists’ group Common Culture.”

The fraught relationship between the natural and man-made world underpins much of his work – both as producer and curator. In 2009, he curated a touring exhibition, Trying To Cope With Things That Aren’t Human (Part One), which received financial backing from the British Council and Arts Council England. The critics’ response was excellent, with laudatory reviews in The Guardian, Art Monthly, and Artforum.

Of Brown’s solo projects, his research into our relationship with natural and technological disasters has had the widest impact in recent years, with shows in London and Berlin. The works have spanned a range of different media, taking in objects, films, prints and audio works.

Brown is currently collaborating with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, on an initiative that will put our relationship with plants under the microscope.

An Incredible World of Beauty and Terror received financing from Higher Education Innovation Funding

(HEIF), a fund that supports knowledge-based interactions between universities and the wider world that bring economic and social benefit to the nation.

Beyond his solo endeavours, Brown has also been internationally recognised as part of Common Culture, a trio that also includes Professor David Campbell from Northumbria University and Professor Mark Durden at the University of South Wales.

Common Culture has been instigating exhibitions since 1996, with an impressive roster of publications, lectures and conferences. To date, one of its highestprofile works has been The New El Dorado, which was selected for Manifesta 8, the 2010 European Biennial of Contemporary Art in Murcia, Spain. The film juxtaposed two ideas of cultural tourism: the world of ex-pats and holidaymakers, as seen in nearby resort towns such as Alicante, and the world of the art biennale itself, where artists are parachuted in from all over the world.

To find out more about Professor Ian Brown and his artworks, read the case study in full at www.staffs.ac.uk/impact-art

Prof IAN BROWN Professor of Fine Art After completing a Masters in Fine Art at Staffordshire University, Ian developed a successful profile of exhibitions, lectures and part-time teaching, resulting in him becoming a permanent member of staff in 2005.

As an active practitioner, Ian’s work has been reviewed in Art Monthly, The Guardian and Artforum, where it was Critics’ Choice. He received critical acclaim for a touring exhibition that he curated in 2009 entitled Trying To Cope With Things That Aren’t Human (Part One). He is also one third of the collaborative artist’s group Common Culture, which has exhibited a range of interdisciplinary artworks across Europe, Asia and North America.

The project at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, entitled An Incredible World Of Beauty and Terror, seeks to question the human/plant relationship as depicted in popular culture

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FACULTY OF ARTS & CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

TIME TO TALK ABOUT TERRORISM • Modern radicalisation and extremism could be calmed using

approach pioneered in the Northern Irish Troubles

• Staffordshire University research uncovers the secret history

of Government negotiations with Northern Ireland paramilitaries

• The work has attracted the attention of policymakers,

the intelligence community and historians

Can paramilitary groups be brought back in to the democratic process? And can communities that feel marginalised and disempowered be persuaded away from taking up violence to achieve their ends?

Tony Craig, Associate Professor in History at Staffordshire University, believes there are valuable lessons to be learnt from the hidden history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland – and that these insights could help in preventing present-day radicalisation.

Dr Craig says, “My research is concerned with backchannel talks in Northern Ireland conducted in the 1970s, at Laneside outside Belfast.” This work has been gaining influence among historians in the UK and beyond, being well received at talks given in many universities, from Oxford and Cambridge to University College in Dublin and Meiji University in Tokyo.

His research has also had an impact beyond academia, with Dr Craig frequently invited to contribute to the debate in the international media – including a feature in Time magazine, which has a circulation of more than 3 million in the United States. Along with mainstream coverage, policymakers and practitioners have been exposed to Dr Craig’s work through his articles in journals such as Jane’s Intelligence Review.

The complex and often secret story of Laneside, he believes, has never been adequately told. He explains:

“Laneside was a suburban building near Belfast used

by UK officials before the Northern Ireland Office was established. As early as 1971 the Government had people on the inside. Their job was to talk to people below the level of elected councillors or MPs. Everyone from priests to community workers.

“Eventually they began talking to members of paramilitary groups: the Provisional IRA, the UVF, the Ulster Defence Association, various groups and terrorist organisations. They brought them in, asked them what they wanted and gave them examples of how politics could work to achieve their aims without using violence.”

Today, many would consider Islamist groups to represent a similar threat to the internal security of the UK – particularly after the emergence of groups such as IS in Syria and Iraq, with a large number of British and EU citizens in their ranks.

Domestically, the possibilities are promising. He says, “One of the men who worked on the Laneside programme in the 70s pointed out that if Britain could do this in places like Birmingham, Leeds or Bradford, it could help with ‘de-radicalisation’.

To find out more about Dr Tony Craig and his Laneside research, read the case study in full at www.staffs.ac.uk/terrorism

Dr TONY CRAIG Associate Professor in Modern History Tony completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge and was also Irish Government Senior Scholar at Hertford College, Oxford. His research focuses primarily on the contemporary security history of Britain and Ireland.

With expertise in Intelligence and Security Studies as well as Conflict Resolution, Tony chose to extend his area of study into political intelligence during the Northern Ireland Troubles and throughout Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s end of empire.

If you can demonstrate to people that they can achieve their aims through other means, they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t become radicalised

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FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES The Faculty of Health Sciences is the central focus for research in all areas of health, social work, psychology and sports & exercise. This work is done throughout three schools: Nursing & Midwifery, Psychology, Sport & Exercise and Social Work, Allied & Public Health.

The Health Sciences Research Institute provides governance and structure for three research centres at the university: The Centre for Sport, Health & Exercise, the Centre for Health & Social Care and the Centre for Psychological Research.

Work in this faculty has involved collaborating with and supporting organisations in securing funding, developing ideas and marketing commercially viable products. We have also developed CPD programmes for a number of organisations, including the NHS and The British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists.

Our work in this faculty benefits from close links and partnerships with a number of professional sports teams, including Premier League football clubs and various teams within Team GB. The Faculty of Health Sciences has a proud reputation of utilising academic research to solve real-world problems across the globe.

You can see just two of the many ways weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve made an impact in the following case studies:

CASE STUDIES 00– FACING UP TO THE CHALLENGES OF STRESS 00 – CAN RESEARCH HALT A MILLION AMPUTATIONS? 13

FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

FACING UP TO THE CHALLENGES OF STRESS • Staffordshire University research shows cardiovascular testing can help

athletes cope with the intense pressure of competition

• The approach has been successfully used at Premier League football clubs,

by a Team GB squad and in first-class cricket

• Multinational companies including Sony now apply the research

in their workplace training schemes

In sport, the difference between winning and losing can often come down to the way athletes cope with psychological stress. Our researchers developed a groundbreaking method to help them react positively to the pressure of competition, and its potential reaches into sport, business and many other scenarios.

The research is impacting a wide range of sports.

To date, more than 80 cricketers have benefited from this research, including players at Nottinghamshire Country Cricket Club, whilst 35 youth players at Stoke City Football Club were tested and given feedback and advice.

The approach, developed by Professor Marc Jones and his team, has been successfully applied in elite sports including professional football, international cricket, Futsal and equestrianism. Researchers are also currently working with a Team GB squad in the run-up to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Outside of sport, an increasing number of multinational companies and organisations are using the principles in staff training, including Sony Mobile and Sony Europe, who have used the research in their Senior Leadership Development Programmes.

Underpinning the approach is the Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes. This proposes that psychological stress may be conceptualised by athletes in one of two ways – as a challenge (positive) or as a threat (negative). Each is indicated by a distinct cardiovascular response.

Professor Jones says: “What we’ve observed is that when people respond well to pressure, there is an increase in cardiac output and a decrease in vascular resistance – meaning the blood vessels widen and blood flows through them more easily. This means blood can get to the muscles and the brain more quickly. When people have this response, they do well.

“However, when people have a threat response, the blood vessels constrict, meaning the blood can’t get to the muscles and the brain as quickly as we’d like.“

Professor Jones says, “It can give managers, coaches and leaders or anybody in a one-to-one interaction some guidance about how they can help the people they work with to respond well to challenges.”

To find out more about Professor Marc Jones and his research on the Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes, read the case study in full at www.staffs.ac.uk/stress Or you can hear more from Professor Jones by finding him in our Expert Explains Series. www.staffs.ac.uk/expertexplains

MARC JONES Professor of Stress and Emotion Alongside his duties as a professor in Psychology, Marc also has a broader research role in the faculty, allowing him to investigate new areas of psychology. After gaining his PhD, he chose to specialise in Sports Psychology and has a great relationship with the Academy at Stoke City Football Club.

Much of Marcâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scholarly work has centred on the causes, control and consequences of stress and emotion in sport, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s this research that has led to him being published in a number of different papers. In the wider field of Psychology, he was given the honour of being a keynote speaker at the annual British Psychological Society Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology Conference.

This research can give managers, coaches and leaders some guidance on how to help people respond well to challenges

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FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

CAN RESEARCH HALT A MILLION AMPUTATIONS A YEAR? • Diabetes complications are a leading cause of lower-limb

amputation worldwide

• Led by Staffordshire University, international DiaBSmart project is

developing innovative approaches to protect the feet of diabetes patients

• Staffordshire University’s £30m Science and Technology Centre

is helping EU-funded project to deliver world-class research

Every 30 seconds, the complications of diabetes result in a foot or lower limb amputation somewhere in the world. More than a million such operations take place each year, and the majority of them are preventable, with better-fitting footwear identified as one factor that could greatly reduce the risk of foot amputation.

DiaBSmart, an international project headed by Staffordshire University, aims to create diabetic footwear that can be fitted to each patient using a newly developed assessment system. Co-ordinator Nachiappan Chockalingam, Professor of Clinical Biomechanics, says: “Many people have issues with the foot which cause ulceration, leading to amputation. If we prevent ulcers from happening, we’ll avoid amputations.”

Addressing this issue could have a sizeable socioeconomic impact. As well as improving outcomes for diabetes sufferers, it could greatly reduce the financial burden on overstretched health services.

The first stage of the project involved the development and testing of an integrated system of foot assessment for clinics, which will allow the needs of diabetes patients to be quickly and reliably diagnosed.

Professor Chockalingam says: “At present, diabetes patients may be told by their GP to go and have their eyes checked every three months, but perhaps no one will regularly be checking their feet.” By contrast, the protocol developed by the DiaBSmart researchers can identify foot damage before it is visible to the human eye or detectable in a physical examination.

At Staffordshire University, the project was taken on by the Biomechanics team in the Faculty of Health Sciences, which has an excellent track record of achieving real-world impact through collaborative research projects. As one of the major partners in HEELLESS, another EU-funded project, it developed mathematical models to evaluate the cushioning properties of footwear, going on to inform the innovative design of a running shoe that reduces repetitive strain for athletes.

Professor Chockalingham says, “At the moment we are working on insoles within shoes, but ultimately we’d want to develop the footwear itself. The aim is that someone could walk into a clinic, have a foot assessment and walk out with a prescription for the material and shape of the footwear needed.”

He adds: “It’s important to stress that all of our other work in this area is about prevention, not treatment.

We want to offer patients prognosis, and then the prevention of complications.”

To find out more about Professor Nachiappan Chockalingham and the DiaBSmart project, read the case study in full at www.staffs.ac.uk/amputations Or you can hear more from Professor Chockalingham by finding him in our Expert Explains Series. www.staffs.ac.uk/expertexplains

NACHIAPPAN CHOCKALINGAM Professor of Clinical Biomechanics After completing his degree in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering in India, Nachiappan went on to get his Masters in Biomedical Engineering Science in Dundee.

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As well as being a Professor at the university, he is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Scientist and a member of various professional organisations, from the Institute for Physics and Engineering in Medicine to the International Society of Biomechanics.

Specialising in musculo-skeletal biomechanics and gait analysis, his world-leading work has been published countless times in studies and journals, whilst he’s also known for his work in several commercially funded enterprises. To find out more about Nachiappan’s work, search for his profile at www.staffs.ac.uk/staff/profiles

Many people have issues with the foot which cause ulceration, leading to amputation. If we can prevent ulcers from happening, we’ll avoid amputations

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FACULTY OF COMPUTING ENGINEERING AND SCIENCES With all of our STEM courses being brought together in Stoke-on-Trent across our impressive £30m Science Centre and £12m Digital KILN, this is the hub of technical research and innovation at Staffordshire University. With a further £4m investment in Engineering, this faculty is now a regional powerhouse of STEM courses for the next generation via our schools programme.

As well as developing bespoke training courses for industry, this faculty also maintains proud relationships with many employers such as the RAF and Bentley Motors. More examples needed?

Here, you’ll find three incredibly successful Centres of Research: The Centre for Applied Sciences Research, the Centre for Energy Efficient Systems and the Centre for Information, Intelligence and Security Systems.

Here, research is conducted into renewable energy, smart cities, sustainability, forensics, and cyber security among many other things.

Among various achievements, the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Sciences has produced some of the world’s best video monitoring software. Find out about this, along with another project that could help the UK meet renewable energy targets, in the case studies:

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CASE STUDIES 00 – A VISIONARY APPROACH TO SECURITY 00– HARNESSING THE POWER OF WASTE 19

FACULTY OF COMPUTING ENGINEERING & SCIENCES

A VISIONARY APPROACH TO SECURITY • Groundbreaking Spectral-360© technology can analyse video in real time

to prevent crime, detect intruders and manage crowds

• Staffordshire University system proves superior to 25 comparable

systems from around the world

• High-profile clients include UK police forces, the Ministry of Defence

and Transport for London

Video monitoring is vital to modern society. It keeps motorways moving, provides evidence in police investigations and ensures dangerous crowds are unable to form on public-transport networks. But until recently, a CCTV system was only as good as the operator doing the monitoring.

law-enforcement officers. In a case investigated by Police in 2012, officers would have needed to manually trawl through 4,032 hours of video footage without the technology. A three-and-a-half day analysis by the Spectral-360© software reduced this just 30 hours of video – saving an estimated £24,000.

Staffordshire University’s Centre for Information, Intelligence and Security Systems is a world pioneer in automating this process. Spectral-360© technology, devised by Dr Mohamed Sedky and his team is able to track objects, analyse them and report anything suspicious – often outperforming human operators.

This revolutionary technology has been winning contracts from some of the biggest names in defence electronics like QinetiQ and BAe Systems, and the success shows no sign of slowing. A presence at last year’s Modernising Justice conference in Westminster brought a large amount of interest, leading to meetings with several UK police forces.

The system has already had an impact in many different fields, finding favour with Criminal Investigation Departments, Transport for London and the Ministry of Defence. But this degree of success is unsurprising.

In rigorous testing conducted by the benchmarking website changedetection.net, Spectral-360© was rated the best video-monitoring system in the world, above 25 other competitors from top universities and privatesector tech companies.

Built on a sophisticated physics model that can replicate the capabilities of the human eye, Spectral-360 has proved to be a valuable tool for

And this isn’t the end; the technology is under constant development. Spectral-360 is versatile enough to enter into everything from medical imaging to product control in manufacturing, and even facial recognition for biometric access systems.

To find out more about Dr Mohamed Sedky and the Spectral-360© project, read the case study in full at www.staffs.ac.uk/360

Dr MOHAMED SEDKY Lecturer in Computer Networks and Security Before finishing his Masters in Communications and Electronics in 2002, Mohamed founded SKM Communication Systems with two partners.

He went on to gain his PhD here at Staffordshire University, and his research in physics-based image formation continues add value to many projects.

Since 2012, he has been the Technical Director of Adaptive Video Analytic (AVA) Technologies Ltd, which has produced solutions regarded as some of the best in the world. Clients using his work have included Police Forces throughout the UK.

In rigorous testing, Spectral-360Š was rated the best video-monitoring system in the world, above 25 competitors from top universities and tech companies

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FACULTY OF COMPUTING ENGINEERING & SCIENCES

HARNESSING THE POWER OF WASTE • Research has the potential to help Britain meet stringent new

renewable energy targets

• Staffordshire University is leading the £6million Arbor project to advance

biomass energy technology

• Arbor funding has established the European Centre of Excellence for

Biomass at Staffordshire University

Britain is in a race against time to meet its renewable energy targets. By 2020, a fifth of Europe’s energy consumption must be from sustainable sources. The UK is striving to reach its own goal of 14.2%. One energy source that shows great potential is biomass: organic material such as wood chippings and woodland waste that can be used as a fuel.

Staffordshire University is gaining an international reputation in this emerging field, thanks to a research team led by Professor Tarik Al-Shemmeri. The group’s work has had an impact at a local, national and international level, and now their participation in the EU-funded Arbor project has placed the university at the forefront of biomass development in Europe.

Since 2002, Professor Al-Shemmeri and his group have taken part in externally funded programmes worth more than £1.8million, producing biomass turbines and CHP (combined heat and power) systems – resulting in 29 publications.

This unique experience led to Staffordshire University’s invitation to lead the Arbor project. With around £6million of European Regional Development Funding, Arbor brings together 13 partners from across Europe.

Its ultimate aim is to accelerate the sustainable development and use of biomass energy throughout North West Europe.

Professor Al-Shemmeri says, “Stoke-on-Trent City Council is one of the main beneficiaries, hosting one of six regional investments. It’s known as the Closed Loop Biomass System project, and we made a significant investment in it.”

Another of the six investments that make up Arbor is the establishment of a European Centre of Excellence for Biomass at Staffordshire University. This aims to implement innovative approaches to sustainability from all across Europe, focusing on biomass as a source of renewable energy.

As well as facilitating research that’s of international significance, the Centre has a local impact, with free courses and student placements bringing much success. “We hosted three placements last year. One of them won a gold crest in a national competition based on their work with us during the placement,” says Al-Shemmeri.

Outside the Arbor project, work conducted or supported by the research group has influenced a range of companies and public bodies. It has produced a comprehensive handbook for energy audits and has frequently been called upon to advise and train politicians.

To find out more about Professor Tarik Al-Shemmeri and his work on the Arbour project, read the case study in full at www.staffs.ac.uk/renewable-energy

TARIK AL-SHEMMERI Professor of Renewable Energy Technology Tariq is a hugely experienced professor at Staffordshire University, specialising in Thermo-fluids, renewable energy and power generation.

He graduated from the University of Manchester, formerly known as UMIST, in 1983 with a PhD in Computational Fluid Dynamics, and went on to work on the improvement of gas turbine cooling for Rolls Royce.

As a Chartered Engineer and a vastly experienced consultant, Tariq has also worked as an advisor on BBC radio, giving radio interviews on his areas of expertise.

Work by the Staffordshire University research team has had an impact at a local, national and international level, helping businesses and governmental bodies make sustainable energy production a reality

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FACULTY OF BUSINESS, EDUCATION AND LAW Consisting of the Business School, Law School and School of Education, this faculty covers a wide range of academic areas and has over 30 years experience in delivering business related courses.

AResearch conducted within this faculty comes from two research centres: the Centre for Applied Business Research and the Centre for Educational Policy Research.

As well as working with students and conducting industry research, the faculty of Business, Education and Law also collaborates with a number of national and global partners.

You can get a feel for the type of globally recognised research that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see from within this faculty by reading the following case study:

CASE STUDY 00 – AN INCENTIVE TO SHARE AND PROSPER 25

FACULTY OF BUSINESS, EDUCATION AND LAW

AN INCENTIVE TO SHARE AND PROSPER • Research shows the value of workers taking a role in their companies’

finances through share ownership and similar schemes

• Research team including Staffordshire University’s Iraj Hashi wins bids to

produce high-profile reports for multiple EU institutions

• Projects led by Staffordshire University are major influence on EU support for

Employee Financial Participation

The time for Employee Financial Participation (EFP) has come. It’s the idea that if employees have a share in their companies’ results – in the form of share ownership, share options, profit sharing and other similar schemes – those companies will become more productive and competitive.

Thanks to research lead by Iraj Hashi, Professor of Economics at Staffordshire University, it’s a concept that’s now high on the agenda of EU policymakers.

Significantly, the European Parliament declared its confidence in the research in January 2014 by passing a resolution that pledged its firm support for EFP. And the team is set for even greater influence, with the European Commission currently setting up a Europewide Centre for Employee Ownership.

Professor Hashi’s work in the area has spanned 20 years and has had a sizeable effect on several European Union institutions – including the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Commission and the European Parliament.

His research started with employee ownership in Poland and Yugoslavia during their transition to a market economy. After this, Professor Hashi and his colleagues won competitive tenders to undertake research and prepare reports for the Commission.

Between 2006 and 2009, the team produced two PEPPER Reports (Participation by Employed Persons in Profits and Enterprise Results), with one looking at the details of EFP in all EU-27 member states.

He says: “These two reports reignited the debate on the role of employees and the impact of employee participation in EU institutions.”

The impact of the Staffordshire University research spread throughout the academic and policymaking community. In 2010, the European Commission launched a project on “Promoting Employee Financial Participation in the EU-27”, and Professor Hashi was invited to speak at a conference in Brussels the following year.

As part of the Action Plan on European Company Law and Corporate Governance, adopted in 2012, the European Commission sought a research team for its biggest EFP undertaking, titled “Implementation of the Pilot Project – Promotion of Employee Ownership and Participation”.

In a competitive tender, Professors Hashi and his group were again chosen to complete the project.

Their interim report was presented in Brussels in January 2014, shortly after the European Parliament resolution that asked the Commission to implement the proposals made in a study co-authored by Staffordshire University.

To find out more about Professor Iraj Hashi and his work on EFP, read the case study in full at www.staffs.ac.uk/prosper

IRAJ HASHI MBE Professor of Economics A well-travelled academic, Iraj completed his undergraduate education in Iran, his Masters in the United States, his Doctoral studies in the UK and has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit for his contribution to Kosovo society. He has always chosen to specialise in microeconomics, industrial economics and the economics of transition.

Iraj has been an active researcher since 1992, and this has seen him work across much of Central and Eastern Europe.

He has used his vast experience to publish a number of books, articles, journals and conference papers.

The European Parliament said they and the Commission should encourage all member states to develop a system of employee financial participation

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RESEARCH EXCELLENCE FRAMEWORK RESULTS We take our research very seriously, and we care about the impact it has on the real world, whether that’s regionally or further afield. Of course, we always want our students to benefit from the work of our research-active academics, but we also pride ourselves on the impact and application of our research on organisations and businesses worldwide. It’s just part of our academics being at the forefront of their field The effectiveness of our research has been proven in recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) results. These assessments determined that 78% of Staffordshire University research is world-leading or of international importance.

But we know that to keep improving, we need to keep moving. Which is why we entered more academics than ever last year. And it wasn’t just for the sake of it, proven by the fact that Staffordshire University are in the top 100 rankings and rose 13 places in the Times Higher League Table of Excellence.

Other highlights from the latest REF results include: • 100% of Psychology submissions scored over 3* for Impact • 80% of Sport and Exercise Sciences submissions scored over 3* for Impact • 71% of Education submissions scored over 3* for Outputs • 60% of Art and Design submissions scored over 3* for Impact • 50% of Business and Management submissions scored over 3* for Impact

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? 3*:

Quality that is internationally excellent in terms of originality

Impact:

This is evidenced in case studies and judged on ‘reach’ and ‘significance’.

Outputs:

Measured in terms of publications, this is judged on ‘originality, significance and rigour’.

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EXPERT EXPLAINS Expert Explains is our showcase of commentary, content and exclusive web talks from our world class academics.

These short films give you a bite sized look into a range of exciting subjects. Go to www.staffs.ac.uk/expertexplains to discover relevant advice on insights to help drive your organisation forward.

What Can The Game Of Thrones Teach Us About Leadership?

Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King and Barack Obama. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all names that come to mind when thinking of great leaders. But are leaders important? Watch Staffordshire Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Professor Rune By tell us what the Game of Thrones can reveal about leadership online now. And for more exclusive talks and opinions from our experts visit www.staffs.ac.uk/expertexplains

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BUSINESS BRAINS At Staffordshire University we do more than just teach about the world of business and commercial enterprise. We also use our expertise to deliver real benefits to organisations throughout the UK. From offering affordable commercial office space and state-of-the-art facilities to initiating work-based learning programmes. From helping you find the best graduate talent to protecting your Intellectual Property. No matter what your business or organisation requires to grow and succeed, our Business Services team is here to help.

Our campus conference facilities are also open to businesses as a place to hold a range of events, or just get a bit of headspace away from the office. And we’ll provide a dedicated team to make sure everything runs smoothly. So, whatever your business and objectives, we have the resource and talent to give you an edge over the competition.

Great Graduate Talent We have an established tradition of using our strong links with industry to secure placements, internships and full-time jobs for our students and graduates. So we can work with you to find exactly what you need to fill all sorts of positions, whether it’s a short-term student project, a year-long sandwich placement or a graduate internship. With Unitemps, our specialist recruitment service, we ensure that you’re recruiting the best talent to bring new ideas and energy to your challenges.

• 161 students currently on sandwich placements • 45 graduates in paid graduate internships in the last twelve months Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) This leading European scheme is designed to help businesses improve their productivity, performance and competitive edge through the transfer of knowledge, technology and expertise. And we’ve got a proven track record of making it work: • We’ve worked with over 70 companies on over 100 KTPs in the last 30 years • We’ve secured £6 million of Government funding to help you match fund projects • It’s flexible, so the relationship can last anything from 6 months to 36 months

Work Based Learning and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) We understand the importance of keeping your employees up-to-date with training, whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for recruitment, retention, up-skilling or just getting a better annual return on investment. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve created bespoke courses for both private and public sector organisations, from local SMEs to Blue Chip PLCs and government bodies like the Ministry of Defence, the Police and the NHS. We currently work with over 60 companies and train over 5,000 learners in areas including Leadership and Management, Telecommunications, Project management and Coaching.

Get started by calling us today on 0800 169 2148 or emailing us at businessservices@staffs.ac.uk

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