Research Brochure 2019

A University of research excellence

Contents 04. Welcome 05. A thriving research community 06. Research Centres and Institutes 08. Research impact: how we’re changing the world 10. Keeping dancers on their feet 12. Designing solutions

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

Albert Einstein

16. Changing attitudes to fast fashion 18. Understanding the role of memory 20. Putting philosophy on the map 21. A spotlight on Sikh life 22. Getting to the heart of health 24. Giving women a sporting chance 28. Promoting lifelong learning 30. Overcoming gender stereotyping in the classroom 32. Fighting disease using mobile apps 34. Conceiving a fertile new future 36. Fighting for a cancer-free future 38. Designing treatments for cardiovascular disease 40. Providing hope for kidney disease cure 42. Highlighting the impact of female researchers’ voices 44. Shining a light on societal issues 46. Delivering intelligent transport systems 48. Combatting cybercrime 50. Transforming waste plastics 52. Regenerating brownfield land 54. Mining the past for major study of British coal industry 56. Protecting the rainforest for future generations 59. Research with bite 60. Overhauling insolvency law 62. Changing boardroom dynamics for the better 64. Our postgraduate research community 66. Meet our postgraduate researchers

Welcome to Research at the University of Wolverhampton At the University of Wolverhampton, we are proud to be changing lives and making a difference through the inspiring work of our research community.

Our research profile continues to grow and receive recognition globally, thanks to the extraordinary work of our teams and the startling discoveries they are making.

In the most recent Research Excellence Framework, REF 2014, we achieved our best ever results with 41% of our submission graded as world-leading or internationally excellent.

More subject areas and research staff were included than ever before, with areas of particular strength including health, history and modern languages research.

Our work in Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management was especially commended, ranked joint 5th in the UK. With REF 2021 on the horizon, we will continue to demonstrate the positive impact our research has on business, industry, society – and, of course, our students.

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This brochure showcases the research we conduct, which is exploring new possibilities and making big breakthroughs. Our ground-breaking research is wide-ranging – focusing on everything from brain tumours to sperm motility, cybersecurity to rainforest governance – but at the heart of all the work we do is a desire to change the world for the better.

We hope you are inspired by this snapshot of our innovative work.

Professor Geoff Layer Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton

A thriving research community At the University of Wolverhampton, our research activities impact positively on business, the environment, society – and our students.

The work we are doing helps to advance knowledge and address real world problems, such as the health of ageing populations and sustainable development, in a variety of different ways.

Our growing number of dedicated Research Centres and interdisciplinary Research Institutes cover a variety of research topics. Working with commercial and civil society partners, as well as producing first-class research outputs, they bring together scholars in a programme of research projects, conferences/seminars, and knowledge exchanges.

Recent high profile public lectures from University staff and visiting speakers have covered subjects as wide-ranging as biodegradable plastics, sport psychology, homelessness, mental health and wellbeing, and digital learning. In 2019, the annual Holocaust Memorial Day Lecture gave the stage to guest speaker Uri Winterstein who shared his testimony as a Holocaust survivor.

achieved its best ever results. Our research was celebrated for its ‘world-leading elements’ across all areas submitted to the REF 2014, with 85% of our research internationally recognised or higher.

More subject areas and research staff were put forward than ever before, reflecting the University’s more inclusive and ambitious approach. The research by our Statistical Cybermetrics research group ranked joint 5th in the UK in REF 2014, and in 2017 was placed 1st in the world for the average quality of research in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking).

Other areas of particular strength which were highlighted include health, history and modern languages research. We are currently in the process of preparing our submission to the upcoming REF 2021 and hope to build on our previous strong performance through our innovative work.

Professor Silke Machold Dean of Research and Professor of Corporate Governance

In the most recent Research Excellence Framework exercise, the University

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Research Centres and Institutes Over the last 20 years, we have invested heavily in growing our research activity and, as a result, have established Research Centres and inter-disciplinary Institutes that are at the heart of our research strategy.

As key generators of research inquiry and much of our outputs, they help to create an environment where scholars, students and our research collaborators have the freedom to explore ideas and make an impact through world-leading research.

Our Research Centres and Institutes are listed below.

Arts • • • •

Centre for Art, Design, Research and Experimentation (CADRE) Centre for Creativity, History and Identity in the Performing Arts (CCHIP) Centre for Film, Media, Discourse and Culture (CFMDC) Centre for Transnational and Transcultural Research (CTTR)

Education, Health and Wellbeing • • • •

Caring for Lifelong Health Research Centre Education Observatory Centre for Psychological Research Sport and Physical Activity Research Centre (SPARC)

Science and Engineering • • • • • •

Centre for Applied Mathematics and Computer Science Research Centre for Engineering Innovation and Research Centre for Materials Science Research Centre for Molecular Science and Antimicrobial Research Centre for Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Centre for Smart, Sustainable and Healthy Cities

Social Sciences • Centre for Historical Research • Law Research Centre • Management Research Centre

Research Institutes • • • •

Institute for Community Research and Development Research Institute in Healthcare Sciences Research Institute in Information and Language Processing Wolverhampton Cyber Research Institute

For more details about the University’s Research Centres and Institutes, please visit: wlv.ac.uk/research

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For details about the University’s Research Centres and Institutes, please visit: wlv.ac.uk/research

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Research impact: how we’re changing the world At the University of Wolverhampton, our research is making a real difference to real lives. The output of our Centres and Institutes spans the disciplines across our four faculties and the following case studies put a spotlight on just some of the work that is having a positive impact on people around the world.

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KEY FACTS

Keeping dancers on their feet When you compare the grace and elegance of a ballet to the fast-paced, hard-hitting intensity of a rugby game, it can be difficult to believe that professional dancers are significantly more likely to suffer injuries than rugby players.

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Dance looks effortless, but why do dancers suffer such a high rate of injury? This is a question that the University’s Professor Matt Wyon first asked in 1996 and since then, his research has focused on enhancing dancers’ performance and health.

This has involved examining the physical fitness and health of dancers and the demands that their training places on their bodies. Dancers train long hours indoors, leading to overtraining and vitamin D deficiency.

The latter is crucial for the immune system, bone health, and muscle function.

Through vitamin D supplementation over a 4-month period, muscle strength and power improved and injuries decreased. A three-year longitudinal study on bone mineral density in ballet dancers noted areas of concern with adolescent dancers having lower levels than age-matched controls and professional dancers having low levels in their upper bodies, especially the forearms. The study also highlighted a potential genetic influence that is linked to the tall, skinny body type preferred in ballet.

Research Centre Sport and Physical Activity Research Centre SPARC The research team Dr Ross Cloak Dr Shaun Galloway Nico Kolokythas Professor Yiannis Koutedakis Professor George Metsios Dr Tina Smith Professor Matthew Wyon In collaboration with • ArtEZ Conservatoire, Netherlands • Beijing Dance Academy • Birmingham Royal Ballet • Elmhurst Ballet School • Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts • London Contemporary Dance School • National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science • Queen Mary University, London • Royal Ballet School • Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, University of London • Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Dance and Music

Professor Wyon is a leading expert in the field of dance medicine and science and, in collaboration with a Dutch dance conservatoire, he implemented a new training methodology that tackled the overtraining and fatigue experienced by vocational dance students. This led to reduced drop-out, increased employment rates and recognition by the Dutch Government for innovative practice.

Professor Wyon’s contributions to dance science were recognised at the 2018 One Dance UK Awards, which celebrates the inspirational work of professionals working in the dance sector, where he was presented with awards for ‘Dance Science’ and ‘Research in Dance – Impact’.

His work with the National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science and Birmingham Royal Ballet led to collaboration with the BBC for their recent #DancePassion event.

The value of Professor Wyon’s research is substantial as it not only enhances the performance capabilities of dancers and potential longevity of their careers but also improves their health and wellbeing.

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Designing solutions The effect of art and design upon society is at the heart of research carried out by the University’s Centre for Art, Design, Research and Experimentation (CADRE).

Professor Dew Harrison leads a team who go beyond aesthetics to investigate the social interaction inherent in new interactive technologies, the theory and practice of cultural agency, and experiments in radical democracy and performative objects.

These researchers recognise that the power of art and design lies in its potential to change and enhance our lives.

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KEY FACTS Research Centre Centre for Art, Design, Research and Experimentation (CADRE) The research team

Dementia in MinD The four-year MinD project, spearheaded by the University, has completed its first year of research into designing for people with dementia.

The project is co-ordinated by the University’s Professor Harrison, working with partners in 12 organisations across Europe and one in Australia.

Professor Dew Harrison

Because people with dementia frequently struggle with memory and perceptions of identity, mindful design solutions are often needed to help them cope with everyday social situations – which is where the work of MinD comes in.

She describes the initial qualitative interviews as being very important in their own right for giving people with dementia a voice within scientific study; there are few that focus on the subjective wellbeing of those with the condition.

The team’s investigations into and development of innovative solutions for living spaces and wearable designs are enabling individuals with dementia to manage their condition, develop perceptions of self-empowerment, and build confidence.

As it progresses past its second year, the project is in the process of generating two prototypes for assisted living which will make real improvements to the lives of those people with dementia. These innovative products result from the interdisciplinary team of specialists working in a mindful co-design approach with the people with dementia, their families and carers under the MinD framework.

Data collection research with people with dementia in three countries (The Netherlands, Germany and Spain) provides insight into the needs, perceptions, aims and struggles of those with the condition and their carers, emphasising the need for social support, empathy and openness towards others.

Professor Harrison said: “The first year developed the mindful project framework and involved data collection from people with dementia to provide a basis for the design development, while this second year has focused on applying inclusive co-creation principles to designing innovative tool-kits.”

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The project framework introduces ideas of mindfulness to support people with dementia, highlighting the importance of trust, humour and positive language in dealing with subjective wellbeing and social engagement in dementia.

Professor Dew Harrison Kathryn Powell In collaboration with • Alzheimer Europe • Craftspace • Creative Black Country • Intras (Spain) • Legacy West Midlands • Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust • Terra Vera • Zorggroep Sint Maarten (Netherlands)

Did you know?

Dementia is also the focus of research

by Professor Ruoling Chen from the University’s Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing.

Professor Chen led an international study of nearly 7,000 participants aged over 60 in six provinces in China, which found that people who consumed fish over a two-year period have a significantly reduced risk of dementia.

In addition, scientists analysed previous studies for a comprehensive metaanalysis with a total of 3,139 dementia cases; results showed that consuming fish led to an approximate 20% reduction in the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor Chen’s findings have also suggested a link between exposure to passive smoking and increased syndromes of dementia.

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KEY FACTS Research Centre

Changing attitudes to fast fashion University research is helping to change attitudes around disposable fashion, examining ways to make fashion more sustainable.

With the support of a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, ‘Designing a Sensibility for Sustainable Clothing’ is exploring how consumers can be encouraged to buy fewer clothes, reuse clothing and best dispose of clothing that they no longer want.

The project’s aim is to encourage more environmentally and socially sustainable practices using a community based cocreated craft workshop approach.

Professor Fiona Hackney

In collaboration with the University of Exeter, a series of workshops were held in Wolverhampton and Cornwall, engaging participants in making fabric, and making, mending and modifying clothes.

The research has been used as evidence for a recent Government environmental audit committee report on fashion solutions for sustainability.

Recommendations include incentivising high street clothing retailers to provide creative making spaces for customers to mend and modify clothing to provide a long-term, sustained service.

Old jumpers were made into new cardigans, old shirts into aprons, and interesting visible repairs made features of ‘ruined’ clothing. There were also wardrobe audits and participants kept diaries of their fashion habits, as well as reflective videos, blogs and surveys.

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It’s about changing behaviours and attitudes – making and repairing, or using charity and vintage shops, instead of buying more new things.

The project has impacted on participants’ thoughts, feelings and actions.

Centre for Art, Design, Research and Experimentation (CADRE) The research team Jo Bloodworth Pat Dillon Fiona Griffiths Professor Fiona Hackney Katie Hill In collaboration with • Antiform • Black Country Living Museum • Chyan Cultural Centre • Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn • Fashion Revolution • Gatis Community Space, Wolverhampton • The Hive, Shrewsbury • Krowji, Cornwall • The Poly, Falmouth • St Gluvias Community Hall

In addition, it is hoped there will be more community spaces made available for workshops which will normalise skills of making and mending.

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KEY FACTS

Understanding the role of memory Memory plays a vital, yet unrecognised, role in our lives – and University researchers, as part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Wellcome Trust-funded The Memory Network, recently investigated how our noses can not only unlock recollections of our past selves, but also show how smell is directly connected to mental health issues such as depression.

Mapping smell and memory A pilot project for nationwide research into the creation of a UK map of smell and memory, led by Professor Sebastian Groes, secured funding to undertake pioneering research exploring past and present regional smells in relationship to cultural memory.

‘Snidge Scrumpin’ – Mapping Smell and Memory in the Black Country’, part of the international Being Human Festival, revealed the top five memory-jogging smells that belong to the Black Country: coal; breweries; foundry/metalworking; chips; and pork scratchings.

Two community research events were held at Black Country Living Museum and Wolverhampton Art Gallery, and University psychologist Dr Tom Mercer analysed the data collected at both events to reveal the particular smells that resonated and triggered strong, emotional memories with local participants.

The research also showed a difference in smell between women and men.

Professor Groes said: “The events were designed to build on research into the so-called ‘Proust

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Phenomenon’, which suggests that odours can trigger childhood memories. We conducted an interactive psychological experiment and attendees were asked to retrieve and describe their memories, rate their intensity and emotionality as well as pin point on a map where they experienced the smell.”

Fake news, governance and mental health

Research Centre Centre for Transnational and Transcultural Research (CTTR) The research team Dr Rob Francis Professor Sebastian Groes Kerry Hadley-Pryce Dr Tom Mercer Professor Barry C Smith Dr Stefano Vaglio In collaboration with • • • • • •

Arts and Humanities Council Being Human Festival Black Country Living Museum Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust Wolverhampton Art Gallery Bantock House

Professor Groes’s Memory Network is currently developing bleeding edge research into disinformation with partners from the US, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria and Malaysia.

The team analyses the role of fake news in creating a crisis in governance and offers proposals for institutional and policy changes with regard to bottom-up governance, innovative communication strategies, and the novel use of technology for detecting and countering the impact of disinformation.

Researchers work in areas such as political science, law, media studies, psychology, computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive literary studies and narratology.

Professor Groes also leads research into the effects of fake news on memory and mental health. By connecting large-scale empirical research on social media with research into psychological and storytelling aspects of conspiracy thinking, the team aims to ameliorate negative effects of fake news by suggesting means of creative counternarratives and methods including mindfulness and creative-critical interventions.

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KEY FACTS

KEY FACTS

Research Centre

Research Centre

Centre for Transnational and Transcultural Research (CTTR)

Centre for Sikh and Panjabi Studies

The research team Professor Meena Dhanda Dr Stephen Iafrati In collaboration with • Equality and Human Rights Commission • Goldsmiths, University of London • Manchester Metropolitan University • Middlesex University • SOAS University of London

Putting philosophy on the map A University of Wolverhampton academic’s suffragette spirit has been marked on a special map celebrating the incredible women defending human rights.

Amnesty’s ‘Suffragette Spirit Map of Britain’ was created to mark International Women’s Day 2018 and Meena Dhanda, Professor in Philosophy and Cultural Politics, was included in the final list of 100 women to commemorate 100 years of women’s suffrage in the UK. Professor Dhanda was chosen for her work to tackle discrimination, which has included providing arguments for increasing participation of women in parliamentary politics and celebrating the contribution of unfairly neglected thinkers to philosophical thought.

Professor Dhanda, who is an executive member of the Society for Women in Philosophy UK, has also made a significant contribution to understanding of Caste in Britain and in facilitation of Government policy on how to ensure legal protection to British citizens against Caste discrimination.

I am honoured to have been included in this map and will continue to support those who are under-represented in society and to give them a voice.

Meena Dhanda

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Professor Meena Dhanda

A spotlight on Sikh life A researcher based in the School of Humanities is receiving international recognition for her contribution to Sikh studies and has been appointed director of the newly established Centre for Sikh and Panjabi Studies at the University of Wolverhampton.

Dr Opinderjit Kaur Takhar MBE is Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University. As well as teaching, she undertakes a variety of research, specialising in subject matter that relates to the Sikh community.

Engaging with local, regional, national and international community groups and governing bodies, Dr Takhar has raised awareness of issues that affect the Sikh community in the UK and abroad.

Lead researcher Dr Opinderjit Kaur Takhar MBE

recognised when she was presented with an Outstanding Contribution to Sikh Studies Award by Lord Swraj Paul, Chancellor of the University, at the Pride of India Awards.

The Centre for Sikh and Panjabi Studies will be based around a nationally-leading research hub, with large-scale research projects into Sikh history, art and literature, diaspora, identity, inter-religious dialogue, culture, community and place, all within the context of a 21st century global society.

The centre of academic excellence aims to become the national voice for academics active within Sikh and Panjabi Studies and through links with overseas institutions, particularly with universities in Panjab. It will provide opportunities for student exchanges and other collaborative projects to encourage understanding around the world.

Her publication ‘Sikh Identity: An Exploration of Groups among Sikhs’ (Ashgate 2005) is used as a key text in universities around the world, with her work on Punjabi Dalits and identity formation similarly widely published.

In 2017, Dr Takhar’s work was

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KEY FACTS Research Centre

Getting to the heart of our health

Sport and Physical Activity Research Centre (SPARC) The research team Professor Tracey Devonport Professor Andy Lane Professor George Metsios Professor Alan Nevill In collaboration with · Action Heart · BBC and BBC LabUK · British Judo Association · England Athletics · Regional hospitals incl. Dudley Group of Hospitals and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham

The health and wellbeing of our population drives our researchers to discoveries that will keep us fighting fit.

Testing heart health through exercise Body mass index (BMI) is a popular method of assessing heart healthiness – but our researchers have found fitness is the single most important factor in maintaining a healthy heart.

A study led by Professor Alan Nevill found that regular exercise and being fit is key, irrespective of ‘fat’ scores such as BMI, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) or waist-to-height ratio (WTHR).

The study of over 4,500 individuals was in reaction to researchers’ concerns that the commonly used indices of fat did not account for a person’s body size and therefore were not the best indicators of how likely someone was to be at cardiometabolic risk (CMR).

So, to get to the heart of the matter, Professor Nevill and his researchers carried out tests to find out whether a new fat ratio presented a better way of determining someone’s risk of developing heart disease.

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Professor Nevill, from the University’s Institute of Sport, explained: “In all tests, the fitter participants’ CMR score was significantly lower, confirming that being fit and active can compensate for the adverse effects measured in all fat ratios.”

The health of the heart was measured by testing blood samples for glucose and cholesterol, as well as heart rate and blood pressure – before, during and after exercise.

In addition to the findings on exercise, the study concluded that the best predictor of CMR using a body shape index alone was to divide waist by the square root of height as it gives a reading that is fair, independent of how tall or short the person is.

Professor Nevill and his team have also developed a new method of estimating body fat levels in children in a bid to tackle obesity in young people and prevent cardiovascular problems in the future.

The new measurement index combines the systems of height, mass and waist circumference to provide a simple, meaningful and more accurate index associated with percentage body fat.

Pitch perfect players

The effects of emotion It is not just the physicality, but also the psychology behind performance that our experts are helping us to understand.

The work of Professor Andy Lane, one of the country’s leading sports psychologists, has focused on emotional regulation including how environments and people shape moods and emotions.

His findings on the mental aspects of preparing for marathon running and the stress for footballers taking penalties has been used to make recommendations – such as how coaches can get the best out of athletes.

Meanwhile, Professor Tracey Devonport has demonstrated how emotional eating is contributing to obesity. Through her work, she is seeking to help people create strategies for regulating their emotions without relying on eating habits.

A report, led by University of Wolverhampton sports scientists, reveals that improvements to football pitches and tough new training regimes have had a major impact on the evolution of footballers’ body shapes.

Muscles and power have been replaced by the lean, slender physiques of today’s top players. The findings, published in the International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, also have implications for the identification and development of talent to increase England’s chances of future success.

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Giving women a sporting chance A University professor has been selected as the academic lead for a national project that seeks to uncover the secret past of women’s football.

Professor Jean Williams is leading the National Football Museum’s project, which is the largest of its kind in the world, entitled ‘Unlocking the Hidden History of Women’s Football’.

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KEY FACTS Research Centre Sport and Physical Activity Research Centre SPARC The research team

A hidden history This milestone project will involve preparing content for an extension of the Museum’s permanent gallery to include women’s football – such as cataloguing, digitising, and writing exhibition content on an estimated 20,000-25,000 individual items including tickets, programmes, small statuettes and fine art.

Professor Williams will lead a research network which will coordinate academic and community research and connect related collections on women’s football. The work will involve collaboration with many museums and archives, such as the British Library, the Imperial War Museum and the British Film Institute.

Professor Williams is the perfect candidate to spearhead this particular project. Her research has focused on the role of women in sport through the ages and she has curated and written exhibitions before, including ‘The Road to Rio: History of the World Cup in 24 Objects’ in 2014.

She said: “This is a very exciting project as it draws together, for the first time, an unprecedented collection of women’s football memorabilia dating back to 1869, just six years after the formation of the Football Association which saw the codification of modern football as a sport.”

Professor Williams has also provided historical and heritage consultancy as a non-executive director of the newly launched £18.2 million Silverstone Experience. Supported by funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the

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dedicated exhibition and archive spaces are housed in a refurbished World War Two aircraft hangar with the view to ensure the heritage of Silverstone and post-war British motor racing is interpreted for today’s public and protected for future generations.

Research since the mid-1980s has illustrated the notion of unfair coverage with emphasis on femininity, trivialisation of women’s achievements, sexist language, negative reporting and a focus on physical characteristics of female athletes.

Professor Williams said: “This is an exciting project to be part of, and builds on my motor sport research going back to 2009. It is an inspiring story to tell and, if we can engage with more young people in STEMM subjects, a transformative way of delivering history and heritage for future generations.”

On a positive note, the findings suggest there has been an improvement in the amount of quantitative reporting of female athletes which has placed an emphasis on performance rather than appearance.

Representation of female athletes Professor Williams’ football study follows a research report that highlighted a disparity between print media coverage of female and male athletes.

The study by researchers Dr Kay Biscomb and Hilary Matheson found that the achievements of women in sport have been under-represented over the last 40 years, in comparison to the column inches racked up by their male counterparts.

‘Are the times changing enough? Print media trends across four decades’ calls for a much higher profile of women in sport by presenting a unique analysis of four decades – from 1984 to 2014 – of British coverage of sport in six national newspapers for the same two week summer period, during which there were many women’s sporting events including tennis, cricket and golf.

Dr Kay Biscomb Professor Jean Williams In collaboration with • The National Football Museum • Silverstone Heritage Trust CIC

Away from the gender equality issue, the research also revealed other interesting trends, such as a tendency to report on nationality and an increase in reporting which creates opportunities for athletes to become ‘a source of national pride’.

Outcomes have been mixed, but overall it is clear that there is continued underrepresentation of female athletes, and that what were once considered to be the major British summer sports have been replaced by a dominance of soccer reporting.

Dr Kay Biscomb

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KEY FACTS

Promoting lifelong learning

An education expert at the University of Wolverhampton, recognised for his dedication to lifelong learning, has been chosen to help influence international education policy.

A learning region aims to bring together a wide range of local organisations to strengthen the knowledge and expertise of its communities and their ability to address shared challenges.

Research Centre

The Wolverhampton City Learning Region, an initiative focused on the city and its hinterland, is currently being shaped to address challenges facing the region and illustrate how access to adult education can benefit society as a whole.

In collaboration with

Education Observatory The research team Professor Michael Jopling Professor Sir Alan Tuckett

• European Union • Learning and Work Institute • UNESCO • Wolverhampton City Council • World Economic Forum

Professor Sir Tuckett is an internationally recognised expert in adult education and advises UNESCO on adult and lifelong learning.

As part of the World Economic Forum’s System Initiative on the Future of Education, Gender and Work, Professor of Education Sir Alan Tuckett developed a lifelong learning policy which he delivered at the 2018 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting.

Education for everyone Professor Sir Tuckett said: “A culture of lifelong learning is at the core of the Learning Region initiative the University is actively supporting across the Black Country and in Telford.”

This concept of a learning region is key to Alan’s continuing work, as he promotes the societal benefits of lifelong learning both at home and abroad.

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He was the President of the International Council of Adult Education 2011-2015, contributed to work on the educational dimensions of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and is responsible for creating the annual Adult Learners’ Week. He was awarded the OBE in 1995, and has honorary doctorates from eight universities.

In the 2018 New Years Honours, he was further recognised for his services to education, in particular adult learning, when he was appointed a Knight Bachelor.

Transformative teaching In line with Professor Sir Tuckett’s work, the Education Observatory’s core team undertake and oversee research in education and allied areas of social policy to secure equality of opportunity and regional transformation in the West Midlands.

As well as lifelong learning, the team focuses on areas such as children, young people and families; digital learning; and school leadership and reform.

Current projects include a longitudinal evaluation of the Wolverhampton Headstart programme, which examines its impact on the resilience and mental health of children and young people in Wolverhampton; research examining the experiences of young parents in North Yorkshire; ResearchSEND, a network bringing together practitioners and researchers working on inclusion; Methods, a project which has embedded best practice in ICT in education in universities in Jordan and Pakistan; and a series of crossEuropean projects focusing on gender and diversity.

Recent publications have focused on issues such as the use of Wikipedia in medical decision-making; sexism in higher education; digital literacy among Palestinian refugees, and the myth of the north-south divide between schools in England.

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KEY FACTS Research Centre Education Observatory Lead researcher Dr Maria Tsouroufli In collaboration with • DECSY Education Sheffield

Within the University’s Education Observatory, interdisciplinary and international research specialising in social justice is supporting gender equality in the classroom.

The Equality, Inclusion and Diversity (EDI) group, led by Dr Maria Tsouroufli, brings together academics and practitioners with diverse interests including special educational needs and disability, widening participation, and gender and education.

As well as the promotion of equality within the University of Wolverhampton itself, Dr Tsouroufli and her team’s work aims to overcome gender stereotyping in schools.

Overcoming gender stereotyping in the classroom 30

Dr Tsouroufli is currently the research coordinator of a large European project which is using a whole school approach to develop an educational environment that supports gender equality.

The project aims to change school cultures through the development, implementation and evaluation of a Gender Equality Charter mark in three European countries: England, Hungary and Italy.

In 2018, the research team was awarded a second grant by Erasmus Plus for the ‘Expanding the use of the Gender Equality Charter Mark for Primary Schools across Europe’ project, with the University of Wolverhampton joined by partners in Austria, Croatia, Italy, Finland, Greece, Slovakia, and Hungary.

Her work has previously explored how gender inequalities are connected to subjectivities, every day practices, pedagogy, culture, early childhood and institutional processes in education – and it is this latter thread that the project is picking up on.

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KEY FACTS

Fighting disease using mobile apps If you thought the sole purpose of apps was to occupy commuters on the train, then work that the University is supporting to fight the spread of disease in Brazil may just surprise you.

Academics are working with government officials to help communities deal with the outbreak of arbovirus diseases through mobile learning to help improve communication and health surveillance information sharing as part of a £98,000 project running from March 2017 to September 2019.

In Brazil, from January until July 2016, there were 1,399,480 probable cases of dengue, 169,656 probable cases of chikungunya fever and 174,003 probable cases of Zika virus.

The Zika virus is accelerated by unplanned urbanisation and social and environmental conditions, leading to the reproduction of the transmitting mosquitoes.

The University is developing mobile applications and a mobile web platform to promote the training of professionals, information sharing, and the reporting of health surveillance to government and health organisations.

Following visits to high schools, the researchers are developing children’s games to raise awareness of how to prevent the spread of the virus. Through the use of games, it is hoped messages will transmit from young people to their families.

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Research Centre Education Observatory Lead researcher Professor John Traxler In collaboration with • The British Council (as part of the Newton Fund Institutional Links initiative) • Silvana Santos, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba

Professor of Digital Learning John Traxler, who is leading the initiative, said: “Community participation is essential for the prevention and control of the arbovirus diseases. This requires access to information and counselling to change community beliefs and practices.

“The main objective of the project is using school children to take the relevant hygiene, recycling and health messages home to their families.”

The research and organisational work will improve access to health education for vulnerable communities in Paraiba and Pernambuco regions.

Professor Traxler hopes the outcomes will lead to future applications of the project model. He said: “The models developed by the project can be replicated to other scenarios since it proposes a network managed by IT solutions that interconnect stakeholders at different levels.”

The support for the project comes from the Newton Fund administered by the British Council.

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KEY FACTS Research Centre

Conceiving a fertile new future The Pill was approved as a contraceptive for women in 1960, heralding a new era of birth control and increased choice.

So it’s hard to believe that in over 50 years, a suitable male version still hasn’t been created. But thanks to the groundbreaking work of University of Wolverhampton scientists, things may soon be changing.

Professor Howl, Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, said: “Dr Jones and I have proven, through extensive research studies, that it is feasible to design cell penetrating peptides to be biologically active.

Cell penetrating peptide research

“Such molecules, synthesized in our laboratory, represent a new class of agent that we have named bioportides. This state-of-the-art technology enables the control of processes that happen inside cells and which often represent intractable targets for conventional drugs.

Professor John Howl and Dr Sarah Jones are at the forefront of cell penetrating peptide research which, it is hoped, could be used in birth control techniques in the future.

Their groundbreaking work has made international headlines, capturing the attention of media across the globe.

They have discovered that cell penetrating peptides can be designed to alter the physiology and fertilization capacity of sperm.

Attempts to develop a male hormonal-based pill so far have been problematic with reports of numerous side effects, some irreversible.

Cell penetrating peptides have the potential to change sperm motility, without affecting male hormonal control systems.

“They can easily be made to incorporate a fluorescent dye which can be used to determine the distribution and precise intracellular location of these peptides within living sperm when visualised with a confocal microscope.”

Improving sperm motility But while the media attention has focused purely on the male contraceptive angle, understandably given the lack of success in developing a male pill previously, the research could also have an impact

on fertility and help couples who are struggling to conceive by improving sperm motility.

Research Institute in Healthcare Science (RIHS) They are using bovine sperm for their UK investigations but partners in Portugal have access to human sperm so can repeat the experiments conducted in the UK for further testing.

Professor Howl said they had recently visited their collaborators in Portugal and the joint research project is progressing well.

Our goal now is to obtain additional funding to further progress our ideas into the clinic. A joint patent application has been filed, to protect our Intellectual Property.

The research team Professor John Howl Dr Sarah Jones In collaboration with • University of Aveiro, Portugal

Professor John Howl

Professor Howl and Dr Jones have teamed up with the University of Aveiro in Portugal on a €194,000 three-year project to look at the impact of these peptides and the way in which they can control the function of sperm.

We are basically designing peptides that can alter the physiology of sperm. Ironically, sperm are notoriously difficult to penetrate, but with cell penetrating peptides we are now able to cross an otherwise impermeable barrier to manipulate the intracellular biology of sperm so as to enhance or inhibit motility.

Dr Sarah Jones

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KEY FACTS

Fighting for a cancer-free future Pioneering scientists are undertaking revolutionary research and testing new treatments in the ongoing quest to find a cure for cancer.

Battling brain tumours Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.

The University of Wolverhampton has been trying to change this statistic through the work of its Brain Tumour Research Centre, but also to raise awareness of the urgent need for more funding into research.

Professor Tracy Warr recently gave evidence to the House of Commons in support of a campaign for increased funding for brain tumour research, reviewing the reasons why the treatment of brain tumours presents a unique set of challenges based on their location and complex biology, which in turn means that research findings from other types of cancer are not readily transferable.

Professor Warr emphasised the necessity of funding innovative, multidisciplinary research to improve treatment of brain tumour patients and reiterated that higher education institutions in the UK provide an ideal environment to host these collaborative programmes of research.

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Emeritus Professor John Darling explains: “While significant strides have been made in treating many types of cancer, for example acute leukaemia in children and breast cancer, over the last 30 years it has been harder to deliver significant improvements in survival in the most common types of malignant brain tumour.”

Professor Warr and the team are trying to change this. She said: “We are working towards developing personalised medicine for brain tumour patients by using combinations of different drugs that will be effective against their specific tumours.”

We have also identified aberrations in metabolism in brain tumour cells.

Treatments which change tumour metabolism are likely to be effective in a higher percentage of patients, whilst sparing normal cells and reducing negative side effects.

Professor Tracy Warr

Research Centre Research Institute in Healthcare Science (RIHS)

Developing new (and old) drugs to treat cancer

The research team

As well as taking to the frontlines in the war being waged against brain cancer, University researchers are working to translate work on other types of cancer from bench to bedside to directly benefit patients.

For example, Dr Iain Nicholl and Dr Christopher Perry have been granted a patent for a new drug which could provide a breakthrough in the fight against bowel cancer. The aspirin-like derivative has been effective against colorectal cancer cells, and so far does not appear to cause side effects like ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeds that come as a risk with regular use of aspirin.

Recent scientific findings demonstrate that cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the culprit responsible for cancer growth, spread, drug resistance and recurrence.

Therefore, CSCs are considered the root for cancer and clinical need of a CSC-targeting drug is urgent. However, development of new drugs that target CSCs is both timely and costly.

In recent years, the use of existing drugs to treat other diseases has become an attractive strategy of drug development.

The Cancer Research and Therapeutics group in RIHS, led by Professor Weiguang Wang, is developing Disulfiram, an antialcoholism drug, as a CSC-killing drug for cancer treatment.

Professor Wang and the team demonstrated that the drug, used for over six decades in the clinic, kills CSCs; however, the use of Disulfiram in cancer treatment is limited by its very short lifespan (fewer than four minutes) in the bloodstream.

In collaboration with scientists in the UK, USA, Europe and China, Professor Wang’s team successfully ‘wrapped’ Disulfiram into nanoparticles and extended its lifespan to several hours.

The new formulation of the drug shows very strong anti-cancer activity in a wide range of cancer types. This startling work has attracted over £1 million funding from Brain Tumour Charity, Breast Cancer Now, British Lung Foundation, Pancreatic Cancer UK, EU Commission and Innovate UK.

Karim Azar Kate Butcher Emeritus Professor John Darling Mayur Kale Dr Sathishkumar Kurusamy Dr Mark Morris Dr Ian Nicholl Ogechi Nkeonye Dr Christopher Perry Gowtham Rajendran Samna Sagadevan Garima Tyagi Professor Weiguang Wang Professor Tracy Warr In collaboration with • • • • • •

Brain Tumour Charity British Cancer Now British Lung Foundation Caparo plc Pancreatic Cancer UK Royal Wolverhampton Trust

The latter is co-funding the JiangsuUK Industrial Challenge Programme, a £600,000 project which has funded £90,000 to Professor Wang and his team to carry out further laboratorybased research. The University has set up a spin-out company with Caparo, Disulfican Ltd, which has secured a further £147,000 share of grant funding from the programme to develop Disulfiram as a new anti-cancer drug to be tested against a range of cancer celllines including brain tumours and lung cancer. If pre-clinical testing of the NanoEncapsulated Disulfiram continues to prove successful, it is hoped that the first phase of clinical trials can commence in 2020.

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KEY FACTS Our ultimate goal is to translate laboratory findings into the development of efficient therapeutic strategies to treat cardiovascular patients.

Designing treatments for cardiovascular disease In the UK alone, there are around 7 million people living with cardiovascular disease which is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world.

It is estimated that the day you read this, around 420 people will die in the UK from diseases affecting the cardiovascular system. This amounts to over 150,000 deaths each year.

Although the treatments for this devastating disease have improved in recent years, there is an urgent need to design new, more efficient therapeutic interventions to treat these patients.

Dr Angel Armesilla and his team at the University of Wolverhampton, in close collaboration with Professor James Cotton’s group in the Heart and Lung Centre of New Cross Hospital, Royal Wolverhampton Trust, is investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying several cardiovascular diseases

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including: abnormal formation of blood vessels, coronary heart disease, peripheral artery disease, aortic aneurysm, and thrombosis.

Previous studies by Dr Armesilla and Professor Cotton have focused on identifying the key cellular proteins that control the formation of blood vessels.

Dr Armesilla explains: “This information would allow us to increase blood vessel formation in organs with occluded arteries that are not receiving enough blood, as for example happens in the heart during a myocardial infarction.”

Clinically, the team has characterised the response of patients with coronary artery disease to anti-platelet treatments, taking into account the particular genes of each patient (pharmacogenomics). They have also studied the impact of different routes of anti-platelet therapy administration on microvascular cardiac function during major heart attacks.

Dr Angel Armesilla

Research Centre Research Institute in Healthcare Science (RIHS) Lead researcher Dr Angel Armesilla In collaboration with • Professor James Cotton, Heart and Lung Centre, New Cross Hospital • The Rosetrees Trust • Rotha Abraham Bequest Charity • Royal Wolverhampton Trust • University of Sheffield

published in Nature Communications, which shed new light on the molecular mechanisms that regulate blood vessel formation. The research showed that a protein called TMEM33 is essential for proper blood vessel formation and indicated that it might be targeted in future therapeutic interventions to treat patients suffering from diseases occurring with angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones.

Present and future studies aim to elucidate the consequences of aberrant gene expression in the formation of blood vessels in the heart. The team is also studying the function of plasma membrane calcium transporters in the pathogenesis of aortic aneurisms and in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

These studies are funded by the Rosetrees Trust, the Rotha Abraham Bequest Charity, and the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

Dr Armesilla’s team collaborated with a group led by the University of Sheffield’s Dr Robert Wilkinson in a recent study

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KEY FACTS

Providing hope for kidney disease cure A discovery that a specific gene accelerates the progression of a rare kidney disease could lead to new future treatments.

ARPKD (autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease) affects the kidneys and liver. It is usually diagnosed in babies and young children and occurs in roughly one in every 20,000 live births.

The disease causes cysts to develop in the small tubes of the kidneys, as well as a number of other health issues; these kidney cysts expand in size and number with age, usually necessitating transplants and dialysis to help kidney function.

Research undertaken by the University, led by Dr Evi Goggolidou and partfunded by Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Charity UK, compared samples of healthy kidneys with those with PKD. Dr Goggolidou examined ATMIN, a gene which had previously been shown to modify how signals are communicated in kidney cells, affecting kidney formation.

New findings show that the gene could be a biomarker of ARPKD – if the level of ATMIN is increased then it is possible that the disease accelerates and cysts may form at a more rapid rate.

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Researchers propose that targeting the gene, rather than the disease symptoms, could slow the progress of ARPKD. Dr Goggolidou said: “This work provides insights into novel signalling pathways that could impact ARPKD progression, raising exciting possibilities for future interventions and therapies.”

New therapies would propose targeting the gene not the disease, using a drug to inhibit the cell responses.

As no pharmacological treatment currently exists for ARPKD, such discoveries will greatly impact on the young patients and their families.

Dr Evi Goggolidou

Research Centre Research Institute in Healthcare Science (RIHS) Lead researcher Dr Evi Goggolidou In collaboration with • Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) • Charity UK

Highlighting the impact of female researchers’ voices The Research Institute of Information and Language Processing was recognised for its outstanding work in areas of communication in REF 2014.

Professor Mike Thelwall runs the Institute’s Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group, ranked as one of the best in the world. His research has revealed scientific studies published by female authors attracted more student readers than those by male authors.

Professor Thelwall believes the findings suggest female authors may have an unrecognised effect on students’ education and that their scientific impact may be undervalued by citation metrics in some countries.

To conduct the research, Professor Thelwall obtained sets of articles from 2014 with known first author gender from five countries. He compared average Scopus citation counts and Mendeley reader counts between male first-authored and female first-authored articles in each set.

The study showed that female authored pieces across 100 subjects attracted up to 6% more student readers than those by male authors.

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Professor Thelwall encourages early career scientists, particularly female researchers, to look beyond citations for evidence that their research has a broader impact.

He said: “There are known gender imbalances in participation in scientific fields, from female dominance of nursing to male dominance of mathematics. It is not clear whether there is also a citation imbalance, with some claiming that male-authored research tends to be more cited.

However, no previous study has assessed gender differences in the readers of academic research on a large scale.

“The results give evidence, for the first time, that female-authored research is more likely to be read by undergraduates, Master’s students and junior researchers (with a partial exception of India) than male-authored research within the same narrow subject field.”

The work of the Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group ranked joint 5th in the UK in REF 2014, and in 2017 was placed 1st in the world for the average quality of research in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (Shanghai Ranking).

KEY FACTS Research Centre Research Institute in Information and Language Processing RIILP The research team Professor Ruslan Mitkov Dr Constantin Orasan Professor Mike Thelwall

Cracking the language barrier The Research Group in Computational Linguistics (RGCL), part of the Institute, is carrying out innovative research on translation technology, which will have a direct impact on the work of professional translators.

Dr Constantin Orasan worked with other RGCL researchers to develop semantically enhanced translation memories. This approach is able to identify sentences which are semantically similar, but do not necessarily use the same words.

Evaluations undertaken with translators showed that the new method can reduce the time needed to translate sentences by up to 10% and reduces the effort, measured in keystrokes, by up to 30%. All this is achieved without any decrease in the quality of the translated material. This direction of research is being actively pursued by the research group.

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KEY FACTS Research Centre Institute for Community Research and Development ICRD The research team

Shining a light on societal issues

By highlighting injustice in our society, University of Wolverhampton research is providing a voice for the marginalised and helping to affect positive change.

Improving life chances The Institute for Community Research and Development (ICRD) works with and in our local communities to deliver effective community-based transformational projects, drive policy developments, and promote social mobility.

Drawing on a history of collaborative research across our faculties of Social Sciences, and Health, Education and Wellbeing, ICRD employs interdisciplinary expertise and undertakes pioneering community development studies, working with partnership networks to champion for change.

Themes explored by the ICRD span social policy, sociology, economic regeneration, public policy, public sector reform, social welfare, community health and wellbeing, mental health and criminal justice.

Tackling the multioccupancy housing crisis ICRD are supporting efforts by Telford & Wrekin Council and other partners (including Telford Citizen’s Advice Bureau, the police and the Department for Work and Pensions) to address the problems associated with the growing number of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), where residents have their own bedrooms but

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Professor Laura Caulfield Dr Stuart Connor Dr Steve Iafrati Dr Angela Morgan Professor Kate Moss Paramjit Singh

share facilities such as kitchens and bathrooms, in the Telford area.

While many are well-run and tenants are supported, others are less well managed and some tenants have experienced crime, violence and issues such as lack of heating and property repairs.

Dr Steve Iafrati, a social policy expert for ICRD, said: “It is estimated that there are over 450 HMOs in Telford. With housing shortages, for those on the lowest income and relying on benefits, HMOs are often the only option. For many landlords, this has created an economic opportunity to turn houses into HMOs and make large profits, often with little reason to invest in the properties or tenants’ wellbeing.

“Following our research, the University will make recommendations to help address some of the problems and support the hard work currently being undertaken by a wide range of organisations. This may include greater outreach work with young people, health advice and support, rewarding good landlords, education, and volunteering opportunities in the community.”

Empowering women on the fringes The work of Professor Kate Moss, Professor of Criminal Justice, and her colleague Paramjit Singh, is influencing policy to tackle issues of homelessness.

They have researched women rough sleepers in Slovenia and Hungary and were involved with Women Rough Sleepers, an EU DAPHNE-funded project which aimed to increase knowledge base and equip organisations with the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of homeless women.

Paramjit said: “Women homelessness remains a serious problem and is often connected to domestic violence.

Our research and recommendations assist with empowering women rough sleepers to protect themselves from violence such as rape and sexual exploitation while living on the streets.

“We also want to create an innovative supportive environment to meet the needs of the women and support them back into mainstream society and away from violence.”

Meanwhile, Professor Laura Caulfield’s work has highlighted the positive impact of arts and culture in the rehabilitation of women in the criminal justice system. Her findings, presented in an Arts Council report, show that women prisoners who took part in fashion and music projects were more likely to participate in formal education and work-related activities.

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KEY FACTS Research Centre Smart, Sustainable and Healthy Cities Research Centre

Delivering intelligent transport systems It’s a brave man who tries to drive the problem of traffic congestion out of our cities – but that’s exactly what one of our researchers is attempting to do.

Dr Panos Georgakis is working on major projects to reduce city traffic, travel times and accidents by creating bespoke intelligent transport systems.

Providing bespoke routes and solutions for individual users could revolutionise the way people travel, using combinations of public transport, car shares, bicycle routes and walking.

Using data from various sensors and systems, as well as information generated by social media users, the digital age transport systems use machine learning algorithms to evaluate the condition of transport networks – allowing the anticipation of situations in near real time, to prevent problems before they emerge.

The University’s research work is supporting the operation of an app that

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gives travellers a bespoke route on the day, to avoid delays.

The University led on the Midlands region for OPTIMUM, part of a £6 million Horizons 2020 project, with Dr Georgakis acting as technical and scientific lead on the University’s €510,000 section of the project, working on easing congestion around Birmingham. Other cities taking part included Vienna and Ljubljana.

The OPTIMUM platform was piloted in three transportation case studies focusing on: multimodal-urban transport; freight transport; and campervans and the complexities of multisensor environments in larger vehicles.

Positive results showed that the rewarding system of OPTIMUM, where users could collect points based on the use of sustainable modes of transport, had a positive impact in the promotion of walking, cycling, and use of public transport and other sustainable travel options.

Lead researcher Dr Panos Georgakis In collaboration with • • • •

Austrian Institute of Technology Birmingham City Council Department for Transport National Technical University of Athens • Transport for Greater Manchester • University College London

effectiveness of planning long distance trips and their comfort during travel was increased as a result of OPTIMUM. Dr Georgakis said: “I would like to see a future where people move away from car ownership to being car users, who combine this with other modes of transport. We want to create viable alternatives.”

He has also recently been awarded two Horizons 2020 grants for the following projects: • MaaS4EU, Mobility as a Service, a concept looking to offer travellers seamless mobility whilst looking to reduce the dependency on private cars as citizens’ preferred mode of transportation.

• HARMONY, which aims to develop new, next-generation transport planning tools to lead the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon new mobility era.

The trials also showed that the app solution has the potential to reduce logistic operators’ travel times and fuel consumption, and that the majority of participants reported that the

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KEY FACTS Research Centre Wolverhampton Cyber Research Institute (WCRI) The research team

Combatting cybercrime With data now the most valuable asset for modern society, cybercrime is a huge global problem and research and expertise into this complex area is more important than ever.

Increased use of smart technology brings with it increased threats of cyberattacks and the insights and innovations of the Wolverhampton Cyber Research Institute (WCRI) are increasingly being called on to help find solutions.

Data security solutions

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Led by Dr Gregory Epiphaniou and Professor Prashant Pillai, the WCRI team have been awarded more than £125,000 funding over three phases to create, develop and test a decentralised data management platform to minimise execution times in data collection processes and log rotation, storage and processing of the communication networks within organisations.

Professor Pillai said: “We are in a digital economy where data is more valuable than ever. It is the lifeline of many modern businesses, services and products and is the key to the smooth functionality of everything from the government to private companies.

Comprising a team of more than 20 academic staff, the Institute incorporates extensive knowledge of network and communication security, artificial intelligence, big data and cyber physical systems.

“However, collecting and securely distributing the plethora of data in a controlled manner is a growing global challenge and we are looking to find solutions which work for large businesses.”

Experts are creating innovative new technology to support large organisations in securely sharing and regulating their data. They work collaboratively with academic, industrial and governmental organisations to support all aspects of security and privacy, and their opinions have been sought recently by national media, including the BBC, Forbes and Daily Express.

New Centre for Cyber Security

The University has approved £1.5 million to contribute to the Centre and successfully secured grant funding of £4 million from the Marches LEP Local Growth Fund and £1.16 million of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Herefordshire Council has approved funding of £3.5 million to contribute to the Centre, which will be located on Skylon Park in the Hereford Enterprise Zone.

Professor Amar Aggoun Dr Adeel Ahsan Dr Haider Al-Khateeb Dr Kevan Buckley Dr Nurdan Cabukoglu Dr Gregory Epiphaniou Dr Andrew Gascoyne Dr Thomas Hartley Dr Dhouha Kbaier Dr Vinita Nahar Professor Robert Newman Professor Prashant Pillai In collaboration with • The Beacon Centre • Nvidia • SAS • Satisnet

The new Centre will offer high quality research facilities through the University’s Cyber Security Research Institute as well as providing office space for cyber businesses and advanced training facilities designed specifically to tackle threats in cyberspace.

The Wolverhampton Cyber Research Institute and the Hereford Centre for Cyber Security (HCCS) aspire to be at the forefront of developing and leading an International Cyber Knowledge Hub to tackle threats in cyberspace.

Cyber security research is further strengthened by a joint venture between the University and Herefordshire Council. Funding of £9 million has been secured to develop a new Centre for Cyber Security in Hereford.

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KEY FACTS Research Centre Centre for Materials Science The research team

Transforming waste plastics University pioneers are challenging the throwaway culture of modern life by adopting a ‘King Midas’ approach to plastic waste.

Old water bottles and other plastics are being turned into high value materials thanks to work by a team of our scientists.

Long-term legacy Through their work with international partners, Dr Iza Radecka, Reader in Biotechnology, and Professor Marek Kowalczuk are converting the waste into a pliable wax-like substance to which other elements can be added, turning it into a high value, biodegradable form of bioplastics.

Their tests are exploring possible uses, including an environmentally-friendly form of mulch for farming, ‘scaffolding’ on which to grow human cells, and for items such as pens and bags.

Dr Radecka said: “Mountains of plastic waste is buried in landfill sites around the world each year.

“Unfortunately, plastics produced by the petrochemical industry are not

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biodegradable and therefore accumulate in the environment at a rate of more than 25 million tonnes per year. This continues to pose a growing challenge for authorities at both the local and national level.

“Waste Polyethylene (PE) is a potential carbon source that could be utilised to make value-added biopolymers, particularly as it is the most commonly produced plastic, making up over 29% of worldwide plastic manufacture, while only 10% of it is recycled.

“Bacterial polymers such as Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a group of biocompatible, environmentally neutral, biodegradable plastics that can be produced by certain bacteria. The structure of the PHAs can be adapted for a wide range of medical applications, especially implants, including heart valve tissue engineering, vascular tissue engineering, bone and cartilage tissue engineering, as well as nerve conduit tissue engineering.”

Dr Hazel Gibson Dr Wayne Heaselgrave Professor David Hill Professor Gary Hix Professor Nazira Karodia Dr Dan Keddie Dr Martin Khechara Professor Marek Kowalczuk Dr Georgina Manning Dr Liz O’Gara Dr Opeolu Ojo Professor Iza Radecka Dr Ayesha Rahman Professor Craig Williams In collaboration with • Centre of Polymer Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences • Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Germany • ITMO University, Russia • Queen Mary University of London • Reading University • Silesian University of Technology, Poland • University of Birmingham • University of Bologna, Italy • University of Brest, France • University of Crete, Greece • University of Malaga, Spain

Although there is still much work to be done in developing biodegradable, high performance bacterial plastics, the discovery is promising and points to a future where our waste could be turned into something wonderful.

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KEY FACTS Research Centre National Brownfield Institute The research team

Regenerating brownfield land A new national research and innovation centre will be home to a team of specialist researchers who will advise on all aspects of brownfield development.

The National Brownfield Institute will offer expertise and consultancy on dealing with contaminated land, repurposing buildings and sites, new and innovative construction methods such as modular housing, and much more.

The Institute is an integral part of plans for the University’s new Springfield Campus, a £100 million development which is itself regenerating brownfield land, the former Springfield Brewery site.

The Institute will feature commercial testing facilities and lab space, and will guide future strategy and development around brownfield regeneration.

Artist’s impressions of the Institute, produced by Associated Architects, were revealed in 2019 at MIPIM, the annual international property and estates showcase held in Cannes.

The University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Geoff Layer, said: “The National Brownfield Institute will complement the site and vision for Springfield as a hub for excellence in construction and the built environment on a national and even international scale.

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“It will be integral to the way we look at land remediation and regeneration across the Black Country and the UK and will play a pivotal part in unlocking industrial land to help tackle the housing shortage in our towns and cities.”

The West Midlands Combined Authority has set an ambitious target to build 215,000 new homes by 2031 to help solve the region’s housing shortage.

Around £100m of that is to be used to buy and clean up former industrial sites in the Black Country build homes on, a process in which the Institute is set to play an integral role.

For the latest on the new Institute and Springfield Campus developments, visit: wlv.ac.uk/springfield

Dr Noukhez Ahmed Professor Mohammed Arif Professor Mike Fullen Dr Rana Khan Professor Chaminda Pathirage Professor Craig Williams In collaboration with • Tom Brooks, Arup • Matt Gardner, Arcadis Ltd • James Hill, Dunton Environmental Ltd

KEY FACTS Research Centre

Mining the past for major study of British coal industry The University of Wolverhampton has been awarded more than £650,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to undertake a major study of the British coal industry and its subsequent demise.

‘On Behalf of the People: Work, Community, and Class in the British Coal Industry 1947-1994’ is a three-year project which commenced in October 2017 and is led by Keith Gildart, a Professor of Social and Labour History and former coal miner.

The collaborative project, between historians based at the University of Wolverhampton and Stirling University, examines the political and social history of the British coal industry in post-war Britain.

Using a comparative study of eight collieries located in England, Scotland, and Wales, this ambitious project

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aims to create an innovative history of the coal industry that is academic and rigorous, but also embedded in an understanding and appreciation of the complexity of industrial, social, political, and cultural identities in former mining communities.

The project will seek to understand the everyday experiences of coal miners in the workplace, community and domestic sphere and shed new light on key moments in the history of the industry.

Professor Gildart and his team will look at the impact of significant events and issues such as public ownership, the industrial disputes of 1972, 1974 and 1984/5, and the subsequent closure of all of the nation’s deep mines in the first two decades of the 21st Century.

Centre for Historical Research The research team Dr Ben Curtis Professor Keith Gildart Dr Grace Millar Professor Andrew Perchard In collaboration with • Big Pit National Coal Museum • General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) • National Coal Mining Museum for England • Scottish National Mining Museum • University of Stirling

Did you know?

The Centre for Historical Research is bridging the gap between the past and present, Britain and the world, through scholars’ innovative work.

Researchers are active in a wide variety of subjects, including migration, retailing and distribution, contemporary warfare and terrorism, child forced labour in modern war, and class, gender and respectability.

University historians have been recognised for their outstanding work on the pivotal events of early modern conflicts. The Centre is recognised as having one of the strongest clusters of scholars specialising in the military history of the First World War, and specialist MA courses have been launched focusing respectively on the First and Second World Wars.

Professor Gary Sheffield is acknowledged as one of Britain’s foremost historians of the First World War, while colleague and Conflict Studies Professor Stephen Badsey regularly hosts masterclasses and speaks at international conferences.

Meanwhile, Dr Spencer Jones was recently made a Haig Fellow for 2018 by the Douglas Haig Fellowship for his significant contribution to the field of First World War studies.

There are planned interviews with over 80 participants and there will be substantial community engagement in former mining areas. Professor Gildart will also look to develop a comprehensive interactive website, blog, and touring exhibition.

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KEY FACTS CIDT has significant experience of forest governance projects and improving sustainability in some of the poorest areas of the world by working alongside indigenous peoples and local organisations.

Dr Aurelian Mbzibain

Research Centre Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) The research team

Through a transformative project, the University’s Centre for International Development and Training (CIDT) will help to protect the endangered environment of the Congo rainforest.

In 2017, CIDT secured £5 million from the European Union to support forest governance in five Congo Basin countries: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Gabon and Democratic Republic of Congo.

The project will benefit 75 million poor men, women and young people living in the Congo Basin, which is home to the second largest tropical rain-forested area in the world.

Protecting the rainforest for future generations 56

Over the remaining years of the project, the aim is to empower civil society organisations and forest dependent communities to monitor forest law compliance and enforcement activities on the ground in the countries, ensuring social agreements between private companies and communities are met.

Dani Baur Rufsana Begum Professor Philip N. Dearden Ella Haruna Dr Aurelian Mbzibain Richard Nyirenda Professor Rachel Slater Sarah Thomas In collaboration with • Brainforest • CAGDF – Cercle d’appui à la gestion durable des forêts • CED – Centre pour l’environnement et le développement • CIEDD – Centre pour l’information environnementale et le développement durable • FODER – Forêts et développement rural • Field Legality Advisory Group (FLAG) • Nepal Institute for Social and Environmental Research (NISER) • OGF – Observatoire de la Gouvernance Forestière • World Resources Institute

The CIDT team will work in partnership with local organisations, and to ensure private sector companies are working within their contracts and operating within EU timber regulations governing deforestation and legal exports.

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Better disaster prevention and response in Nepal CIDT’s work to strengthen capacity and promote inclusive and sustainable development around the world extended to a recent collaboration with the Government of Nepal and the World Bank to identify ways in which existing policies and programmes might be adapted to help the country mitigate and prepare for disasters, and to strengthen post-disaster response and recovery.

The project focused specifically on Nepal’s portfolio of social protection programmes – from projects providing wages for labour-intensive road construction and other infrastructure in rural areas, to those paying allowances to the elderly, people with disabilities, members of particular ethnic or caste groups, widows and poor households with young children.

The research assessed whether providing emergency top-ups to existing programme beneficiaries would reach enough of the people most seriously affected by earthquake, flood and drought.

The findings are contributing to new guidelines for government programmes in social protection to ensure that delivery and administration systems are set up to provide disaster response.

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Did you know?

Experts from the University of Wolverhampton’s Faculty of Science and Engineering have been busy globe-trotting in their efforts to discover (and rediscover!) exotic species and to care for endangered wildlife.

• Dr Simon Maddock and colleagues from London’s Natural History Museum discovered a new species of legless amphibian, known as caecilians, on the Seychelles island of Mahé in 2018.

In Ecuador, Dr Maddock and an international team of scientists uncovered a species of toad, the distinctive Carchi Andean toad believed to have been extinct for more than 30 years.

• Meanwhile, University academic Dr Stefano Vaglio is researching training, environment enrichments and enclosure design to support the work of zoos which are breeding and caring for species endangered in the wild.

He hopes to influence policy and practice around primate welfare, and in 2017 published findings from a study focusing on a group of 11 lemurs housed at a zoo in Italy, aiming to make temporarily isolation less stressful for the animals.

Research with bite Snakebites claim up to 138,000 lives each year and permanently disable a further 400,000 victims.

University researcher Professor Mark O’Shea works extensively in areas with a high incidence of snakebites in his efforts to reduce these grave statistics.

Professor O’Shea captures the species responsible and returns with them to in-country herpetariums,

where they are maintained to provide a continual source of venom for venom research and antivenom production. He also trains national staff in venomous snake husbandry, handling and restraint, and venom extraction (milking).

One major success Mark has been involved with is the new Papuan taipan antivenom produced for the Australian Venom Research Unit, University of Melbourne, by Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP) at the Universidade de San José, Costa Rica.

The existing antivenom was costing US$2,200-2,400 per vial which put enormous strain on the Papua New Guinea (PNG) health authority, which continually ran out of antivenom. The new ICP antivenom costs US$150-250 per vial and significantly raises the “glass ceiling” for antivenom purchase, thereby saving many more lives.

Mark’s wide range of publications include a field guide to the snakes of PNG and his recent, definitive The Book of Snakes. His research has led to him describing four new snake species, with three more in the pipeline.

KEY FACTS Research Centre Law Research Centre

Overhauling insolvency law

Lead researcher Professor Peter Walton

Among the key strategic areas the University’s celebrated Law Research Centre explores is insolvency law, both at home and abroad.

Professor Peter Walton was appointed in 2017 by the Kenyan Government to overhaul Kenya’s insolvency laws, after being recommended by the World Bank to work as a consultant, reviewing and updating laws to assist businesses in Kenya and support future economic investment.

Working directly with the Attorney General’s office, Professor Walton has re-drafted Kenyan insolvency legislation, making significant improvements to individual and corporate insolvency laws including effective and appropriate rescue and debt reorganisation procedures. He has drafted a Code of Conduct for the insolvency profession. He has also set up a formal Technical Working Group involving the Official Receiver’s office, practitioners and the judiciary so that any practical issues arising may be addressed, advised upon and disseminated by experts in the field.

Professor Walton has a national and international reputation for his expertise in insolvency law. He has previously carried out several large research projects on behalf of both the UK Government and the UK insolvency profession which have led to significant reforms in the UK insolvency system.

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Professor Walton, who is a Professor of Insolvency Law at the University of Wolverhampton Law School, said:

The main issue is that Kenya has, until now, adopted an outdated version of UK insolvency law dating from the 1940s, which is no longer fit for purpose. It is important to be sympathetic to the Kenyan circumstances, and not to just cut and paste UK laws. A good system is crucial to help turn troubled businesses around and to ensure external economic investment continues.

The project is due to finish in the summer of 2019 but Professor Walton has been asked to continue after that date to advise on the implementation of the new law, to continue to train practitioners and judges, and to draft a legislative guide.

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KEY FACTS Research Centre Management Research Centre The research team

Changing boardroom dynamics for the better 62

In recent years, there has been a greater focus on the boardroom and increased pressure on board members.

New areas – such as potential IT risks; crisis management and reputational risk, including how organisations communicate with stakeholders; and an overall increase in boardroom-shareholder engagement – have made the role more demanding.

The team have also investigated the effects of board diversity and the business case for improving gender diversity. In a project funded by an EU Justice Progress grant, together with the employers’ associations of Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bulgaria, the researchers found how boardroom dynamics changed for the better when there was greater gender diversity in the boardroom.

The University of Wolverhampton’s Management Research Centre (MRC) conducts research which identifies characteristics of healthy governance, boardroom effectiveness and influences on boardroom dynamics.

Benchmarks for good board performance have already emerged from the research, which offers insights into how to improve the strategy involvement of boards by changing board dynamics, board leadership and behavioural norms.

Value-creating boards The Centre’s research is especially interested in behavioural characteristics of boards in different organisational settings. Professor Sibel Yamak is part of an international research team that investigates Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and boards. The results of their work, published in the Strategic Management Journal, show that the direct effect of board independence on performance is weak. The efficacy of board structures seems to depend on the national context.

In related research, Professor Silke Machold, together with colleagues from a number of European universities, has studied how boards in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can add value through increased involvement in strategic tasks. In a new H2020 project, she and her colleague Dr Daniel Yar Hamidi from Sweden are investigating how boards in SMEs can influence strategic changes from a goods-based to a service dominant logic.

Dr Jenny Jones Professor Silke Machold Dr Wen Wang Professor Sibel Yamak Dr Daniel Yar Hamidi (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow) In collaboration with • The Association of Employers of Slovenia • Board Governance (Denmark) • Bulgarian Industrial Association • Business Confederation of Macedonia • Deloitte Denmark • Hrvatska Udruga Poslodavaca Croatia • The Institute of Directors • PwC Sweden • StyrelseAkademien Sjuhärad (The Swedish Academy of Board Directors)

For policy-makers, the study shows implications for the codes of good governance practice relevant to small firms, specifically in relation to promoting board development initiatives and board evaluations. By striving to meet these benchmarks, perhaps more companies would avoid reaching crisis point.

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Our postgraduate research community The Doctoral College Established in 2013, the Doctoral College supports all staff and student researchers at the University of Wolverhampton.

All of our postgraduate research students (PGRs) studying in the UK or abroad, part-time or full-time, are both part of their Faculty and the Doctoral College community.

The Doctoral College is managed through the Research Policy Unit and uses this combined expertise to deliver its mission, as well as offering a dedicated central contact point for staff and PGR students.

· co-ordinates research student representation · organises research events such as the Annual Research Conferences and University of Wolverhampton Lecture Series.

PGRs are offered development opportunities, guaranteed teaching opportunities, support for teaching and social activities and events.

To find out more about the Doctoral College, visit: wlv.ac.uk/doctoralcollege

As part of its mission, the Doctoral College: · co-ordinates and delivers comprehensive researcher development including the Postgraduate Researcher Development Programme (PRDP) for research students and the Research Supervisors’ Development Programme (RSDP) for research supervisors · builds an overarching and vibrant research community that unites and supports all research students · contributes to the development of research staff, eg. through The Early Researcher Award Scheme (ERAS)

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Meet our postgraduate researchers The contribution of our postgraduate research students helps to enrich our research community. Here’s what some of them had to say: I stayed on at the University because of the experience in teaching and research in the Department of Pharmacy and also in order to access the latest equipment, so as to undertake research of the highest standards. My supervisory team offered guidance and encouragement throughout.

Dr Hussaini Bello

My time at Wolverhampton was incredibly valuable. During my PhD I was able to present my research at staff conferences, organise an international conference, attend a number of guest lectures delivered by experts in the field, and teach undergraduate and postgraduate students – vital for making my CV stand out.

Dr Leonie Jackson PhD in Security Studies

Being a doctoral student at the University of Wolverhampton is one of the most memorable experiences of my life. My supervisors were extraordinarily supportive and caring, and the guidance and training prepared me well for job hunting after graduation.

Dr Yun Luan PhD in Educational Research

PhD in Pharmaceutical Science

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I chose Wolverhampton because of my positive experience as an undergraduate at this university. I enjoyed sharing an office with four other PhD students – the ongoing mutual support made us friends for life. Don’t give up because, in the end, the rewards are certainly worth it.

The major factor that swayed my decision was the chance to work alongside leading researchers in the field. Their philosophy was very much to treat me as a colleague rather than their student, allowing me to express my ideas with confidence. It’s something I try to embed within my teaching and research supervision today.

Dr Elke Nauheimer

Dr Chris Fullerton

PhD in Psychology

PhD in Sport Psychology

THE UNIVERSITY OF OPPORTUNITY University of Wolverhampton Wulfruna Street Wolverhampton West Midlands WV1 1LY wlv.ac.uk/research

All information correct at time of print. For the latest information, please visit: wlv.ac.uk ER1317