Welfare and Communication Group
Responsible for:
- Discussing issues and taking action to promote good working practices and equal opportunities for all staff and students in Physics.
- Ensuring appropriate representation on the committee and taking steps to address any imbalances.
- Oversight and monitoring of the Juno/Athena SWAN action plan, production of an annual report to staff and submission of Juno/Athena SWAN renewal documentation.
- Delegating representation for Physics on the University Athena SWAN network.
The membership of the Group is listed below. Please note, our Postgraduate representatives rotate annually.
| Name, Role | Responsibility as WCG member | |
| Mark Newton, Head of Department / Chair of WCG | To chair WCG and overall responsibility for EDI in the department | physics.head@warwick.ac.uk |
| Katherine Branch, Director of Operations | Delegated and joint leadership for EDI in department (Professional Services) | K.Branch@warwick.ac.uk |
| Susan Burrows, Deputy Senior Tutor, Athena SWAN Coordinator | Delegated and joint leadership for EDI in department (Academic) | S.E.Burrows@warwick.ac.uk |
| Ravindra Desai, Academic (Teaching & Research) | To represent the views of staff, canvasing for views / issues in advance of every meeting and feeding back to staff on the matters discussed | Ravindra.Desai@warwick.ac.uk |
| Vacant, Postgraduate (Warwick Ethnic Minorities in Physics Network rep) | Representing views of students, canvassing for views / issues in advance of every WCG meeting and feeding back to students on matters discussed | |
| Gloria Zhao, Research Fellow (Research rep) | To represent the views of staff, canvasing for views/issues in advance of every meeting and feeding back to staff on the matters discussed | Gloria.Zhao.1@warwick.ac.uk |
| Helen Murray, Educational Support Services Manager (Student Office rep) | Responsible for raising matters concerning UG and PG student welfare and support | Helen.Murray@warwick.ac.uk |
|
Michael Pounds, Director of Student Experience / Senior Tutor (Teaching staff rep) |
Responsible for matters relating to UG teaching and representing teaching staff To represent the views of staff, canvasing for views/issues in advance of every meeting and feeding back to staff on the matters discussed |
M.Pounds@warwick.ac.uk |
|
Ayesha Rahman, HR Administrator (Professional services rep) |
To represent the views of staff, canvasing for views/issues in advance of every meeting and feeding back to staff on the matters discussed |
a.rahman@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window |
|
Emily Roberts, Postgraduate (Athena SWAN rep) |
Representing views of students, canvassing for views/issues in advance of every WCG meeting and feeding back to students on matters discussed Shared role with Freya Watson |
emily.roberts.1@warwick.ac.uk |
|
Elizabeth Stanway, Director of Graduate Studies, Member of Postgraduate committee / Physics rep on Faculty of SEM EDI committee |
Responsible for matters relating to PG students and PG supervisors To provide a link between departmental EDI and faculty discussions, and to escalate issues to the faculty of SEM EDI committee where relevant |
E.R.Stanway@warwick.ac.uk |
|
Freya Watson, Postgraduate (Athena SWAN rep) |
Representing views of students, canvassing for views/issues in advance of every WCG meeting and feeding back to students on matters discussed Shared role with Emily Roberts |
f.watson.1@warwick.ac.uk |
|
Ryan Williams, Senior Research Technician (Technical services rep) |
To represent the views of staff, canvasing for views/issues in advance of every meeting and feeding back to staff on the matters discussed |
R.A.Williams@warwick.ac.uk |
|
Ria Wilson, Project Officer (Secretary to WCG) |
Organisation of committee business and support for Chair |
R.Wilson.7@warwick.ac.uk |
Contacting the Committee
The committee meets every 3 months, and as required for award submissions. If there are any issues related to equality and fairness within the Physics Department that you would like to raise, please contact the Chair (Mark Newton) or the Director of Operations (Katherine Branch). You can also get in touch with us via physicswcg@warwick.ac.uk
Minutes and meeting papers available here
This year's meeting dates:
17 March 2025
15 May 2025
22 September 2025
17 December 2025