As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Sciences 2024, this ESRC-funded workshopLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window will explore, in essence, how people manage their social connections through conversation. It will delve into how everyday conversations can hold deep personal meaning, shaping our social lives and the very essence of who we are. These seemingly ordinary conversations can be unfolded through poetry and drama-based activities, and the workshop will draw on the hosts' expertise to explore social interactions and poetic expression with the 'everyday conversationalists' who walk among us!

Visit the website for further information.

Talk and Poetry WorkshopLink opens in a new window

We are delighted to share some positive results we have received from National Student Survey 2022.

99% of the Department of Economics' research has been rated world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*) overall in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

Ranked 2nd in the
Research Excellence Framework.

Discover our Research Impact

99% of the Department of Economics' research has been rated world-leading (4*) or internationally excellent (3*) overall in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

The REF results, released on Thursday 12 May 2022, place the Department as 2nd in the UK for overall research quality in the discipline of Economics and Econometrics, according to rankings of institutions by Grade Point Average (GPA)* published by Times Higher Education. Submissions to the REF are made by institutions and assessed by subject-level expert panels in three key areas:

• The quality of research outputs in terms of their originality, significance and rigour (accounting for 60% of the overall outcome)
• The reach and significance of research impact beyond academia (25%)
• The vitality and sustainability of the environment that supports research (15%).

The weighting of these elements forms the overall quality profile. Each area is rated as 4*, 3*, 2*, 1* or unclassified.

Key highlights from REF 2021

Outputs

• The Department ranks 3rd in the UK for quality of research output in Economics and Econometrics, according to Times Higher Education.
• 98% of the Department’s submitted research outputs are rated 4* (world-leading) or 3* (internationally excellent).

Impact

• The Department ranks 2nd for impact in the UK.
• 80% of the Department’s impact is rated 4* (outstanding) and 20% is 3* (very considerable).

The assessment was based on the submission of impact case studies, which describe specific examples of how the Department’s research has made a positive difference to the economy, society and quality of life beyond academia.

Read more and watch short videos about the impact of our work.

Environment

• The Department ranks 3rd for research environment in the UK.
• 87.5% of the Department’s environment submission is rated 4* (conducive to producing research of world-leading quality and enabling outstanding impact).

The assessment considered a wide range of factors including:

• How research is structured in the Department
• Strategies for research, impact, staffing and staff development
• Research income, infrastructure and facilities
• Collaborations and contributions to the research base, economy and society.

Find out more about our research.

Learn more about our comprehensive MRes/PhD programme.

Commenting on the results, Head of Department Professor Jeremy Smith, said: “These results reinforce our position as one of the leading departments in the UK for economics.”

“Our strong performance in the REF reflects the incredibly hard work of staff from across the whole Department in conducting and supporting the production of innovative research that pushes the boundaries of the discipline. That this research is also shaping policy as indicated by the evaluation of the impact case studies is also very gratifying.”

“We are extremely proud of this achievement and look forward to building on our strategy for developing research excellence in the coming years.”

Professor Carlo Perroni, Research Director for the Department, said: “The Department of Economics at the University of Warwick is home to a vibrant and diverse research environment that produces relevant and exciting work across all major sub-fields of economics.”

“We are proud of our researchers and of our PhD students, and we are pleased that the REF result recognises the value of what we do.”

About the REF

The REF is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions. It is led by the four UK higher education funding bodies: Research England, the Scottish Funding Council, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, and the Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland.

REF results inform the allocation of public research funding and are used in university league tables and benchmarking. The process ensures accountability for public investment in research and provides evidence of the benefits of this investment.

Notes on rankings

*Grade Point Average (GPA) is a measure of average quality of research. It is calculated by multiplying the percentage of 4* research by four, 3* research by three, 2* research by two and 1* research by one. The totals are added together and divided by 100 to give an average overall star-rating.

Details of more successes for our students

"While the employment rate remains steady at 74.9%, several indicators signal growing strains. Redundancies have risen by 67.8% year-on-year—increasing to 99,000 from 59,000, the proportion of long-term unemployment has grown significantly, and the unemployment rate has climbed to 4.3%. These developments reflect a fundamental structural adjustment in labour market conditions rather than a temporary fluctuation."

Wednesday, December 18, 2024 3pm GMT Teams, via registration at https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/490733c5- fb6a-491d-a05c-0fe4b2e83177@09bacfbd-47ef-4465-9265-3546f2eaf6bc

We are deeply saddened to share the news that Professor David Miller, Reader in Philosophy has passed away.

David taught in the department from 1969 until his retirement in 2007. He was best known for work in logic and methodology, including fervent support and development of some of Popper’s work on scientific method.

According to Karl Popper “If the many, the specialists, gain the day, it will be the end of science as we know it - of great science.” In one sense, the philosopher and logician David Miller was a specialist, devoting much of his enormous mental energy to mathematical logic—in particular, to its applications to scientific methodology, through sharpening and developing what he took to be Popper’s most significant insights in that area. However, pursuing that specific project demands a generalist’s ability to take a synoptic view of the sciences. David was no narrow specialist.

Always meticulous, and always rigorously critical, David had broad interests within and without philosophy, together with an admirable willingness to direct his disciplined attention in a variety of directions. To pick two examples of his breadth of interests, he co-authored a wonderful book on croquet (Croquet and How to Play It, with Rupert Thorp) and, at the behest of some his students, he wrote a wry but respectful review of Alan Badiou’s Being and Event, focusing on Badiou’s circuitous reflections on set theory. David was very funny, and a keen appreciator of others’ humour, with a special fondness for the works of P. G. Wodehouse.

David was educated in Suffolk, at Woodbridge School, and then Peterhouse, Cambridge. In 1964, he began to study Logic and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics, where he became one of Karl Popper’s research assistants. David joined the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warwick in 1969, to help develop its Mathematics and Philosophy programme, remaining in the Department until his retirement in 2007.

The Mathematics and Philosophy degree had a small cohort—it takes a student with rare ability to endure that programme, but, as a colleague recalls, “those that did found themselves taught by a scholar with an equally rare passion for inducting young minds into some of the more challenging areas of philosophy.” A demanding teacher of logic, David was also hugely supportive of anyone willing to think carefully with him, and the many generations of students he taught at the University of Warwick remember him with great fondness. Unless he had private matters to deal with, he would always work with his office door open. He was available to all-comers who sought his advice. Some others followed his example, giving rise to cross-corridor chats and collegial repartee which helped to make the Department especially welcoming to students and new members of staff.

David was a key linchpin in the global network of scholars engaging with and seeking to develop Popper’s work on the philosophy of science and political philosophy. As such, he did numerous services to the wider profession, including serving as Honorary Treasurer of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science and Secretary of the British Logic Colloquium.

In a series of papers in the 1970s, David explored problems with Popper's formal definition of verisimilitude, the evaluation of some false claims as being closer to being true than other false claims. The notion of verisimilitude was central to Popper’s account of scientific inquiry as leading to theories which are strictly speaking false but as nonetheless making progress by improving their proximity to truth. However, prior to David’s work, the difficulties with Popper’s account of verisimilitude had been largely ignored. Since then, a substantial literature has developed, including David’s own important contributions, aiming to improve on Popper’s attempts to account for this centrally important notion.

David’s most important book, Critical Rationalism: A Restatement and Defence, published in 1994, seeks to develop and secure an approach to scientific knowledge growing out of Popper’s earlier work, according to which, as David put it in a later summary, in science, “there exist no grounds whatever, conclusive or inconclusive, for anything that we know.” Rejecting “the ruinous doctrine that all rational opinion is justified opinion…the critical rationalist does not doubt that there is truth to be had, but thinks that it may be had only by making a lucky guess.”

Academic and professional services colleagues recall with fondness how David’s meticulousness extended to his dress—well-polished shoes and bow tie—and his approach to academic administration. This included his unwavering and oft repeated insistence that first year students on the Mathematics and Philosophy degree should all be obliged to fill in a transfer of degree form from Mathematics and Philosophy (year 1) to Mathematics and Philosophy (year 2) at the end of year 1. David’s sense of humour also made a showing here: as examinations secretary, he set assessed work submission deadlines at 3am, which students regularly and naturally misunderstood, typically handing in their work almost twelve hours after the deadline.

His witty interjections were infamous. A visiting proponent of Wittgenstein’s philosophy froze during a Departmental colloquium presentation, unable to come up with a precise example to illustrate their claims. David immediately stumped up with, “Game? Or maybe rope?”. At another colloquium presentation, a speaker made the claim that everyone is afraid of death. David interrupted, “I’m not.” A slightly surreal moment ensued. The speaker made a pistol shape with his hand, pointed it at David, and shouted "BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!" David calmly responded: "That's not the same thing." And to the then Head of Mathematics at the University of Warwick, he objected that mathematicians cared only about students who were bashing their heads against the ceiling, “whereas we philosophers have trouble even getting up off the floor”.

David died on 20 November 2024, aged 82. He is survived by his sons, Alex and James, and his grandchildren, Oscar and Tommy.

If you would like to send any memories of David or thoughts to the family, please do so via inmemorydavidmiller@gmail.com.

In Germany, so-called hashtag#Gastarbeiter migrants were recruited to the labour market from the 1950s. How do their experiences affect their grandchildren hashtag#ThirdGeneration today? Online talk with Prof. Ayse Guveli of University of Warwick.

The University of Warwick’s Centre for Teacher Education (CTE) has received a glowing report following a recent Ofsted inspection, highlighting the exceptional quality of training and support provided to its teaching trainees. The inspection report underscores the University’s commitment to nurturing future educators who are well-prepared and passionate about their careers.