Our research projects with University of Toronto

Building research and PhD collaborations on Data Justice, Social Justice, and Sustainability

• Warwick PI: Dr Siddharth De Souza
• U of T PI: Professor Christoph Becker

Emerging data technologies often exacerbate social inequity and climate change, two of the most pressing challenges facing the world today, with their capacities to digitally monitor, sort, and control individuals and communities while consuming vast human and planetary resources in the process. The Universities of Toronto and Warwick are preparing our PhD students to take a leading role in addressing these global challenges by taking a global approach to PhD research and education that centers Data Justice, Social Justice, and Sustainability in Technology Design.

Decolonising Knowledge Through Performance and Technology: A Collaborative Research Approach

• Warwick PIs: Professor Silvija Jestrovic & Professor Milija Gluhovic

• U of T PI: Dr Antje Budde

In his work ‘The Ignorant Schoolmaster’, philosopher Jacques Rancière suggests an alternative to the traditional teacher-student hierarchy. He proposes a dialogical relationship where both teacher and student embark on a shared journey of discovery—neither knowing in advance what the outcome will be. Inspired by this idea, this project aims to explore what it means to “decolonise knowledge” as a dynamic, context-specific, and evolving practice in both research and teaching.

Drawing on inhouse methodologies and infrastructure, in particular practice-as research (PaR) at Warwick and the Digital Dramaturgy Lab squared (DDL)² at Toronto, this project aims to expand not just the content of decolonising academic inquiry, but also the methods used to pursue it. The project’s outputs—including performance recordings, digital installations, a podcast series, and open-access toolkits—will serve as lasting resources for educators, artists, researchers, and technologists committed to decolonising their own fields.

Well-being Definition and Measurement Initiative

• Warwick PI: Dr Caspar Kaiser
• U of T PI: Dr Felix Cheung

Over a dozen countries—including Canada and the UK—now mandate the publication and use of well-being indicators in policy-making, driven by programs like the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the World Happiness Report and OECD’s “How’s Life?” project. However, current measurement frameworks face critical limitations. Objective indicators often overlook individual values and lack standardized aggregation methods, while subjective indicators, such as life satisfaction, may omit key dimensions of well-being (i.e. meaning, purpose) and suffer from varying interpretations of the questions and scales. These problems make valid comparisons across individuals, groups, and time periods impossible, limiting their usefulness for research and policy. Given the increasing reliance on these metrics for policy and budgetary decisions, improving their accuracy and comparability is an urgent need.

This initiative aims to develop theoretically sound and measurable frameworks for well-being. It will bring together experts in philosophy, psychology, economics, and public policy to develop practical measurement tools that directly respond to criticisms from multiple academic fields, ensuring these measures are credible and widely adoptable.

Accelerating Zinc Battery Interface Design with Machine-Learning-Enhanced Simulations and High-Throughput Experimentation

• Warwick PI: Professor Reinhard Maurer
• U of T PI: Dr Weilai Yu

Rechargeable zinc (Zn)-based batteries are safer, environmentally more compatible than existing lithium (Li)-based batteries. They offer high energy densities and might be ideal for large-scale energy storage within the energy grid or for wearable electronics. Unfortunately, Zn metal anodes suffer from long-term degradation at their surface which limits their long-term stability and performance.

This project aims to enable the rational design of electrolytes that stabilize the Zn anode surface and suppress side reactions under realistic electrochemical conditions. The approach will integrate machine-learning-accelerated quantum simulations with high-throughput screening experiments to develop predictive models of Zn/electrolyte interfacial chemistry. These tools will allow us to explore ion solvation structures, interfacial reactivity, and voltage-dependent SEI evolution, providing insights that are challenging to obtain through conventional methods. The outcomes of this project will contribute to the development of high-performance aqueous Zn batteries and advance the broader field of metal-anode electrochemistry.

Fostering an International Research Partnership on Childhood Disability, Intersectionality and Social Inequality

• Warwick PI: Dr Stella Chatzitheochari
• U of T PI: Professor Sally Lindsay

People with disabilities are considered one of the world’s largest minoritized groups and yet are often overlooked in health and social policies [1, 2]. Although legislation exists to affirm the rights of people with disabilities, they experience many barriers in accessing services, higher education and stable employment [3, 4]. Globally, there are an estimated 180 million children and youth who have a disability [1], including 850,000 in Canada [5] and 2.2 million within the UK [6]. Focusing on children and youth with disabilities is important because they are more likely to experience social and health inequalities (such as discrimination, social exclusion, inequitable access to health care, educational and employment opportunities) compared to children without disabilities [7]. Despite the pronounced social inequalities that disabled children and youth experience, there is a lack of attention to how intersectional factors (e.g., socio-economic status, race, gender) affect their experiences and wellbeing

This project will develop an international research collaboration on childhood disability, intersectionality and social inequality, and facilitate the development of a grant proposal with an intersectional and cross-national research design.

 References

1. World Health Organization. World report on disability. 2011, WHO Press: Geneva, Switzerland.

2. Friedman, H., T. Lopez-Pulmarejo, and L. Friedman, The largest minority group: the disabled. BQuest,2006: p. 1-14.

3. Pinilla-Roncancio, M., et al., Multidimensional poverty and disability: A case control study in India, Cameroon and Guatemala. SSM Population Health, 2020. 11(100591).

4. Fuentes, K., et al., More than just double discrimination: A scoping review of the experiences and impact of ableism and racism in employment. Disability and Rehabilitation, 2024. 46(4): p. 650-671.

5. Canada, S., Canadian survey on disability, 2017. 2018: Ottawa.

6. Kirk-Wade, E., Disability statistics: prevalence and life experiences. 2024, House of Commons: London, UK.

7. UNICEF, State of the world's children: children with disabilities. 2013, UNICEF: New York