Professor Elena Riva - IATL Head of Department

Contact Details

Tel: 024 761 50531

Office: SH2.25, IATL, Senate House

About

Elena is Head of Department at the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning - (IATL), Professor, Principal Fellow of the Higher Education AcademyLink opens in a new window, and National Teaching Fellow (2023)Link opens in a new window.

For her ground-breaking contributions to interdisciplinary education, she was honoured with the Warwick Teaching Excellence Award and the prestigious Butterworth Award, bestowed upon individuals with six or fewer years of experience in higher education teaching. Her dedication to enhancing student learning and experience was further recognised when she received again the Warwick Teaching Excellence Award in 2020Link opens in a new windowparticularly for her impactful work in embedding wellbeing in the curriculum. In 2023, she received the esteemed National Teaching Fellowship Link opens in a new windowin acknowledgment of her outstanding contributions to these fields.

Elena is a Warwick International Higher Education Academy Link opens in a new windowAlumna and an Honorary Fellow of the Warwick Institute for Engagement.Link opens in a new window

Elena serves as External Examiner for the Combined StudiesLink opens in a new window offering of the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot - Watt University (2023 – 2027) and for the UCIL Link opens in a new windowInterdisciplinary provision of the University of Manchester (2024 – 2028).
She served as External Adviser on the "Open" Link opens in a new windowBoard of Studies (2020 – 2024), the cross-Faculty curriculum offering at The Open University and as External Approval Panel Member for the "Ruskin Modules" Link opens in a new windowoffering (2021– 2023), the interdisciplinary provision Link opens in a new windowof Anglia Ruskin University.

Elena additionally contributes as a Times Higher Education Campus Link opens in a new windowreader panel member.

Pedagogic Research Interests

Elena's primary focus in pedagogic research revolves around investigating the influence of the learning and teaching experience on the wellbeing of both students and staff in higher education.

Her research has yielded significant insights into methods for fostering student wellbeing throughout their educational journey. Notably, Elena leads this area of pedagogic research at both institutional and broader levels, as evidenced by her extensive track record of securing grants from national and international funding bodies, totalling over £800K in the past five years. Moreover, her work is highlighted through publications in internationally respected peer-reviewed pedagogic journals, keynote presentations at conferences, and regular contributions to global media higher education outlets. Because of her internationally recognised expertise and global impact in HE wellbeing, Elena has been commissioned by the European Union Commission (Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture - Policy Strategy and Evaluation) to write a 2024 NESET Analytical Report regarding students and staff mental health and wellbeing in EU universities. The reportLink opens in a new window aims to inform and direct the culture policy of the European Union in this respect. As result, Elena has been invited by the Polish Presidency to address the Polish Parliament in February 2025 and by the Danish Djøf's TrivselsallianceLink opens in a new window to be the keynote speaker at their upcoming conference (March 2025).

Central to her research approach is the innovative use of participatory methods, specifically co-creation, to address issues affecting often overlooked student demographics within the university community.

Recent Pedagogic Publications

♣ Elena is the author of peer-reviewed papers on wellbeing in higher education and wellbeing pedagogies:

Jones-Tinsley, S., Lister, K., Riva, E., Hartley, A., Positive Digital Communities, and the Benefits and Challenges of Co-Creation with Students from Underrepresented Groups in Higher Education, 2024, In: Proceedings Of The 17th Annual International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation (ICERI 2024), IATED pp. 8373-8383, ISBN: 978-84-09-63010-3,DOI: 10.21125/iceri.2024
Serini, L., Riva, E., Meilstrup, C.B., Nelausen, M.K., Nielsen, L. Co-creating a Podcast with Students: Working Together to Promote Wellbeing Literacy Through Digital Pedagogies in Higher Education, 2024, Routledge Open Research, Accepted.
Nielsen, L., Bermejo-Martins, E., Nelausen, M.K., Madsen, C.M., Riva, E., Koushede, V.J., Meilstrup, C.B. The ABCs of mental health at the university (ABC-uni): A multi-level intervention design for promoting mental well-beingLink opens in a new window, 2024, Frontiers Public Health, vol.12.
Wilson S., L., Riva E.*, Lister K. Positive Pedagogies: Co-creation partnerships to support social and emotional learning in higher education Link opens in a new windowSocial and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy, 2024,3.
Riva, E.,* Lister, K., Jeglinska, W. Student and staff mental well-being in European higher education institutionsLink opens in a new window, 2023, NESET report, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, DOI:https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/933130Link opens in a new window.
Lister, K., Riva, E., Hartley, A., Waterhouse, P., Moller, N., Downes, L., Coughlan, T., Kukulska-Hulme, A., McPherson, E., Macdonald, I., Jones-Tinsley, S., Brown, C., Tudor, R., Positive Digital Practices: Supporting Positive Learner Identities and Student Mental Wellbeing in Technology Enhanced Higher Education,Link opens in a new window Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2024(1): 5, 1–20. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5334/jime.831Link opens in a new window
Slates, S., Cook-Sather, A., Riva, E., et al. How can students-as-partners work address challenges to student, faculty, and staff mental health and well-being?Link opens in a new window.International Journal for Students As Partners, 2023,7(2), 221–240. DOI:https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v7i2.5597
Lister, K., Riva, E.,* Kukulska-Hulme, A., Fox, C. Participatory digital approaches to embedding student wellbeing in higher educationLink opens in a new window, Frontiers Education, 2022, 7:924868. DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2022.924868.
Riva, E.,* Gracia, L., Limb, R. Using Co-Creation to Facilitate PhD Supervisory RelationshipsLink opens in a new window, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 2022, 46(7), 913-930. DOI: 10.1080/0309877X.2021.2021158.
Riva, E.,* Freeman, R., Schrock, L., Jelicic, V., Özer, C-T., Caleb, R. Student Wellbeing in the Teaching and Learning Environment: A Study Exploring Student and Staff PerspectivesLink opens in a new window, Higher Education Studies, 2020,4, 103-115.

♣ Elena is also author of peer-reviewed articles related to her research in interdisciplinary educational practices:

Riva, E.,* Stewart-Brown, S., Rahman, Y., Gerson, J., Ashworth, S.Can an academic, interdisciplinary intervention help to solve wellbeing issues among higher education students? in Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching: Practice and PedagogiesLink opens in a new window, Ethics Press, Cambridge, Forthcoming.
Riva, E., ‘The War of the Worlds and antibiotic resistance: a case study for science teachingLink opens in a new window’. The Biochemist (Lond), 2015, 37 (6): 26-28. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BIO03706026.Link opens in a new window

♣ Elena authored a series of articles in top-ranking peer-reviewed chemistry and biological chemistry journals based on her work on flow chemistry and antibiotic biosynthesis. You can consult them hereLink opens in a new window.

ORCID: 0000-0001-7007-1304

Google Scholar:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&tzom=-60&user=CooXapAAAAAJ

Articles in Global Media Outlets and Podcasts

Elena is a regular contributor to global HE news magazines:

Riva E., Lister, K. Helping students means taking university staff wellbeing seriouslyLink opens in a new window, WONKHE, March 2024.

Riva, E., Meyer, H. Reconceptualise the classroom for enhanced student engagementLink opens in a new window, Times in Higher Education, October 2023.
Riva, E.,* Gracia, L., Limb, R. Co-creation: how to find the ‘super’ in supervision, Link opens in a new windowTimes in Higher Education, August 2022.
Riva, E., Jeglinska, W. Co-creating an interdisciplinary well-being module for all students, Link opens in a new windowTimes in Higher Education, January 2022.
Riva, E. Well-being pedagogies: activities and practices to improve the student experience onlineLink opens in a new window,Times in Higher Education, February 2021. This article on Wellbeing Pedagogies was one of the most read resources on THE in 2021. To celebrate this, Elena featured on a Times in Higher Education podcast about her contribution. You can listen to the podcast hereLink opens in a new window.
Riva, E., Mik, M. Wellbeing in Higher Education, Modern History Review, 2021, 23 (4), 28-29.
Elena has been interviewed by the Times in Higher Education in an article entitled 'The postdoc experience: hopes and fearsLink opens in a new window'; July 2015.

Projects and Grants

Below is a list of ongoing and past pedagogical research projects led by Elena, focusing on embedding wellbeing in higher education:

HealthyMindEd: Promoting healthy digital teaching and learning in higher education (2024-2027), Erasmus+, European Commission - 400 000,00 € - Elena Riva PI for the University of Warwick with Isabella Dobler PI for Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany; Dovile Dudenaite PI for the Media & Learning Association (MLA), Belgium; Anna Muro-Rodriguez PI for Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain.
Building Wellbeing Literacy: Co-creating Learning Opportunities for Doctoral and Post-Doctoral ResearchersLink opens in a new window (2024-2025), Research England Enhancing Research Culture Fund - £35,508 - Elena Riva PI.
Identifying barriers for staff engagement with pedagogic resources that promote the embedding of wellbeing in the curriculumLink opens in a new window (2023) - WIHEA External Collaboration Fund - £4000 - Elena Riva Co-PI with Dr Gemma Gray for the University of Warwick and Rebecca Upsher PI for King's College London.
Rethinking assessment and feedback practices in higher education Link opens in a new window(2022-2024) - Monash Warwick Alliance Education Fund - £30,250 - Elena Riva PI for the University of Warwick with Danijela Gasevic PI for Monash University.
Exploration of the effects of increasing wellbeing literacy among HE students across different international contextsLink opens in a new window (2022-2024) - International Partnership Fund Warwick - £ 3,030 - Elena Riva PI for the University of Warwick with Line Nielsen PI for the University of Copenhagen.
Positive Digital PracticesLink opens in a new window: a holistic approach to wellbeing for part-time, commuter and distance learning students (2021-2023) - Office for StudentsLink opens in a new window - £352,662 - Elena Riva PI for the University of Warwick with Kate Lister PI for Open University, Alison Hartley PI for the University of Bradford and UMHAN Student Minds, Jisc as supporting bodies.
Illuminations: Storied Accounts of Workforce Wellbeing at WarwickLink opens in a new window (2021) - WIHEA - £3,348.56 - Elena Riva Co-PI with Rachel Dickinson.
The Warwick Online Wellbeing LibraryLink opens in a new window (2020) - WIHEA - £8,700 - Elena Riva PI.
Creating the Warwick open-access online module ‘Understanding WellbeingLink opens in a new window’ (2019-2021) - Warwick Innovation Fund - £18.831 - Elena Riva PI.
Interdisciplinarity as an approach to engaging students with learning across boundaries during welcome weekLink opens in a new window (2018) - WIHEA - £2500 - Elena Riva Co-PI with Rebecca Freeman.

The 'Potential Advantage' projectLink opens in a new window (2018-2020) - HEFCE (now Office for Students/Research England)Link opens in a new window - £276,000 - Elena Riva Co-PI with Louise Gracia.
Improving Students Wellbeing in the Teaching and Learning EnvironmentLink opens in a new window (2017-2019) - Warwick Innovation Fund - £5000 - Elena Riva PI.

Resources

Explore some of the resources that Elena has created for supporting wellbeing positive learning experiences:

Warwick Wellbeing Pedagogies Library Link opens in a new windowco-created repository of wellbeing pedagogies for teachers who aim to create wellbeing positive environments.
Interdisciplinary Warwick Open Access Online Module Link opens in a new windowaimed at increasing wellbeing literacy across the entire student community at Warwick. The co-created online module has been adopted by the Glasgow School of Arts, Salford University and Arden University. Moreover, she is collaborating with the University of Copenhagen Link opens in a new windowand launched the module in the Danish context in the academic year 2022/2023.
Positive digital practices,Link opens in a new window that support mature and part-time learners to take part in and demonstrate technology-enhanced learning in a way that is inclusive and supports mental wellbeing.

Background

Elena obtained a master degree (2007) and a PhD (2010) in Chemistry from the University of Milan. After holding a Research Associate position in the Chemistry Department at the University of Cambridge (2011), she became a Research Fellow in the Chemistry Department at the University of Warwick (2012) and was subsequently awarded an IAS Postdoctoral Fellowship.