Departmental news

Emeritus Professor Robin OkeyLink opens in a new window (1942-2023) has been awarded Jesus College's Francis Jones Prize for the best book on Welsh history published in 2023. This was Robin's last book before his passing in December 2023.

Extracts from the notification sent by Thomas Charles-Edwards, Jesus Professor of Celtic (Emeritus):  

'The committee has decided that the prize for 2023 should be awarded to Robin Okey for his book, Towards Modern Nationhood: Wales and Slovenia, c. 1750–1918. That he died shortly after it was published makes no difference: the book deserves the prize..... The prize is £1,000...... Quite apart from the prize itself, we very much hope that the family (and his former colleagues) will be pleased that Robin’s last book has been honoured in this way.'

Our Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building, which we share with the School of Life Sciences, has been awarded the West Midlands Building of the Year award from the Royal Institute of British Architects.

The Department of Economics is pleased to have been chosen as this year’s host of the prestigious event organised by the Review of Economic Studies – the REStud Tour which starts today at Warwick campus.

The REStud Tour is an annual event at which some of the best graduating doctoral students in economics and finance in the world, called the ‘tourists’ are invited to present their research to audiences in leading economics departments across Europe.

Founded in 1933 by a group of Economists from leading UK and US departments, The Review of Economic Studies is one of the core economics journals, consistently ranking among the top five titles, and essential reading for economists. The REStud Tour is aligned to one of the Review’s objectives - to encourage research in theoretical and applied economics, especially by young economists, and to publish the results in the Journal.

The REStud Tour will take place at Warwick over two days (13 and 14 May) and staff and students from the Department of Economics at Warwick, as well as several external guests will be joining the event to welcome the REStud tourists and to watch their presentation.

We are excited to welcome this year's REStud Tourists:

• Anna Russo - MIT, 'Additionality and Asymmetric Information in Environmental Markets: Evidence from Conservation Auctions'
• Nina Buchmann - Stanford University, 'Paternalistic Discrimination'
• Roberto Corrao - MIT, 'Mediation Markets: The Case of Soft Information'
• Frank Yang - Stanford Graduate School of Business, 'Nested Bundling'
• Agostina Brinatti - University of Michigan, 'Third-Country Effects of US Immigration Policy'
• Hugo Lhullier - Princeton University, 'Should I Stay or Should I Grow?'
• Benny Kleinman - University of Chicago, 'Wage Inequality and the Spatial Expansion of Firms'

Professor Caroline Elliott, who is an official host of the REStud Tour at Warwick commented:

“We are absolutely delighted to welcome seven REStud tourists to Warwick Economics. This is a hugely prestigious event, and I’m honoured that we’ve been chosen this year to host the UK leg of the REStud Tour. We’re looking forward to meeting some of the most promising young economists and to hearing about their innovative research.”

Related content

• About REStud
• Event page with REStud Tour Programme

Our new Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (IBRB) has been awarded the West Midlands Building of the Year award from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Press Release (10 May 2024)

In a collaboration between Soochow (China), Institut Pasteur (Shanghai), CDC (China), Liverpool, Georgia (US), and Warwick we investigated the host-specificity of S. enterica based on 362,931 publically accessible genomes in EnteroBase (a database of sequenced enteric bacteria genomes hosted and developed at Warwick). We detected the presence of nine populations that are enriched in pigs and observed frequent intercontinental transmission of genetically almost identical strains in these pig-enriched populations, which cannot be explained solely by natural causes. Therefore, we focused on one population enriched in pigs, serovar Choleraesuis, reconstructing the historical fluctuations in this population, accumulation of antimicrobial-resistant genes, and international transmissions. We revealed a 2-stage expansion in the population of this serovar, the first associated with the development of intensive pig farming in the early 20th century and the second due to the increased frequency of antimicrobial resistance after the 1960s. Additionally, we found that Europe and the USA contributed the most to international transmissions of this serovar.
Read the paper hereLink opens in a new window.
Read the press release here.Link opens in a new window

Led by Professor Robin Allaby, a new expedition is set to delve into Europe’s pivotal Mesolithic Stone Age site, Bouldnor Cliff. The expedition is a race against time to the submerged prehistoric settlement as erosion threatens its complete loss.

Press Release (26 April 2024).

Dr James Blake was invited to speak on behalf of the Department's Centre for Space Domain Awareness at the 19th Space Situational Awareness Conference in London.

Last week, a group of students and staff from the Department of Economics participated in a sensory awareness workshop to gain insights into what it feels like to have a disability.

Dr Juliana Carneiro, the Department’s Disability Coordinator and organiser of the workshop, gave an introduction about the importance of awareness of sensory perception and neurodiversity in our learning and working communities. She said:

“Being aware of how disabled people experience the world gives us a valuable insight into issues related to diversity within our society; it teaches us empathy, encourages inclusivity and helps us build a supportive environment for all members of our community. It is also a soft skill recognised and highly valued by employers in the job market.”

Several speakers were invited to contribute to the topic or tell their story of sensory perception, including:

• Dr Damien Homer, Head of Disability Services who talked about different types of assistance available to Warwick’s students.
• Diana Shore, Assistant Professor, WMG - shared her own experience as a person with a disability which is not always visible to those around her. Diana invited the audience to participate in a role play: Juliana interviewed Diana while fidgeting and making noises, to show the audience the challenges a person with hearing impairment must overcome.
• Nivaria Morales Salas, IT Developer in the Department of Economics, explained in her talk about different categories of visual impairment and shared her own experience as a person with disability.
• Martyn Parker, Community Engagement Officer for Warwickshire Vision came with his guide dog Harper who stole the limelight! Martyn shared his experience of visual impairment and interacted with students walking them through obstacles while they were wearing an eye band.

The participants engaged with a number of other hands-on activities to have a taste of the diversity of sensory perception experienced by people within our community, including the use of a wheelchair.

Nivaria Morales Salas commented about the event:

“It’s great to see events like this being organised on campus. They raise awareness of the reality of living with a disability as well as showing that disabled people make a positive contribution to society despite facing daily challenges.”

Economics student
Kush Majithia
trying one of
the activities

More than 20 students and 6 members of staff benefitted from attending the event, fully engaging in the activities and role play and raising their knowledge and understanding of studying, working, and living with diverse people.

Dr Carneiro wishes to thank her colleagues who supported her in organising the event: Claire Johnson, Student Engagement and Experience Coordinator and Tina MacSkimming, Student Support and Progression Officer from the Department of Economics.

Dr Carneiro is also grateful to the sponsors of the event - Professor Rebecca Freeman, Director of the Dean of Student Office, and Professor Lorenzo Frigerio, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Education) - for their support of the Department's Inclusive Education Action Plan.

Related content

Wellbeing and Student Support at Warwick:

• Information for Disabled Students 
• Staff and Student Wellbeing guidelines
• Self-help Resources

Professor Reinhard MaurerLink opens in a new window has recently published his paper in Physical Review Letters titledStructure of graphene grown on Cu(111): X-ray Standing Wave Measurement and Density Functional Theory Prediction'Link opens in a new window