Departmental news

Like the neurons firing in human brains, bacteria use electricity to communicate and respond to environmental cues. Now, researchers have discovered a way to control this electrical signalling in bacteria, to better understand resistance to antibiotics.

In the study published in Advanced Science, Dr Munehiro and colleagues, report a major step forward in regulating bacterial electric signals with light.

Press Release (13 February 2023)

We reveal that the developing Drosophila nerve cord has a distinctive architectural structure, which is driven by JNK signalling.
Read the paper hereLink opens in a new window.

Professor Shaheen Ali was recently announced as one of the 75 notable British Pakistani academics, trainers and teachers for 2022/23 by the organisation UPSIGN. Congratulations Shaheen from everyone at the Law School for this incredible mark of achievement.

It is with great sadness that the Department of Economics announce the death of our former Head of Department and colleague - Professor Graham Pyatt, who passed away last week.

Graham was the first appointment made by Dick Sargent when the Department was founded in 1965. He was appointed as Professor of Mathematical Economics at the young age of 28. He was therefore influential in the early development of the Department, working alongside Dick Sargent in those formative years. Prior to coming to Warwick, Graham was a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and a member of the Department of Applied Economics, working with Sir Richard Stone on the Cambridge Growth Project. In the early years at Warwick Graham was also involved in various assignments at University level (e.g. setting up the CIEBR, a forerunner of WBS, with Hugh Clegg). At that time he became a consultant to the World Employment Programme (WEP), International Labour Organisation, on macro planning and policy in Sri Lanka and Iran.

His WEP work attracted the attention of Hollis Chenery, Vice President of the World Bank. In 1975 Graham left Warwick when he was appointed Senior Advisor in the Development Research Centre, at the World Bank. In that role Graham inspired and led several major research projects on income distribution and economy-wide modelling. Part of this work was to develop and apply social accounting matrices (SAMs) in a developing country context, a concept that had been pioneered earlier by Sir Richard Stone.

Graham returned to Warwick in 1987 as Coopers and Lybrand Research Professor in Economics. He left seven years later to take up a chair in the Economics of Development at the Institute of Social Studies at The Hague, where he stayed until his retirement. Students and many others found Graham an inspirational teacher, supervisor and collaborator. He lived a full and varied life and has made many influential contributions as well as helping many scholars along their way.

• Read a tribute to Graham from his former colleagues Alan Roe and Jeff Round.
• Jeff Round also contributed an obituary of Graham Pyatt to the Guardian, published on 27 March 2023.

The National Student Survey (NSS) is now open!

Participation will led to funding for @warwickengsoc, @womenwarwick & EWB Warwick plus a prize draw for individuals.

Find out more and take part....

Lucy Alder, a final year History student, has written a play which is being staged at Warwick Arts Centre 22-24 February 2023. "A Noble Game" is a murder mystery that revolves around British aristocracy and their relationship with the media.

Visit A Noble Game | Warwick Arts Centre Link opens in a new windowfor full details and to purchase tickets.

Our thoughts are with staff and students affected by the devastating earthquake that has hit Turkey and Syria. People have asked about how they can respond to this; various charitable organisations are coordinating humanitarian efforts that you can contribute to e.g. The Red Cross

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you need support, or if you have any concerns about someone else.  Students can contact the Wellbeing & Student Support Services team via the wellbeing portal or by calling 024 7657 5570, access bereavement support from the Chaplaincy, or speak to their personal tutor.  Staff can access support through the Staff Wellbeing Hub, by contacting the Employee Assistance Programme, or accessing bereavement support from the Chaplaincy.  

Chelsea Brown, a PhD student with Professor Phill Stansfeld and Dr Liz Fullam, has published a first author paper on tackling Tuberculosis (TB) by modelling mycobacterial membranes.

TB rivals covid-19 as the biggest infectious disease killer of humans, claiming millions of lives each year. Now, ground-breaking research from the Universities of Warwick and Toulouse has identified a new method to help tackle this global issue.
Press Release (30 January 2023)