Departmental news

We are delighted to announce that Dr Oksana Trushkevych and Professor Steve Dixon have been named recipients of the prestigious John Grimwade Medal for 2024, awarded by the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT).

Ao Wang, Assistant Professor in Economics, attended the University's first-ever Open Days in China last month. In this blog, he reflects on his experience at the open days in Shanghai and Beijing, including why prospective students and their families choose Warwick.

It felt like stepping into summer again – though definitely hotter than an English one. Earlier this month, I spent ten intensive days in China, joining the Vice-Chancellor’s receptions, open days, and partner visits in Shanghai and Beijing. I had the privilege of representing the Department of Economics, alongside colleagues from across the University, and it was a precious opportunity to see Warwick through the eyes of students, parents, local agents, schools, and alumni.

The context matters. We’re celebrating Warwick’s 60th anniversary, but UK higher education also faces turbulence: international student numbers are softening, and geopolitics is reshaping global flows. Holding open days in China creates a rare moment of direct dialogue with students and families who are making important choices about their future.

For someone like me – usually teaching in the Oculus or writing papers – it was eye-opening to have these conversations face-to-face. I genuinely believe it makes a difference when parents see academics from the research and teaching frontier there, listening and talking to them. It is more than obtaining first-hand information. Importantly, it signals that we care.

The Open Days were full. In Shanghai alone, over 500 people registered and more than 400 attended. The audience was a mix: offer-holders, high-school students preparing A-levels or Advanced Placement courses (some considering switching from US to UK routes), undergraduates exploring postgraduate options, parents keen to ask questions about both academics and student life, local agents, teachers from international schools, and alumni reconnecting with Warwick.

Our academic panels drew standing-room-only crowds - I shared some of my own research on AI and economics and was impressed by the sharp and enthusiastic questions from the audience.

A few themes came up again and again when talking to families. Reputation and course quality are crucial – one parent, whose daughter is preparing A-levels in England, praised the rigorous quantitative training in our undergraduate economics programme, saying it matched the very top in the UK. QS Rankings also matter a lot. In cities like Shanghai, graduates from QS Top-50 and Top-100 universities qualify for faster "Hukou" (residency) access - which affects property rights, medical care, and school access.

This makes Warwick's standing especially relevant for those planning to return to China after postgraduate study. And finally, "word-of-mouth" is powerful: alumni experiences and peer recommendations strongly shape perceptions, both positively and negatively.

It was wonderful to connect with colleagues from across the University and the Warwick China Office, to exchange ideas and perspectives in a more informal setting. A highlight was sharing a beer with Warwick economics alumni - hearing first-hand how the Warwick brand has supported their careers, and reflecting together on how the department and alumni network might collaborate to promote Warwick more strongly in China.

For me, the trip was as much about reflection as public engagement. It was reassuring to see Warwick's strong reputation in China, but it also reminded me how much students and parents value authentic dialogue. Beyond facts and rankings, what seemed to matter most was the sense that Warwick is serious about teaching and research - and that we are willing to show up in person to listen.

We are pleased to announce that two of our recently graduated students have won prizes from British American Nineteenth Century Historians (BrANCH) this year. They are:

Isa Seedat – Isa won the Kinder Fellowship at Missouri - https://www.branch.org.uk/kinderbranchfellowship . This is the third time in recent years our students have been awarded the scholarship.

Emmanuel-Jeremiah Abass – ‘Highly Commended’ for the Harriet Tubman Essay prize - https://www.branch.org.uk/tubmanessayprize

Congratulations to Isa and Emmanuel-Jeremiah.

Rules banning multibuy dealsLink opens in a new window on foods and drinks high in fat, salt, or sugar – including buy one get one free (BOGOF) deals come into force today after long delays, with TV advertising restrictions to follow in the New YearLink opens in a new window.

Professor Thijs van Rens, an expert in the economics of food, health and environment, comments:

“It’s about time! Persuading the previous government to restrict the promotion of less-healthy foods (LHF) to consumers was one of the most significant achievements of public health experts and NGOs years ago.

“The law on multibuy promotions was changed in 2021 but industry managed to stall its implementation ever since – and even now TV advertising restrictions aren’t coming into force for another three months.

“The evidence is very clear on the effect of advertising on dietary choices and health outcomes, particularly for kids. We won't solve the obesity epidemic and the NHS crisis with marketing restrictions alone, but we won't be able to address the problem without them.

“To be effective, the rules must ban all or most forms of advertising for very unhealthy foods, including online and brand advertising.

“Restricting promotions for LHF is another potentially effective measure to reduce sales and consumption of these foods. However, it is less clear that a ban only on volume-based promotions (like BOGOF) is the right way to go about this.

“Unfortunately, there is little evidence on the difference in effect between different types of promotions, but my own research in progress shows that when retailers limit volume-based promotions, they simultaneously increase price-based promotions. This evidence is based on comparing Sainsbury's, which voluntarily committed to not use volume-based promotions in 2016, to other supermarkets over the same time period. We find that there is little effect on overall sales.

“In summary, this is a good and long-overdue step in the right direction, which we should celebrate. But we are still far from where we need to be.”

ENDS

· Multibuy restrictions: The Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021, coming into force today: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/1368/made

· TV advertising restrictions, coming into force on 5 January 2026: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/1266/contents/made

We are excited to announce the return of the Spooky History Conference for 2025.

We invite abstracts for 15-minute papers on any aspect of history (broadly defined) that is spooky! This can include studies on the supernatural, witchcraft, magic, the gothic, or Halloween, as long as it is spooky!

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

• · ghosts
• · the supernatural
• · witches
• · death
• · the gothic
• · the history of Halloween

We strongly encourage submissions from PGRs, ECRs, and independent researchers.
This informal conference will be entirely online on Halloween!

All papers should be c.15 mins and we invite submissions from individuals (200 words) as well as panel proposals of 3-4 speakers (600 words). Please submit your abstracts along with a short biography to spookyhistory23@gmail.com by Friday the 3rd of October 2025.

The conference will be held online via Zoom on Friday the 31st of October 2025.

All the best,

The Spooky History Team

Congratulations to our researchers Joanne Muter and Chow Seng Kong on receiving funding through UKRI's new Proof of Concept programme to develop the digital Endometrium Function Test.

Congratulations to Dr Bhaskar Chakravorty. Dr Nikhil Datta, Dr Amrita Kulka and Dr Marta Santamaria on their success in the Policy Support Fund 2025Link opens in a new window round.

The Policy Support Fund is funded by Research England and administered by Warwick’s Research & Impact Services Link opens in a new windowteam. Grants are awarded for strategic projects working towards enabling evidence-based policy making.

• Dr Chakravorty’s project - Scaling Proactive Support Systems: Embedding Evidence-Based Practices into Migration Centre Operating Protocols – will explore how to better support young women from Bihar and Jharkhand who migrate for work by strengthening services offered through government-run Migration Support Centres in cities like Delhi and Bangalore. At present many young women who move to cities for work after graduating from training programmes focused on rural young people drop out and return home. Working with partners in India, Dr Chakavorty will evaluate interventions to improve the support offered to these young women and help them stay in their jobs.
  
  
• Dr Datta and Dr Kulka’s successful project - The Spatial Impacts of Large Infrastructure Projects: Evidence from London’s Elizabeth Line – builds on their existing portfolio of research into land use and housing markets with a focus on areas impacted by the Elizabeth Line, London’s East-West railway which opened in 2022. After analysing how the new line affected housing markets, spatial inequality, and residential amenities, Dr Datta and Dr Kulka will build an urban economics model able to simulate the impact of future transport projects. They hope this will be of great value to policymakers developing the London Infrastructure Plan 2050.
  
  
• Dr Santamaria’s project - Disunited Kingdom? Uncovering Domestic Frictions for consumer and firms – will use postcode-level data from customer and business transactions to investigate the extent and causes of domestic market fragmentation between the four nations of the United Kingdom, and will make recommendations on how to achieve a better-integrated domestic market, essential for UK-wide growth.

Head of Department Jeremy Smith said:

“Congratulations to Amrita, Bhaskar, Marta and Nikhil on winning these grants. I am glad to see the Department represented so strongly in the awards made this year. These short-duration projects are of great value in themselves and provide a very strong foundation for bids to external funders down the line.

“Given the highly competitive nature of the PSF, not every application succeeds. I would like to thank all colleagues who put time and effort into preparing bids.”

25 September 2025

The government has announced a new “Pride in PlaceLink opens in a new window” programme – empowering communities to buy up boarded shops, reclaim derelict pubs, and restore local pride – which aligns closely with the findings of Professor Fetzer's researchLink opens in a new window into the political impact of high street decline.

Responding to the announcement, Professor Thiemo Fetzer said, “A lot of what we might consider to be local decline, in particular in the retail sector, away from brick-and-mortar shops towards remote consumption creates winners and losers. For many people going shopping involved going to a cafe and involved social consumption. These opportunities disappeared because the big shift to online commerce has killed or destroyed a lot of this high street ecosystem.

“People see shops are closing up and they feel like everything is going down. The High Street was a type of meeting place where older people in particular could chat and meet. There is a belief that the social side of the town centre has disappeared, it’s gone, when, in fact, it’s just capturing, to a certain degree, a changing economy. That perception of decline is vital to the populist backlash – the narrative that sits quite hard.

“Central government has to work with local stakeholders because they’re on the ground. They see how local change works and every local context requires a different solution.

“The Pride in Place programme offers a rare chance to combine community empowerment with structural adaptation – revitalising high streets, restoring social consumption spaces, and rebuilding the foundations of pride, resilience, and democratic trust.”

• Read a longer discussion from Professor Fetzer in The Conversation: To fend off Reform, mainstream parties must address the tangible decline of British towns