Departmental news

The Department of Economics was delighted to welcome two outstanding female economists as Honorary Graduates during the 2025 Summer Graduation celebrations.

On Friday 18th July Dr Gemma Tetlow received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree; and on Tuesday 22nd July Professor Ekaterina Zhuravskaya received her award.

Dr Tetlow’s longstanding relationship with Warwick began as an undergraduate in the Department of Economics. More recently, she has been a great supporter of the Department’s research agenda, as a member of the advisory board of CAGE, the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy, and Chair of the Advisory Board of CenTax, the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation.

Presenting Dr Tetlow for her honorary degree, CenTax Director Professor Arun Advani highlighted her successful career in thinktanks, in journalism and as a media commentator, and also praised her contribution to addressing the under-representation of women in the profession, saying “with her impressive career history and her visibility across the media, Gemma provides a much-needed role model for young economists, whether studying for degrees in the discipline or already embarked on their careers. In this capacity, and as an alumna, Gemma has given up her time to take part in events on campus organised by the Department of Economics to promote a more inclusive environment for women studying economics, and to encourage them to go on to work in jobs in that area.”

Accepting her award, Dr Tetlow said: “Before coming to Warwick I had never studied economics, and so it was a real leap of faith to choose that as my degree subject. But it turned out to be one of the best choices I ever made in my life.

The teaching here at Warwick gave me a great appreciation for the subject and made me realise how economics can be used to understand and improve so many real-world issues. And it was what I learned here that really inspired me to pursue a career in economics, where I could apply that knowledge. And it’s a career that has continued to motivate and challenge me over the years.”

On Tuesday 22nd July Professor Ekaterina Zhuravskaya was presented for her honorary degree by Professor Sascha Becker.

Professor Zhuravskaya took her MSc at LSE and her PhD at Harvard. She has been based at the Paris School of Economics since 2010. She is a frequent visitor to the Department and has co-authored several papers with colleagues.

Professor Becker praised the “breathtaking width” of her research and described her as a “shining light and a role model” for all female academic economists.

Speaking to the economics students graduating alongside her, Professor Zhuravskaya said: “This moment takes me back to my own graduation. It was 1999 and I was a fresh Harvard PhD graduate, with very high aspirations but a lot of doubts. I was convinced that I had mastered the tools and possessed a substantial body of knowledge – but looking back I realise that I had completely misunderstood what education was useful for!

“The frontier of knowledge shifts much faster than we expect. Most of the techniques I learned became outdated within a few years of graduation. But education teaches you how to truly learn. This is the core of what we do as researchers but it is equally useful outside academia.

“In your head you shouldn’t graduate at all. You should always remain in the learning mode of a student. Congratulations to all of you and I wish you a long, surprising and meaningful journey ahead.”

Photo from left to right: Professor Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, Professor Sascha Becker, Professor Arun Advani, Dr Gemma Tetlow, Professor Stuart Croft.

Pleomorphism in influenza viruses, characterized by diverse morphological forms ranging from spherical virions to elongated filaments, has been suggested to present significant implications for pathogenesis. This review examines the role of pleomorphism on the influenza virus life cycle, encompassing viral attachment and entry, replication, assembly, and budding, as well as transmission dynamics. It explores the determinants' underlying morphological variability in virions and their impact on viral fitness and host interactions. Insights into how pleomorphic forms of the virus influence disease severity and the efficacy of antivirals are discussed. Understanding the implications of pleomorphism in influenza virus pathogenesis is crucial for the development of effective disease prevention, control, and treatment strategies.

Read the paper here.

In June, a team of enthusiastic physicists attended the annual Big Bang Fair at Birmingham's NEC, aiming to spark young students interest in science and future careers in the field.

The Big Bang Fair is the UK's biggest celebration of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) for schools and runs for three days each year, with thousands of year 6, 7 and 8 students in attendance. The team from the Department of Physics were also joined by colleagues from the Department of Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Warwick Manufacturing Group from the University of Warwick.

Watch the video of the team at The Big Bang Fair.

Earlier this July, we proudly hosted our annual Scientist Experience trip funded by the X-Ray Material Science Beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF)Link opens in a new window in Grenoble.

The trip offers sixteen female Year 12 Physics students from across the UK a once in a lifetime, all-expenses paid opportunity to visit the prestigious European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.

WMG at University of Warwick was proud to welcome the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) last month.

Comprising over 20 representatives from some of India’s leading companies and education institutions, the Confederation was welcomed by Dean of WMG, Professor Robin Clark, before being introduced to Warwick by the University’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Stuart Croft. Talks and presentations by some of WMG’s leading academics followed, showcasing the depth and breadth of WMG’s diverse activities, plus its research and key strengths.

James Harrison from Warwick Law School and co-author Mark Wielga (from Nomogaia) have been awarded this year’s best scholarly article prize by the Business and Human Rights Journal. The article compares the effectiveness of six grievance mechanisms that allow workers and communities to complain about human rights abuses that corporations have allegedly perpetrated against them.

Does access to real-time information about air pollution levels change how people feel about living close to a recycling plant?

A new study by Dr Juliana Carneiro and colleagues in China and the USA looks at data from China to understand the impact of real-time environmental data disclosure on people’s housing preferences, and creates new insights into the economic benefits of environmental transparency.

The incineration of household waste as a means of creating energy has become a popular option for waste management, as an alternative to burying the waste in landfill.

Governments regard it as a sustainable option, but local residents can be opposed to the construction or expansion of these “Waste to Energy (WtE)” incineration plants, often citing health or environmental concerns.

Efforts to mitigate these fears by providing disclosure of environmental information have until now largely focused on one-off reports of negative incidents, or infrequent updates from inspection visits.

Dr Carneiro’s study takes advantage of a relatively recent policy in China – the 2017 IEN policy, which has made it a legal duty for plants to display real-time emissions data on public billboards at their entrances – to explore how such a detailed level of information influences local residents’ perceptions of risk and their decisions about where to live.

The paper, Real-time emissions data disclosure of Waste-to-Energy incineration plants and public risk perceptions: Evidence from the housing market sets out a theoretical model and then tests this against empirical data from over 35,000 housing transactions around 13 WtE plants.

The research finds:-

• After the implementation of IEN, the housing price gradient – the difference in price for properties close to a plant and those further away – become much flatter. This suggests that buyers are less concerned about buying a property close to a WtE plant that shares real-time information.
• The biggest change was seen in properties within 2km of a plant
• The most significant positive effects were seen where the plants had a good track record of complying with emissions limits, and up-to-date pollution control equipment.
• The change is not driven by a reduction in pollution, but a change in the level of local residents’ concerns about living close to a plant

The researchers hope that their findings will be of interest in many countries where environmental projects face local opposition.

Dr Carneiro said: “This research was driven by a desire to understand how transparency in environmental data can influence public perceptions and behaviour, especially around controversial infrastructure like Waste-to-Energy incineration plants.

Using China’s 2017 IEN policy as a natural experiment, we found that real-time emissions disclosure significantly reduced the housing price penalty near these plants—by about 34.7%, which translates to a meaningful economic gain for residents.

What’s especially compelling is that the effect was stronger near plants that complied with emission standards and used advanced pollution controls, suggesting that transparency works best when paired with good performance.

We believe these findings offer important insights for policymakers looking to build public trust and acceptance through data-driven environmental governance.”

Photo: An aerial view of residences in Pudong, Shanghai, China, a district where one of the WtE plants in the study is located.

Read more: Real-time emissions data disclosure of Waste-to-Energy incineration plants and public risk perceptions: Evidence from the housing market, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Volume 133, 2025, 103207, ISSN 0095-0696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2025.103207Link opens in a new window.

Every year, several awards and prizes are granted to a selection of our graduating students to recognise and celebrate the success of our top performers! We are proud to announce this year's winners.

As part of the School of Engineering’s 60th anniversary celebrations, we are proud to announce that on Thursday, 17 July 2025, Colin Furze received an Honorary Doctor of Science (Hon DSc).

Colin Furze is a British inventor and YouTuber known for his imaginative and often outrageous engineering creations, including a hoverbike, underground bunker, and several world-record-breaking inventions.

The Department of History at the University of Warwick encourages outstanding postdoctoral scholars to apply to The British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme. Applications are welcomed from candidates who have a strong research profile and meet the following eligibility criteria:

• a UK/EEA national, have completed their doctorate at a UK university or have a strong prior association with the UK academic community.
• not yet have held a permanent academic appointment.
• within three years from the date of your successful Viva Voce examination this means that they must have completed, or be due to complete, their viva voce between 1^st April 2023 and 1^st April 2026.
• The British Academy does not allow for resubmissions for the Postdoctoral Fellowship. If you have previously applied and failed to reach the Second Stage of the competition, you are not eligible to re-apply. Previously unsuccessful applicants will only be able to submit another application if specifically invited to do so by the British Academy.

HOW TO APPLY

Prospective applicants are required to identify an academic mentor within the Department of History. Candidates should approach their mentor to discuss the project at the earliest opportunity. Applications will require approval from the proposed host department.

If you are interested in applying for this scheme and you meet the necessary eligibility criteria, please submit the following information by email to artsprojsupport@warwick.ac.uk by 5pm on Wednesday 13 August 2025 for the purpose of an internal selection round:  

• A short description of your proposed project (maximum 2 A4 pages)
• A copy of your CV (maximum 2 A4 pages)
• The name of your proposed mentor at the University of Warwick. Please ensure that you have the agreement from the proposed mentor before applying.
• The name of your proposed referee (please note that referees will not need to provide a statement for the internal selection round).

If the application is approved, candidates will be invited to submit their full proposal through Flexi-Grant, the British Academy’s application portal. They will be supported in this process by the University’s Research and Impact Services team. For more information about this and for any other enquiries about the scheme, please contact the above email address. The deadline for submissions to the British Academy is Wednesday 1 October 2025.