Departmental news

The ESRC Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE), based in the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick, has been awarded £7.1 million to deliver its ambitious social science research vision over the next five years. CAGE will also receive support from the Department for Economics.

This is the third funding success for CAGE, which first won support from the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in 2010 under the leadership of the late Professor Nick Crafts. It is one of four ESRC centres announced today.

This new award will support CAGE’s research programme for 5 years from January 2025, and recognises both the strong track record of CAGE’s work, and the relevance of its plans for interdisciplinary, challenge-led research using pioneering tools and approaches to address critical UK and global challenges.

The four themes CAGE will address over the next five years are Global Economic History; Designing and Building Better Institutions; Gender, Health and Wellbeing; and Responsive Public Policy.

Professor Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor, said: “I am absolutely delighted that CAGE has been successful in its bid for funding.

“The University of Warwick is committed to tackling the multidisciplinary global challenges of today and the future, in the UK and around the world.

“When the Centre was founded in 2010, under the leadership of Professor Nick Crafts, its vision was to understand how countries succeed in the global economy and what barriers hold back progress.

“Under Professor Mirko Draca, CAGE has articulated an impressive interdisciplinary programme of research aimed at integrating the study of history and institutions with a pragmatic, problem-solving focus on evidence-based policy.

“I am particularly excited at the plans to develop the skills of the next generation of researchers and policy practitioners here in the West Midlands, through a variety of training and outreach programmes. This will contribute to our mission of making a real difference in our home region.”

Professor Ben Lockwood said:

“On behalf of all in the Department I welcome today’s announcement of new funding for CAGE.

“We have been proud to support CAGE since its foundation in 2010, led by our much-missed colleague Nick Crafts. Under Nick’s guidance the Centre tackled one of the fundamental questions of economics – why are some countries rich and others poor? – with an eclectic, exciting programme of research.

“Mirko will lead CAGE into its next phase of evolution - tackling the question of how to make “what works, work” - but I am pleased to see that CAGE’s commitment to an historical and institutional perspective on current challenges will continue as a key pillar of CAGE’s work for the next 5 years, refreshed by new methods of data collection and analysis.

“Nick would have been absolutely thrilled to see CAGE on a secure financial footing for the next 5 years, as are we all.”

Professor Mirko Draca, Director of CAGE, said: “The focal point of CAGE going forward will be to revamp UK evidence-based policy to make 'what works, work'.

“It's not enough to know the technical solutions to a policy problem – we need to understand how technical solutions relate to social norms and cultural and historical legacies. After all, we live our lives in a society not an economy."

Stian Westlake, ESRC executive chair said:

“Our centres are at the forefront of ground-breaking social science research, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and making a real difference. By supporting these centres, ESRC ensures long-term investment in crucial areas while giving researchers the freedom to explore and innovate.

“Three of these investments build on the work of centres that consistently delivered top-quality research that has positively influenced policy and improved lives. The wholly new centre will expand ESRC’s research portfolio even further, helping us understand the health effects of climate change.”

• Read CAGE's news story about the funding here
• Read the full UKRI announcement here.

NOTES:

• The Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy was established in January 2010 with a £3.7 million grant (CAGE I).
• In 2014 the ESRC awarded a further £3.5 million, for the 5 years from January 2015 (CAGE II)
• In 2018 CAGE received £2.09 million for the 5 years from January 2020 (CAGE Transition)
• Today’s announcement will cover 5 years from January 2025 (CAGE III)

About the Economic and Social Research Council  

The UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRCLink opens in a new window) is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRILink opens in a new window), a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government. We fund world-leading research, data and post-graduate training in the economic, behavioural, social and data sciences to understand people and the world around us. Our work helps raise productivity, address climate change, improve public services and generate a prosperous, inclusive, healthy and secure society. www.ukri.org/esrcLink opens in a new window 

New research on the enhancement of the lifespan and performance of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles has been published by experts at WMG, the University of Warwick.

The paper, published in Joule – a leading sustainable energy journal - explores charge compensation in Li-ion battery cathodes by assessing the electronic structure.

WMG scientists in collaboration with academic partners in the Faraday Institution’s Degradation and FutureCat projects have experimentally demonstrated that oxygen (rather than the transition metal, as previously believed) is the redox active species, and is responsible for the energy storage mechanism.

Matthew Ogley, PhD Researcher at WMG, who led the project together with Dr Ashok S. Menon, explained: “This work highlights the bulk stability of NMC811 cathodes within high voltage cycling windows. By now focusing on surface stabilisation to minimise degradation, our research highlights practical strategies for the creation of longer-lasting batteries, which is crucial for electric vehicles.”

iGEM is a global synthetic biology competition that involves more than 400 teams worldwide.

The University of Warwick iGEM team 2024 – team BEACON – took part in the iGEM competition, which culminated with the iGEM Jamboree in Paris, at the end of October. We would like to congratulate Aaron Lee (CSE) for their fantastic work on the project within the team including 9 other UG students from various departments, including Life Sciences, Chemistry, Engineering and Mathematics. For their interdisciplinary project, they addressed the need for developing better ways to recycle lanthanides, such as the ones found in electronic devices. They engineered bacteria to scavenge for lanthanide ions and swim towards a point for collection through an engineered chemotactic system. Team BEACON were awarded a Gold medal (grade) at the Jamboree, in recognition of their success during the project.

Asahi UK and the Worshipful Company of Brewers have teamed up with the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) and the University of Warwick to fund two PhD research projects looking at how to develop sustainable approaches to British hop production in a bid to stop the further demise of the UK’s hop growing industry.

Professor John Clarkson said: 'Through these PhD projects, and the partnership between the University of Warwick, the Royal Agricultural University, and industry funders, we will boost the environmental sustainability of British hop production.

This is an exciting opportunity for the Warwick Crop Centre, in the School of Life Sciences, to apply our expertise in soilborne fungal disease systems to tackle the serious problem of Verticillium wilt and help develop new solutions. It’s giving us a fantastic chance to expand our science into new research and start a new collaboration.'

Press Release (pdf) (30 October 2024)

Professor J.E. Smyth appeared on BBC 4's Woman's Hour, 30 October 2024, to talk about her 'fiery, page-turning biography' [Sight & Sound] of pioneering American screenwriter and labour leader Mary C. McCall Jr.

Listen to the show at the following link: Woman's Hour - Online scams, US election, Mary McCall Jr - BBC Sounds

Dr Martha McGill, British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow for the project "Bodies, Selves and the Supernatural in early Modern Britain", will be appearing in a six-part documentary series, 'Witches: Truth Behind the Trials', airing on the National Geographic channel weekly from 8pm today, Wednesday 30 October.

WMG at the University of Warwick proudly hosted the Thermo Fisher Scientific Clean Energy Forum and extends its gratitude to all distinguished speakers and attendees.

WMG was pleased to be part of an incredible array of speakers from both industry and academia, participating in the exchange of knowledge about groundbreaking work underway to benefit the battery industry.

The event provided an excellent platform to highlight WMG’s state-of-the-art pilot line facilities and advanced characterisation capabilities, including microscopy, operando techniques, and in-line metrology, which are pivotal for pioneering battery projects in collaboration with industry partners.
 

WMG’s Professor of Battery Innovation, Louis Piper, explained: “The Clean Energy Forum provided an exceptional platform for fostering collaboration and dialogue between academic experts and industry leaders across Europe. We are excited about our collaboration with Thermo Fisher in the areas of in-line metrology and characterisation for battery prototyping and scale up."

Congratulations to WMG’s Dr Harjinder Lallie, Director of the Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACE-CSE), who has joined two other members of the Cyber Security team, Dr Hany Atlam, Assistant Professor and Professor Carsten Maple, Director of the Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR), in the Stanford-Elsevier Top 2% Scientists listing.

Our most recent Graduate Outcomes Survey results demonstrate strongly that our graduates continue to do well after graduation. The Times & Sunday Times' Good University Guide 2025, placed the Department of Economics in the top position overall for Economics in the UK, and with the Graduate Prospects score of 93.3% securing our spot in the top 10 for the subject of economics in the UK for graduate employability.

Conducted annually and based on the responses of graduates 15 months after their graduation, Graduate Outcomes collects information related to graduate destinations, including further study and employment.

This year's release of this survey relates to the class of 2021/22 graduates, and the key highlights are:

Undergraduate students - 2021/22 cohort

• 95% of UK full-time first-degree Warwick Economics undergraduates were in graduate level work, graduate level of study or both within 15 months of successful course completion in 2021/22 (with response rate of 68%)*.
• £41K was the median salary of UK full-time first-degree Warwick Economics cohort of students whose main employment was full-time work in the UK*.
• 93% of all undergraduate students (UK and international) were in graduate level of work or study (with 43% response rate)*.

Postgraduate taught students - 2021/22 cohort

• 89% of our postgraduate taught graduates went on to graduate level work, graduate level of study or both within 15 months of course completion in 2021/22. (with 24% response rate)*.

Head of Department, Professor Ben Lockwood commented:

"It's very pleasing to see that so many of our students are successful in securing graduate level jobs or graduate level study. We will continue to support our students through a range of career enhancing opportunities organised collaboratively between the Department and the central Careers Team, including advice on career choices, meeting employers at career fairs, giving practical sessions on how to improve job applications and networking with our Warwick Economics alumni."

* Derived from the Graduate Outcomes Survey. Contains HESA data: copyright Jisc 2024. Jisc cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived by third parties from its data.

Professor Giovanni Ricco has been nominated to the Euro Area Business Cycle Dating Committee (EABCD). Founded in 2003, the committee works to map and date recessions in the euro area, providing important insights into the euro area business cycle.

The committee also provides authoritative comment in spring and autumn on the current state of economic activity in the euro area, and carries out research projects to better understand these issues.

Professor Ricco explains: “The committee is tasked with establishing the chronology of recessions and expansions in the euro area. We meet and look at data to understand what is happening to the economy.

“The equivalent for the US would be the NBER business cycle committee, while in the UK this work is done by NIESR.

“Our work is of interest both for policy-making and academic studies.”

Professor Ben Lockwood, Head of Department, said: “This is a great honour and a very exciting appointment for Giovanni. Warmest congratulations from us all in the Department.”

The Committee’s five members are chosen by the President of CEPR, the EADBC chair, and the chair and vice-chair of the Euro Area Business Cycle Network (EABCN) Scientific Committee.

• About Professor Ricco: Giovani Ricco is Professor of Economics at the Ecole Polytechnique and at the University of Warwick, a Chercheur Associa at OFCE-SciencesPo, and a CEPR Research Fellow. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the London Business School and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Pisa. His main research interests lie in the fields of empirical macroeconomics and time-series econometrics.