Departmental news

In this work, we explored how molecules (e.g., morphogens) move within biologically realistic domains. Our Singapore-based collaborators (Wohland lab) generated subcellular resolution maps of the developing zebrafish hindbrain using electron microscopy. Yi Ting Loo, a MathSys PhD student in the Saunders lab, built a simulation environment to explore how molecules would move within these maps. We accounted for tortuosity, dead-ends and receptor binding. Our results reveal how measurement techniques such as FCS and FRAP can lead to very different estimations of dynamic parameters (e.g., the diffusivity). Hopefully, this work provides a framework for properly accounting for biologically complex environments in estimating dynamics in living organisms.
Read the paper here.Link opens in a new window

Congratulations to Dr Tania Read who received an Honourable Mention in the Masao Horiba Awards 2024 for the development of boron-doped diamond electrodes.

Dr Dean Walsh, Dr Freya Harrison, Dr Saskia Bakker and colleagues have made a breakthrough which could help find new treatments for a deadly infection that can affect up to 40% of hospital patients using mechanical ventilators.
Press Release (15 August 2024).

Blends of water-based dispersions of Phase Change Material nanocapsules made by mini-emulsion polymerization function as tuneable latent function thermal fluids.

We are pleased to welcome all undergraduates joining us this autumn.

Please visit our information page for further information.

Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin (PhD Economics 1995), United Nations (UN) Climate Change High-Level Champion and UN Special Envoy on Financing the 2030 Agenda received an Honorary Doctor of Science for his role in leading reforms in Egypt and addressing climate change challenges, conferred on him at the Department of Economics degree ceremony on 23 July 2024.

Listen to Dr Mohieldin discuss his career and some of the challenges he has tackled in conversation with former Head of Department Alan Roe

Sustainability Agenda

In his honorary degree acceptance speech Mahmoud Mohieldin said:

“Warwick ranks in the top 10 universities globally for its responsible consumption and production, one of the important Sustainable Development Goals. The University’s aspiration to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030 mirrors my own work at the IMF, World Bank and the UN. Our common vision has been to be evidence-based, research driven, and globally minded as we engage with national and regional officials to work at the local level. I understand this dual role implicitly.”

Dr Mohieldin emphasised the importance of bringing the national and regional policies to local communities, ‘respecting diverse perspectives and seeking ways to give voice to the poor, the powerless in the corridors of power.’

Addressing Warwick Economics graduates he said:

“Your pathways will be diverse, but your destination of learning and service can be the same.

“I know that each one of you will contribute to progress in our world because Warwick has prepared you well to do so.”

Mahmoud Mohieldin’s career

Since graduating from Warwick with a PhD in Economics in 1995, Mahmoud Mohieldin has established himself as both an academic economist and a leading expert in international finance and development. In addition to his roles with the UN focusing on addressing climate change challenges, he also serves as the Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund representing the Arab States and The Maldives.

Previously, Dr Mohieldin was the Minister of Investment of Egypt from 2004-2010, establishing his reputation for effective and strategic management and, building on his Warwick PhD, leading a programme of major regulatory reforms in Egypt’s financial system that greatly benefited the private investment climate. In 2005 Mahmoud was appointed Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, a point in his career at which he started his distinguished work in sustainable development.

More recently, he served as the World Bank Group Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations and Partnerships. He managed a major shareholder review, ensured the fast-track approval of loans to tackle Ebola, and strengthened the relationship between the World Bank and the United Nations.

In 2020 Mahmoud became the UN Special Envoy on financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in 2022 he was made Climate Change High-Level Champion for the COP27 that took place in Sharm El-Sheikh, a key position in the development of the next stages of the 2015 Paris Climate Accord. Mahmoud’s role as the Special Envoy is to promote collective action by all UN agencies, its partners, the private sector and member countries to scale up finance to deliver the UN's sustainable development goals and to help address existing financial barriers. Mahmoud has also served on several Boards of Directors in the Central Bank of Egypt and the corporate sector.

He is a Professor of Economics and Finance at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University and as a Visiting Professor at several renowned universities in Egypt, South Korea, the UAE, the UK and the US. He continues to publish extensively in English and Arabic in leading journals of economics, finance and development.

Dr Mohieldin holds another honorary degree from the American University in Cairo (Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa) in recognition of his public work focusing on economic reform, development and inclusion.

We congratulate Mahmoud on the Honorary Doctor of Science degree, a third qualification from Warwick, and express our gratitude for the time he spent with us in the Department during his visit in July.

Photo from left to right: Baroness Cathy Ashton, Chancellor of the University of Warwick; Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin, Professor Ben Lockwood, Head of Department of Economics

The interview with Mahmoud was conducted by Alan Roe,Honorary Professorial Fellow and former Head of the Department of Economics, recorded on 24 July 2024 by Sheila Kiggins.

Related Content

Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin's personal website

We are very excited to share the news that a former student of the Department of Economics will be representing Spain in wheelchair tennis at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024, starting on 28 August.

Daniel Caverzaschi, (BSc Economics, 2014) will be playing his fourth consecutive Paralympic Games. Having recovered from three wrist surgeries, he is currently enjoying his very best form. In only a matter of months since recovering, he has climbed back to be ranked in the Top 12 in the international wheelchair tennis rankings, qualified for his first Wimbledon, and became runner-up in the World Team Cup this year.

Professor Robin Naylor, who was Dani’s personal tutor, commented:

“Dani was the most outstanding student, graduating with a First-Class degree at the same time as touring the world in pursuit of ranking points and (successful) qualification for London 2012 Olympics. I was delighted to be able to be present at Wimbledon this year to see Dani play in the singles quarter-final and in the doubles semi-final. Dani is definitely one to watch in the upcoming Paralympic Games! Go Dani!”

Dani is part of the Athletes for Good (AFG) programme which awards paralympic athletes for their support for communities and charity work. Dani is one of the AFT award recipients for Paris 2024 who were selected based on their commitment to social causes and the impact of their chosen charity on the wider community. His chosen charity partner is ‘Lo que de Verdad Importa’ Foundation (Translation: What Really Matters Foundation).

The Paralympics Games Paris 2024 will kick off on 28 August with festivities on the Place de la Concorde, followed by eleven days of sports competition for 4,400 athletes from around the world, competing in 22 Paralympic sports and 549 events.

We wish Dani every success at the Paralympic Games and aim to write more about his experience in a few weeks. 

Related content

Daniel Caverzaschi's website

Daniel Caverzaschi's Athletes for Good profile - Wheelchair tennis, Spain

Third year trainee medic George Webster has won a highly sought-after one-year placement as BMJ editorial scholar commencing at the end of this summer.

From Wednesday 31 July – Friday 2 August 2024, Warwick Law School hosted the 26th Annual Conference of the International Association for Critical Realism (IACR) 2024.

The Ripple Effect Conference, curated by Warwick alumna and University Council member, Yewande Akinola, took place at The University of Warwick recently. The event offered valuable insights from industry experts and inspiring women in engineering, technology, innovation and business.

At the event the audience heard key insights from Dr Mel Loveridge, Associate Professor at WMG and Jacqui Murray, South Wales Regional Director for High Value Manufacturing Catapult, who took part in a panel discussion with Innovate UK.

Dr Mel Loveridge said, “I felt privileged to participate in the recent Ripple Effect Conference, mainly (but not exclusively) aimed at women in engineering and technology. The gathering and programme was an inspiring creation and very impactful in its endeavour. The delegates were from very multi-disciplinary areas across engineering and technology, which represented great networking possibilities. The conference provided very powerful environments and events; from expert talks, panels, workshops and roundtable discussions. Such events are like ‘nectar’ for innovators.

“Indeed, one meaning of The Ripple Effect abstract metaphor is ‘the continuing and spreading results of an event or action - which seems a very apt name for such an event, with such an inspiring collective of demonstrated innovators and changemakers.”

There was also a keynote address from Dr A-Marie I., co-founder of Stemettes, a social enterprise which encourages women and non-binary people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths. Nav Sawhney, founder of The Washing Machine Project, also attended the conference and discussed an initiative which aims at reducing the burden of hand washing clothes for women and girls worldwide, allowing them more time for rest, work, and education.

Jacqui Murray said, “Being part of something as inspiring as the Ripple Effect Conference, alongside women such as WMG’s Dr Mel Loveridge and Innovate UK’s Emily Knott, who has changed the way Innovate UK funds women entrepreneurs and some of their award-winning Women in Innovation, was a privilege and not something to miss! I even brought along my 14-year-old daughter Evelyn.

“From finding your own truth in feedback you have been given, to supporting other women around us in their careers - all the way through to how one of the entrepreneurs juggled the demands of the aerospace industry as well as chocolate manufacturers, discussions were full of lived experience and flavour! It provided food for thought on the need for more women to join non-exec and executive boards, and how we should be able to leverage any part of our journeys that have been made harder in our lives – after all we have learnt more!”

As part of the event, there was also guided tours of WMG’s International Manufacturing Centre led by the Technical Services team.

If you would like to find out more about WMG's women in engineering visit: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/about/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/