As the University places increasing emphasis on its interdisciplinary and cross-faculty research to respond to local, national and global challenges, a new Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research has been appointed.

December saw the appointment of Professor Jackie Hodgson as Deputy PVC for Research (Arts, Social Sciences & Interdisciplinarity), which comes at a crucial time for the University, as it prepares for its REF2021 submission. Jackie will continue to work closely with the Faculties of Arts and of Social Sciences in her new role, in addition to leading on work with a variety of research communities, including research excellence around City of Culture, Global Challenges Research and Warwick’s Global Research Priorities programme.

Interdisciplinarity is a key component of the role and Jackie will work with colleagues to develop new research initiatives, such as the recently-launched Cross Faculty Centre for Mental Health and the proposed Centre for Digital Humanities. Recognising the importance of communicating research and impact to different audiences, Jackie will also play a role in strengthening research communications at Warwick.

Professor Hodgson began her academic career at the University with an ESRC Research Fellowship in Law and has been a Professor of Law since 2005. She has 30 years’ experience of conducting large-scale externally funded empirical work in criminal justice, much of it comparative and across several European universities. She has established and directed the Criminal Justice Centre and the Centre for Operational Police Research and collaborated with colleagues across campus, from Politics and Sociology, to Psychology and Computer Science. She is an elected Council member of JUSTICE and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. For the last 18 months she has been Academic Director for Research.

Speaking about her appointment, Professor Hodgson said: “I am delighted to accept this position and very much look forward to continuing to work with the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research to develop and advance the outstanding research achievements of the University. I have really enjoyed my previous year in the Research Executive, working closely with academics and professional services colleagues and look forward to building on this in my new role.”

Professor Pam Thomas, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research), commented: “Professor Hodgson will play a critical role and her skills and experience will be instrumental in furthering the development of Warwick as a leading research-intensive University with global impact.”