HSS Faculty welcomes the new Ethics & Integrity and People, Culture & Environment Leads

Posted on: 4 December 2023 by Nick Jones in 2023 Posts

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is pleased to welcome two colleagues to the new roles of Ethics & Integrity Lead and People, Culture & Environment Lead, now headed up by Dr Claire Pierson and Professor Luca Csepely-Knorr respectively.

Dr Claire Pierson, Ethics & Integrity Lead

On her role as Ethics & Integrity Lead, Dr Claire Pierson says:

I am very excited to take up the post of research ethics and integrity lead for our faculty and to facilitate and shape our approach to ethics.

My own research on the politics of abortion in highly restrictive legal regimes is informed by a reflexive feminist approach to ethics as an ongoing process throughout research projects rather than a one-off event. I have sat on the University’s Central Ethics Committee since 2021 and am keen to use my experience as a researcher and as a reviewer to further conversations and training around embedding ethics and integrity into high quality research design and proposals.

I look forward to supporting staff throughout the faculty on a range of needs around ethics, and next semester will be arranging sessions, including regular informal drop-ins, to gain an understanding of what those needs are.

I will also be working to ensure that considerations of ethics and ethical review practices are integrated into our faculty training schemes and grant application processes for researchers at all career stages. Please do get in touch if you are interested in being part of this process and I look forward to working with you all.

Professor Luca Csepely-Knorr, People, Culture & Environment Lead

Professor Luca Csepely-Knorr, the new People, Culture & Environment Lead says:

I am delighted to take on the role of People, Culture, and Environment Lead at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. I am looking forward to working with colleagues across the Faculty to build on the existing research support successes and to maximise the opportunities that the new REF 2028 guidelines outlined. Together we can create positive, nurturing research environments that capture a broader range of research activities and increase inclusivity. 

I joined the University’s School of Architecture as Chair in 2022, after more than a decade-long tenure at Manchester School of Architecture, where I worked as Senior Research Lead and Post-Graduate Research Degrees Director. Since 2021, I have been leading the AHRC-funded Women of the Welfare Landscape project that aims to uncover and bring to a wide range of audiences the myriad ways women contributed to the creation of the landscapes of post-war Britain and beyond. 

Besides my work at the University, I am working as Education Officer for the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (SAHGB), where I have developed and launched its PhD and Early Career Network, and I am working closely with its dedicated Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Sub-Committee to support an atmosphere of greater equality and inclusivity.

You can email Luca here.