HSS

News story: Dr Sydney Calkin awarded Philip Leverhulme Prize for research into global reproductive health and emerging gene-editing technologies

Dr Sydney Calkin, from the Department of Geography in Queen Mary University of London’s School of Society and Environment, has been awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize in recognition of her outstanding contributions to feminist political geography and international research on reproductive justice.

News story: Action needed to protect our creative future in the age of Generative AI

Launched today at SXSW London, a new report from Queen Mary University of London, the Institute for the Future of Work, and The Alan Turing Institute reveals how Generative AI is already having profound impacts on the UK’s creative economy and calls for urgent action to protect creative workers.

News story: Professor Phoebe Okowa elected Judge of the International Court of Justice

Professor Phoebe Okowa, Professor of Public International Law at the School of Law at Queen Mary University of London, has been elected as a Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council.

News story: ‘Mansplaining’ is different from other criticism – and Rachel Reeves is right to call it out

Louise Ashley, Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Work, and Elena Doldor, Professor of Leadership and Diversity, both at Queen Mary University of London, have written for The Conversation exploring why ‘mansplaining’ isn’t just criticism, and why Rachel Reeves is right to challenge it.

News story: Queen Mary law student wins Community Impact Award at the inaugural UKCISA We Are International Awards

Gowri Promy Kaprakattu, an international student in the School of Law at Queen Mary University of London, has received the Community Impact Award at the inaugural UKCISA We Are International Awards 2025. She is one of 13 winners selected from more than 420 nominations submitted by over 120 institutions across the UK.

News story: The Holodomor on screen: how cinema shapes memory of Ukraine’s famine

Jeremy Hicks, Professor of Post-Soviet Cultural History and Film at Queen Mary University of London, has written for The Conversation on how cinema has shaped collective memory of Ukraine’s Holodomor famine.

News story: Industry Leaders share insights with Queen Mary students at the Employer’s Address 2025

The School of Business and Management welcomed students, staff and industry guests on 12 November for The Employer’s Address, an annual event designed to spark conversations between employers and the next generation of talent.

News story: Queen Mary Professor honoured in 2025 Kindness and Leadership Leading Lights list

Professor Ishani Chandrasekara, Professor of Accounting Education and Programme and Progression Lead for the BSc Accountancy (Flying Start) in the School of Business and Management, has been recognised in the 2025 Kindness and Leadership, 50 Leading Lights UK. The initiative celebrates leaders who use kindness to create positive change in their organisations and communities.

News story: Is a veggie burger still a burger? A linguist explains

Victoria-Elliot, PhD Candidate, Linguistics, Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on Exploring what the term burger really means, and whether veggie versions fit the definition

News story: The Running Man is the most fun you’ll have at the cinema this year

Matt Jacobsen, Senior Lecturer in Film History in the School of Society and Environment, Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on why The Running Man stands out as one of the most entertaining films of the year.

News story: Why have relations between civil servants and ministers turned so sour – and can they be repaired?

Patrick Diamond, Professor of Public Policy, Department of Sociology, Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on Why minister–civil service relations have fractured, and what it will take to fix them.

News story: How wars ravage the environment – and what international law is doing about it

Benjamin Neimark, Reader in Geopolitical Ecology, School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London and Kate Mackintosh, Executive Director of the UCLA Law Promise Institute Europe, University of California, Los Angeles has written for 'The Conversation' on the impact of war on the environment and efforts to address it through international law.

News story: School of Law celebrates 60 years

The School of Law marked its 60th anniversary with a celebratory event held at the heart of 240-year -old Queen Mary’s Mile End campus.

News story: Plastic pollution could linger at ocean surfaces for over a century, new research finds

Scientists from the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Queen Mary University of London have developed a simple model to show how buoyant plastic can settle through the water column and they predict it could take over 100 years to remove plastic waste from the ocean’s surface.

News story: Queen Mary film-maker and neurodiverse collective win BFI and Chanel Filmmaker Award

A collective of autistic artists co-led by Professor Steven Eastwood, Professor of Film Practice at Queen Mary University of London, has won one of this year’s BFI and Chanel Filmmaker Awards: Celebrating Creative Audacity, which recognise film-makers whose work pushes the boundaries of storytelling.

News story: Queen Mary historians’ Cockney Yiddish Podcast wins Independent Podcast Award

A podcast that uncovers London’s hidden Cockney Yiddish culture, hosted by Queen Mary historians Professor Nadia Valman and Dr Vivi Lachs, has won Best Culture Podcast at the Independent Podcast Awards 2025, held at Kings Place in London on 15 October and hosted by comedian Harriet Kemsley.

News story: Queen Mary and Barking and Dagenham Council establish landmark partnership to improve community health

Queen Mary University of London and Barking and Dagenham Council have launched a major new partnership to tackle local health and wellbeing challenges in the community. 

News story: Queen Mary Professor wins Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism

Professor Andrea Brady, from Queen Mary University of London’s School of the Arts, has been awarded the Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism in Memory of Newton Arvin for her book Poetry and Bondage: A History and Theory of Lyric Constraint.

News story: New report highlights British corporate links to environmental destruction in West Papua

A new report from the Centre for Climate Crime and Climate Justice at Queen Mary University of London has been launched in Parliament, drawing attention to the role of British companies and investors in environmental damage and human rights issues in West Papua.

News story: New book investigates the militarisation of British democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan

A new book by Queen Mary University of London academic Professor Paul Dixon explores how senior military leaders, not just politicians, played a decisive role in driving Britain into the Iraq and Afghan wars.

News story: Queen Mary partners on Bengali heritage walk marking 25 years of the Swadhinata Trust

A new local heritage walk celebrating Bengali history in East London will be launched this summer as part of South Asian Heritage Month and to mark the 25th anniversary of the Swadhinata Trust.

News story: New digital resource launched to showcase the contributions of South Asians to British life

A major new digital resource exploring how South Asians have shaped British life over the past two centuries has been launched to mark South Asian Heritage Month 2025.

News story: New international project explores how remittances can boost climate resilience in Africa

Queen Mary researchers join global team to address climate change impacts on food security and livelihoods

News story: Britain’s plan for defence AI risks the ethical and legal integrity of the military

Elke Schwarz, Professor of Political Theory in the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on how Britain’s plan for defence AI risks the ethical and legal integrity of the military

News story: England is expanding free school meals – here’s what could happen if they were given to all children

Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, Professor of Development Economics in the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on what could happen if free school meals were given to all children in England

News story: New study reveals triple disadvantage for workers from lower socio-economic backgrounds

Workers from lower socio-economic backgrounds face a triple disadvantage in the workplace, according to new research by Queen Mary University of London and the Institute for Employment Studies

News story: Pride, Politics and Inclusion: The Transfeminist Agenda Reshaping International Relations

Dr Alexander Stoffel, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Politics and International Relations, is pioneering a transfeminist approach to global politics that centres inclusion, collaboration and the lived realities of trans people

News story: Ground-breaking ceremony marks start of new School of Business and Management building at Queen Mary

An exciting step forward for Queen Mary and the East London community

News story: Supporting sustainability in film: Queen Mary academic leads cultural-environmental impact in Argentina

Dr Paula Serafini visited Argentina for Pasturas, a unique film festival focused on transhumance, to present new sustainability tools and pilot a consultancy supporting the festival’s environmental goals

News story: Moomin merchandise and fashion: 80 years of ultra-savvy marketing that taps into childhood nostalgia

Professor Kiera Vaclavik, Director of the Centre for Childhood Cultures, Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on Moomin merchandise and fashion

News story: Peopling the Palaces Festival returns with five-day celebration of resistance through art, performance and conversation

Peopling the Palaces Festival returns to Queen Mary University of London this June with a vibrant five-day programme of live art, performance, film screenings, workshops and conversation. Taking place from 4 to 8 June 2025, this year’s festival is curated around the theme of resistance.

News story: Queen Mary professor to open European energy law conference on hydrogen and gas market reform

Professor Peter Cameron, Chair in Energy and Climate Law at Queen Mary University of London, will help launch a European conference on energy law in Brussels on 3 June 2025, exploring the future of hydrogen and gas market regulation

News story: Cockney Yiddish: how two languages influenced each other in London’s East End

Nadia Valman, Professor of Urban Literature, and Vivi Lachs, Research Fellow, from the School of the Arts has written for 'The Conversation' on how two languages influenced each other in London’s East End

News story: Could the assisted dying bill fall at the next hurdle?

Daniel Gover, Senior Lecturer in British Politics from the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on if the assisted dying bill fall at the next hurdle

News story: Ian Parkes receives Honorary Fellowship at Queen Mary Graduation

Ian Parkes, formerly Chief Executive of the East London Business Alliance (ELBA) and Director of London Works, has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship at Queen Mary’s Spring graduation ceremony.

News story: Why History Matters: Highlights from History East – A Festival of History

Last month, Queen Mary University of London hosted History East: A Festival of History, a public celebration of the ways that history continues to shape literature, politics and culture.

News story: BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street are the real power behind Big Oil’s climate retreat, report finds

A small group of powerful investment firms is quietly fuelling the global oil industry’s retreat from climate targets, according to a new report published today by the Centre for Climate Crime and Climate Justice at Queen Mary University of London.

News story: Animals as architects of the Earth: First global study reveals their surprising impact

Led by Professor Gemma Harvey, the study uncovers how animals from beaver dams to termite mounds are shaping the planet in extraordinary ways

News story: Venice Biennale 2025: New details revealed for British Pavilion co-curated by Professor Kathryn Yusoff

Further details have been announced for the British Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia 2025, where Professor Kathryn Yusoff from Queen Mary University of London is one of four curators leading the UK’s contribution.

News story: Land reparations are possible − and over 225 US communities are already working to make amends for slavery and colonization

Elsa Noterman, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at the School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London, along with Sara Safransky, Associate Professor in the Department of Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University, and Madeleine Lewis, Doctoral Student in the same department, have written for The Conversation on how land reparations are possible.

News story: Babe at 30: why this much-loved film is one of the best cinematic translations of a children’s book

Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children's Literature & Childhood Culture in the School of Arts at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on why 'Babe' is one of the best cinematic translations of a children’s book.

News story: Inner London residents told me their food waste problems – composting definitely isn’t the answer

Sayed Elhoushy, Senior Lecturer in Marketing in the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on Inner London residents food waste problems.

News story: Heritage science takes centre stage in Bhutan

International collaboration brings innovative conservation techniques to Bhutanese museums

News story: Modern spacesuits have a compatibility problem. Astronauts’ lives depend on fixing it

Berna Akcali Gur, Convenor of Outer Space Law in the School of Law (CCLS) at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on the legal and safety implications of non-standardised spacesuit systems in human spaceflight.

News story: How US foreign aid cuts are threatening independent media in former Soviet states

Jeremy Hicks, Professor of Russian Culture and Film in the School of the Arts at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on how US foreign aid cuts are threatening independent media in former Soviet states.

News story: Rachel Reeves needs to change the record

Tim Bale, Professor of Politics in the School of Politics and international Relations at Queen Mary University of London has written on the recent Spring Statement 2025 presented by The Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.

News story: How animals shape the planet in surprising ways

Gemma Harvey Professor of Physical Geography, in the School of Geography at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on how animals shape the planet in surprising ways

News story: Ukraine deal: Europe has learned from the failed 2015 Minsk accords with Putin. Trump has not

Natalya Chernyshova, Senior Lecturer in Modern European History in the School of History at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on how Europe has learned from the failed 2015 Minsk accords with Putin. Trump has not.

News story: Keir Starmer’s civil service reforms: what is mission-led government and why is it so hard to achieve?

Patrick Diamond, Professor in Public Policy at the School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on Keir Starmer’s civil service reforms.

News story: Cutting welfare goes against Labour’s core values – that’s the point

Tim Bale, Professor of Politics in the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary University of London, has written for The Conversation on how cutting welfare goes against Labour’s core values.

News story: New report analyses refugee resilience and hostility in Cairo

A new report, The Refugee Influx from Syria and Sudan in Cairo: An Analysis of the Dynamics of Resilience, Hospitality and Hostility, examines the complex realities faced by Syrian and Sudanese refugees in Egypt’s capital.

News story: Double Success for Queen Mary at LexisNexis Legal Awards 2025

Queen Mary claims victory in two categories at highly regarded event within the UK legal sector. 

News story: New study reveals significant cost disparities and information gaps in UK fertility treatments

Patients call for greater transparency as costs soar and trust in information sources varies

News story: Workplace childcare key to closing gender gaps, says Queen Mary economist

Employer-provided childcare can significantly reduce the “child penalty” that many women face in their careers, according to research presented by Anna Raute, at an event marking International Women’s Day.

News story: Queen Mary University of London becomes the first London Russell Group university to offer SQE preparation as part of an LLM

Queen Mary University of London's School of Law has announced the combination of their prestigious Master of Laws (LLM) programmes with Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) preparation in partnership with legal education company, BARBRI.

News story: What does it mean to be free? Quentin Skinner’s latest book explores liberty’s shifting ideals

Liberty as Independence: The Making and Unmaking of a Political Ideal examines how ideas of freedom have evolved and what has been lost in the process.

News story: Censorship, abortion and the ‘threat within’: what a free speech expert thinks of J.D. Vance’s remarks to Europe

Eric Heinze, Professor of Law and Humanities, in the School of Law at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on J.D. Vance’s remarks to Europe

News story: Exploring London’s forgotten cockney Yiddish culture: A new podcast

Launched today, this podcast hosted by Queen Mary historians Professor Nadia Valman and Dr Vivi Lachs explores the fascinating intersections of Cockney and Yiddish cultures, uncovering lost voices, music, and radical stories from London’s Jewish East End.

News story: DeepSeek, Nvidia and the AI race that’s shaping the future

Daniele D'Alvia, Lecturer in Banking and Finance Law at Queen Mary University of London, has written for The Conversation on how investor speculation is shaping the AI competition between DeepSeek and Nvidia.

News story: Queen Mary University of London awarded AHRC funding to support PhD research in arts and humanities

Queen Mary University of London has been awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Doctoral Landscape Award, securing funding to support PhD research in arts and humanities.

News story: Workplace diversity schemes have a problem – but that doesn’t mean Trump is right to axe them

Louise Ashley, Associate Professor and IHSS Fellow in the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on Trump axing programmes of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)

News story: Joan Plowright – a leading actress in British theatre’s post-war class revolution

Jen Harvie, Professor of Contemporary Theatre and Performance in the School of the arts at Queen Mary University of London has written for 'The Conversation' on Dame Joan Plowright

News story: Deepfakes and the Law: Why Britain needs stronger protections against technology-facilitated abuse

As the UK moves to outlaw sexually explicit deepfakes, Professor Julia Hörnle examines the urgent need for stronger legal protections