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MetroPolis Matters (February 2024) |
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Dear Colleague
February has gone by in a flash, but the MetroPolis team have managed to pack a lot in!
Over the past month, we've been:
- Preparing for our 'From Work First to Good Work' mini-conference in April, with Shadow Minister for Employment and Social Security, Alison McGovern MP. Tickets are nearly sold out, so make sure you book your free space soon.
- Delivering a new series of internal policy engagement training sessions, 'What's Policy Got To Do With It?' beginning with the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
- Appointing our third prestigious Chancellor's Fellowship to Dr Katy Jones (Business and Law). Dr Jones will be bringing her labour policy expertise to her secondment at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
- Supporting academics with horizon-scanning for UK Parliament, submissions of evidence to Select Committee inquiries, and with applications for Parliamentary Thematic Research Lead roles.
- Coordinating submissions to The Conversation. Since re-subscribing in the new year, Manchester Met academics have published an amazing 16 articles, with more due for publication in the coming weeks. Interested in writing for The Conversation? Make sure to book onto our free online training on Wednesday 6th March- there are only 10 places left!
Finally, this Thursday we're hosting our first New Economy North Social of the new year! With partners CLES, IPPR North, People's Powerhouse and NEON, we'll be exploring how the needs of marginalised communities can be centred in local economic strategies.
Our fantastic panellists include Manchester Met's Dr Sarah Campbell (Health and Education) who will be discussing the innovative, impactful Uncertain Futures research project, which explores inequalities around work faced by women over 50 in Greater Manchester. You can book your free place for the Social here.
Before the Social, you can also join us for a Democracy Coworking Day with The Democracy Network. It's a fantastic way to meet, and share ideas with, others in the north interested in democracy. Find out more and get your free ticket here.
We hope to see you on Thursday!
Abby
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Read about the recent MetroPolis-facilitated workshop organised by Dr Chris Field exploring how to better protect peatlands, and combat climate change.
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Manchester Met law researchers were cited in a recent report by the International Agreements Committee on the UK-Rwanda Treaty. Read about their evidence submission.
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Find out more about the Inaugural Lecture of Manchester Met's Professor Michelle McManus, and how her research has informed safeguarding policy and practice.
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There are some fantastic external opportunities currently available for researchers who want to engage with policy.
- A reminder that UK Parliament, in partnership with UKRI, are currently recruiting for Parliamentary Thematic Research Leads for 2024-2026 across a broad range of scientific and research disciplines. You can read the full opportunity here, and get in touch with us for advice on applications. The deadline is Sunday 3rd March 2024.
- The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) have issued a callout for contributions to a new POSTnote on the development of a hydrogen transmission backbone for the UK. You can find out more here. The deadline is early April 2024.
- The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are seeking academics to deliver talks to the DHSC Health Science and Engineering Network on the broad topic of science and engineering. Contact the DHSC Network team for more information, or complete their Expression of Interest form here.
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UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is hosting a webinar on Friday 8th March 2024 to launch a new funding opportunity, net zero digital research infrastructure (NZ DRI) coordinator and network. Book on here.
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Thursday 29th February, 12.30pm-5.30pm, In-person
Spend a day at Manchester Met's Business School working alongside other organisations working on UK democratic reform, organised with The Democracy Network. It's a fantastic way to make new connections and share ideas and projects!
Thursday 29th February, 6pm-8pm, In-person
Ahead of International Women's Day, join the New Economy North network of northern think tanks for a social and speaker event exploring new work on gender equity.
Wednesday 6th March, 2pm-3pm, Online
Are you an academic, researcher or PhD candidate who would like to build a media profile and take your research to a global public audience by writing for The Conversation? Join this one-hour presentation to find out more about The Conversation, the editorial process, and style guide.
Wednesday 10th April,1.30pm-5.30pm, In-person
A free, solutions-focused mini-conference exploring how to best support people into good work, with keynote speech from Alison McGovern MP (Shadow Minister for Employment and Social Security).
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We offer a number of routes for enhancing the policy impact of your research. You can apply for support through the links below. To find out which is the most suitable for your work, or for more tailored support, please reach out to the MetroPolis team.
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The Chancellor’s Fellowship: Our prestigious MetroPolis Chancellor's Fellowship scheme offers high-quality researchers from Manchester Met placements with policy organisations including government departments, charities and think tanks.
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Rapid Funding Scheme: A quick turnaround funding scheme for a range of activities to enhance the policy impact of research including events, travel, networking and (non academic) publications.
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1-1 Policy Coaching: A one-to-one service for support with your pathways to policy impact delivered by Showrunner Communications, who are experts in public policy.
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We've been thrilled to support Dr. Maz Idriss (Manchester Law School) and his work on so-called "honour"- based abuse and forced marriages, amongst female and male victims.
Maz has undertaken a range of important policy-related work. This includes:
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Written evidence accepted by the Women and Equalities Committee in their recent inquiry into honour-based abuse, which made key recommendations on, for example, adopting a comparative Violence Against Men and Boys Strategy that helps to recognise male victims of domestic abuse, honour-based abuse and forced marriages in their own right and to address barriers and discrimination that are unique to men's experiences.
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A recommendation of a separate Violence Against Men and Boys Strategy formerly endorsed by the Women and Equalities Committee in their main inquiry report, which was published in July 2023.
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A new research project entitled "Honour-Based Abuse in the Courts: Shaping Strategy for Key Issues", which examines the ways in which the criminal and civil justice system can respond to low prosecution and conviction rates in criminal cases. The project's policy briefing and final report will be launched on Wednesday 27th March at Manchester Met with delegates from the Crown Prosecution Service, Ministry of Justice, police forces, and local charities.
Of Metropolis' support, Maz commented:
"The team at MetroPolis are wonderful to work with. They have fully engaged with me and supported the work that I do, including taking the time to read through report drafts as critical friends, all the way to helping organising external designers of the reports and funding printing. I cannot thank them enough for their important work and advice, which has helped me a great deal."
To find out more about Maz's work, contact m.idriss@mmu.ac.uk.
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