Loughborough Institute of Advanced Studies Podcast

IAS Residential Fellow Professor Danny O’Brien delivers a seminar on their research - The Surfing Association of Papua New Guinea (SAPNG) initiated an innovative program called “The Pink Nose Revolution” that uses surfing to raise community awareness about gender-based violence (GBV), which while a scourge worldwide, is particularly rampant in PNG. This research uses qualitative methods to analyse this program and current efforts to expand its scope and broaden the program’s positive societal impacts. The overarching research question is: What are the challenges and opportunities in growing a community-level sport-for-development program in a deeply resource-deprived context? While the data from this research are still being analysed, emerging results suggest some interesting outcomes. Innovative strategic thinking has resulted in the repurposing of scarce resources to create more equitable access to surfing equipment for women and girls, higher participation rates for women and girls, the attraction of high-profile international stakeholders such as the US State Department to support the cause, and the simultaneous initiation of community dialogue and increased awareness about GBV. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Alumni Fellow (from the 2023-24 academic year) Dr Alison Barnes delivers a seminar on their research - Street and house name signs in Paddington, Sydney, function as material articulations of the settler colonial project. Both hide in plain sight, yet in diametrically opposed ways. Drawing on a survey of 315 house names and 128 distinct street names, the research develops a taxonomy of naming strategies which are analysed in relation to their design, materiality, and role within colonisation. Street signs foreground legibility and functionality through a 'rhetoric of neutrality', while house names announce their presence through an overt use of materials, colour, and craft. For the house names, it is precisely this aesthetic dimension that obscures their role in the overwriting and taking of place. In contemporary Paddington, where the real estate narrative foregrounds original heritage features and houses sell for millions of dollars, a doubling of dispossession is at play in which graphic heritage, property ownership, and an ongoing ‘white possession’ are inextricably entangled. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Guest Speaker Dr Everardt Burger delivers a seminar on their research - Urban transport infrastructure is typically planned and evaluated through technical performance measures such as efficiency, capacity, and operational reliability. Yet the real-world success of mobility systems depends fundamentally on how people experience, interpret, and use them in everyday life. This talk introduces a human-centred perspective on urban infrastructure that places user behaviour and spatial accessibility at the core of transport planning. Drawing on empirical research across South African cities—including studies of mode choice, commuter satisfaction, pedestrian accessibility, and infrastructure utilisation—the presentation shows how mobility environments operate as socio-technical systems shaped by perception, decision-making, and spatial connectivity. Rather than viewing infrastructure as static provision, the talk explores how design, accessibility, and behavioural response interact to produce system performance. The session proposes an integrative framework for understanding mobility infrastructure through user experience and spatial function, and reflects on the implications for planning more responsive, inclusive, and effective urban transport systems. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

Joint Loughborough-Leicester IAS Fellow Dr Yolandi Burger delivers a seminar on their research - How do places named after Nelson Mandela operate as narrative infrastructures through which memory, identity, and civic meaning are negotiated? Building on the Named after Nelson (NaN) project, this IAS–LIAS fellowship complements the Gauteng City-Region Observatory's project on urban places as narrative spaces. The presentation explores how toponymy, graphic heritage, and storytelling intersect to shape public understanding of Mandela’s legacy across diverse urban contexts. Drawing on case studies from Gauteng in South Africa, and extending the dialogue to Leicester in the United Kingdom, this talk positions narrative mapping and interpretive design as methodological instruments, while drawing on urban observatory thinking as a conceptual framework for analysing how symbolic association translates into lived spatial experience. The presentation advances interdisciplinary dialogue across urban heritage, design, and digital mapping by demonstrating how narrative methodologies can structure the interpretation of symbolic urban landscapes within SDG-oriented heritage discourse. It proposes narrative space as both an analytical lens and a collaborative platform for advancing transnational heritage engagement. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

This event is made possible with thanks to the Biddle Family Scholarship. The International Academy for Body Image, Eating Problems and Health is formed of a group of researchers focused on understanding more about the development and occurrence of body image concerns and eating problems. Current members are from Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Established in 2016, the Academy is an unfunded international collaboration which has already successfully completed one large scale cross-cultural study and has now launched the second. The current research focuses on exploring perceptions of climate change in relation to body image, eating behaviours and wellbeing among young adults and is running across 15 countries. This spotlight event will be comprised firstly of presentations which will introduce the Academy and the current research project, reflect on conducting cross-cultural research with multiple countries and outline preliminary findings. The second part of this event will include a roundtable discussion relating to experiences and advice for maintaining successful and unfunded international collaborations. Programme: Introduction to the International Academy for Body Image, Eating Problems and Health. Dr Esben Strodl Rationale and theoretical model for the current research project exploring perceptions about climate change, body image, mental health and eating behaviours among young adults. Dr Rachel Rodgers Reflections on conducting cross-cultural research. Professor Jacinthe Dion, Professor Annie Aimé, Professor Alvaro Sicilia Camacho, Dr Naomi Hayami Preliminary findings of the current research project. Professor Gianluca Lo Coco, Dr Esben Strodl Roundtable discussion: Experiences of maintaining successful and unfunded international collaborations (all Academy members). For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

Externally Funded Fellows Associate Professor Sumiko Miyata & Professor Takamichi Miyata each deliver a seminar on their research - Associate Professor Sumiko Miyata - Incentive-Driven AI Networks for Future Road Safety  To achieve fully autonomous driving, "cooperative perception" via V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) is essential for eliminating blind spots and improving recognition accuracy. However, a major barrier to sustainable implementation lies in ensuring "fair incentives" for participants to share data and computational resources. This seminar introduces an AI-driven network framework designed to balance infrastructure efficiency with participant satisfaction. The presentation first covers a reward distribution mechanism based on the game theory concept of "Nucleolus" to minimize user dissatisfaction within the monitoring system and ensure long-term cooperation. Building on this foundation, the discussion addresses essential network mechanisms for "City as a Service," such as high-speed AI processing that optimizes task offloading between edge servers to minimize communication latency. By integrating incentive design with advanced communication control, it is possible to build a reliable social infrastructure that reduces accidents and optimizes urban mobility. Professor Takamichi Miyata - Multimodal AI that Understands Driver Behaviour without Training Data  Distracted driving remains a critical safety concern, as even brief lapses in attention can lead to serious traffic collisions. Current supervised learning methods require large, labelled datasets and struggle to generalize, while vision-language model (VLM) based methods enable training-free recognition but tend to capture driver identity rather than actual behaviour. This seminar presents a novel framework that overcomes both limitations. The key innovation lies in decoupling identity-related information from behaviour-related cues, combined with refined textual representations to enhance zero-shot recognition robustness across diverse drivers and environments. By integrating decoupled multimodal representations with a lightweight model architecture, the proposed system achieves practical, scalable performance without relying on extensive labelled data. This approach offers a promising pathway toward reliable driver monitoring systems for real-world deployment. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Residential Fellow Professor Danny O’Brien delivers a workshop for Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) - In this workshop, we explore the often challenging task of responding to reviewers (or examiners as the case may be). Navigating this process is a vital skill for academic publishing, yet it remains an aspect of scholarly life that many researchers find difficult. Even when reviewers seem harsh or unfair in their critique, their feedback, and knowing how to diplomatically respond to that feedback, inevitably leads to more academically rigorous and impactful publications. This workshop will be interactive using actual examples to equip researchers with practical strategies to constructively and persuasively respond to reviewers’ feedback.  For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

Joint Loughborough-Leicester IAS Fellow Professor Anongnat Somwangthanaroj delivers a seminar on their research - This talk shares a cross-sector journey in translational materials research spanning industrial epoxy materials for flip-chip electronics packaging, biodegradable plastic bags for fresh-produce preservation, health-protective innovations, and emerging zinc-based energy storage systems. Long-term collaboration with industry in advanced epoxy packaging has produced patented technologies, publications, and trained graduate researchers. At the same time, sustainability-driven polymer work led to real-world deployment and venture creation. Crisis-driven innovation during the pandemic further strengthened rapid prototyping and scale-up capabilities. Current research focuses on functional separators and iodine-host materials for zinc-based batteries to improve stability and reaction kinetics. Across these themes, the emphasis is on structure–property design, manufacturability, and impact-oriented development. The talk aims to identify shared research interests and open pathways for new academic and industry collaborations in advanced materials, sustainable technologies, and energy storage systems. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

Seán McCabe is the Head of Climate Justice and Sustainability at Bohemian Football Club (Bohemians FC) in Dublin Ireland, He works at the intersection of football, community development, and climate action focusing on how clubs can act as catalysts for Community Wealth Building (CWB) and broader social change. In his talk, he explores how football clubs can serve as anchors for Community Wealth Building (CWB), an approach that redistributes wealth and power to local communities while supporting a just transition—tackling climate change alongside inequality and community resilience. Drawing on Bohemian FC and the SPARK Initiative in Ireland, he argues that CWB is not about quick wins but about building durable foundations through governance, culture, and collective ownership. Using Bohemians as a case study, he highlights efforts to develop cooperative economic activity in areas such as food, renewable energy, and retrofitting. He also reflects on structural barriers in Ireland and outline practical steps to better support community-based enterprises. Seán McCabe is Project Lead of The Bohemian Cooperatives and brings over 20 years of experience in climate justice, policy and community-led development. He leads climate justice and sustainability at Bohemian Football Club and is the author of The People’s Transition, developed through his work with TASC/FEPS. His background includes Mary Robinson – Climate Justice, the Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative, the UNFCCC, UNICEF and Renaissance Reinsurance. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

IAS Residential Fellow Professor Mark Bevir delivers a seminar on their research - At the heart of an interpretive social science is opposition to social-scientific naturalism. Yet, there is much confusion about what this entails, with many scholars treating the opposition as one over methods. This seminar will begin by focusing on the philosophical or theoretical content of interpretive social science. It situates interpretivism in the context of the rise of ideas and theories such as meaning holism, and it shows how these theories might lead interpretivists to focus on meanings and beliefs conceived as interconnected webs that inform actions and practices. This general emphasis on people’s reasons for action is, however, surely a commonplace that we all commit ourselves to in our daily lives. Naturalists do not necessarily reject it. Rather, they typically emphasize that different assumptions are needed if we are to generate rigorous and useful knowledge. The key questions about the role of an interpretive social science seem, therefore, to owe as much to methods and ethics as to philosophy. The seminar will consider these questions. It will suggest, first, that interpretivism does not require us to reject generally accepted research methods, but it does dramatically change the way we think about methods, by, for example, encouraging us to learn from the humanities and blur genres. It will suggest, second, that interpretivism prompts us to remember the ethical implications of the fact that we are studying human agents, not passive objects, and to consider the costs of assigning a dubious certitude to social scientific claims. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Robert Emmett Alexander (aka Barefoot Bob) delivers a seminar on their research, fully titled "Community Engaged Communication for Reduction of Disaster and Climate Risks Using the Arts" - This presentation explores processes of locally appropriate communication of disaster and climate risks and good practices to address them through steps of first external and local knowledge co-creation of messages for context-specific good practices for vulnerability reduction and then contests using locally relevant art types to spread these messages for improved discussion, decision-making and action. Conceptual frameworks first explicate roles of knowledge co-creation communication approaches, components of them for effective community-engaged resilience strengthening that overcomes social and behavioral change communication constraints and rationale for arts contests designed for this purpose. Explanation of methodology development with relevant examples of processes, lessons and sample drawings and song, theater and poem videos from contests in East and Southern Africa, the Caribbean, and the Philippines will provide basis for discussion of opportunities and challenges for implementation locally in different contexts. The seminar will conclude with description of the book being developed on this topic. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Anne Stiles delivers a seminar on their research - This talk addresses bestselling British novelist Marie Corelli (1855-1924) and her admiration for Nobel prize winner Marie Curie as a paragon of feminine scientific accomplishment. Though Corelli was neither a feminist in the traditional sense nor a scientific materialist, she viewed Curie’s discovery, the element radium, as a substance with near-divine properties that could restore health, life, and spiritual vitality. Corelli’s later novels The Life Everlasting (1911), The Young Diana (1918), and The Secret Power (1921) demonstrate the author’s gradual evolution from an unqualified embrace of radioactivity to a growing awareness of its dangers, including the possibility that it could be weaponized on a large scale. Corelli’s shift from optimism to ambivalence parallels a gradual change in attitudes towards radiation among the British public during these decades. Yet Corelli’s attitude towards Curie remained strongly positive, judging by her portrayal of courageous female scientists in The Young Diana and The Secret Power. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Guest Speaker Professor Ama de-Graft Aikins (The London School of Economics and Political Science) delivers a seminar on their research - Arts-based global health interventions in African settings - for HIV/AIDS, malaria, Ebola, COVID-19 - employ conceptual approaches that have been described as ‘instrumental’. Typical projects lead communities (and artists) into ‘participatory’ and ‘co-created’ arts - dance, theatre, drawing - that have already been planned for them. I will argue these dominant global health approaches have roots in colonial medicine and deeply held representations of Africa as ‘a familiar alien threat’. Drawing on Fanon’s idea of the “psychic life of the colonial encounter” - how African psychological realities were conditioned by relations of racialized power and violence - and Ghanaian examples, I show how the “psychic life of the colonial encounter” has morphed into “the psychic life of the contemporary global health encounter”. Developing transformational approaches to global health interventions in African settings, whether mediated by arts or not, require that these psychopolitical dynamics are understood, worked through and transcended. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

Council For At-Risk Academics (CARA) Research Fellow Dr Nataliia Tofan delivers a seminar on their research - Hypertension and cardiometabolic disease are commonly managed through pharmacological control of clinical targets. However, achieving numerical targets through pharmacotherapy does not always correct underlying molecular abnormalities. My early research in clinical pharmacology examined how blood pressure responses in elderly patients with hypertension and coronary heart disease reflect intermolecular interactions and complex homeostatic shifts. These findings prompted a broader question: how can cardiometabolic health be improved, and adiposity reduced, through modifiable lifestyle factors such as sleep, physical activity and diet? At Loughborough University, this question has evolved into a research programme investigating how sleep extension affects blood pressure and glucose metabolism, alongside research on the interaction between exercise, appetite regulation, sleep and obesity and its implications for cardiometabolic disease. Together, this work contributes to an evidence-based lifestyle medicine framework aimed at improving cardiometabolic outcomes in addition to or beyond pharmacological management. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

IAS Residential Fellow Mr Sumit Dugar delivers a seminar on their research - This format builds on a successful session I had facilitated at the ‘Global Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Action,’ in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Reading, UN Agencies, and the Red Cross. The seminar will explore how to openly discuss research failures and challenges in evidence uptake within international development programming. Participants will reflect on instances where well-intentioned applied research failed to achieve its intended impact and consider how these experiences can strengthen future research-policy-practice interfaces. The session aims to foster a safe and collaborative environment where scholars and practitioners can share candid reflections on the limitations and lessons of research-led programming. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Ashley Ajumoke Stewart delivers a seminar on their research - This seminar will explore my ongoing interdisciplinary research on civic graphic heritage from Nigeria, focusing on how visual communication artifacts—such as signage, public information materials, and typographic styles—can be repurposed through design-led inquiry and AI tools to foster community wellbeing and social memory. I will share initial insights from archival fieldwork, prototype concepts, and collaborative methodologies developed with Loughborough's Graphic Design Research Unit and computer science colleagues.  The seminar will invite reflections on the possibilities and ethical dimensions of using AI in cultural heritage research and participatory design. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Amelia Carr delivers a workshop for Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) - This hybrid event is held jointly by the LU School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences and Deakin University’s School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences and has a primary focus on sport performance research in female athletes. The event is held online to facilitate opportunities for real-time communication between researchers based at LU and Deakin University. PhD students and early to mid-career researchers from both institutes are invited to present short, 3-minute ‘flash talks’ to showcase their research. The seminar also includes an allocation of time for researchers and PhD students to discuss possibilities for collaboration. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Amelia Carr delivers a seminar on their research - Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, and World Championship events are increasingly held in challenging environmental conditions, particularly hot and humid weather, exacerbating the physiological demands for athletes. These environmental conditions can interact with athletes’ use of evidence-based nutritional interventions. Athletes and their support teams may consider a range of additional factors, including the evidence of differences in adaptations and performance for female compared to male athletes. In this seminar, Dr Amelia Carr from Deakin University will provide an analysis of relevant literature and evaluate the potential translation of research on specific nutritional interventions in challenging environmental conditions, and for females, to high-performance athletes: (1) moderating variables (e.g., supplement dose and timing), (2) design factors (e.g., use of crossover or matched group study design) and (3) athlete-specific factors (e.g., recruitment of highly trained participants). Dr Carr will also share details of Deakin University’s research programme, including the Female Physiology and Performance Initiative. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Yan Yin delivers a seminar on their research - Hydrogen energy is widely recognized as a key pillar for global carbon neutrality and sustainable energy transition. Polymer electrolytes play an important role in improving performance of ionic membrane-based fuel cells and water electrolyzers, which are key enablers for smooth conversion between green electricity and hydrogen. For both devices, ionic conductivity and stability are crucial for long-time operation with high efficiency. Polymer electrolytes, as either membranes or ionomers, serve as the conducting carriers for ion transportation. Microstructure of polymer electrolytes influences the ionic conductivity, stability and the evolution behavior for the catalyst layers where ionomer acts as binder to fabricate membrane electrode assembly (MEA). In this seminar, oriented ion exchange membranes, quaternary ammonium (QA) based or microporous polyelectrolytes as well as ionomers are introduced to elaborate the microstructure-property relationship under long time fuel cell or water electrolysis operations. MEAs with low precious catalysts and self-made polyelectrolytes for hydrogen devices will be discussed towards high performance. Ultimately, these advances aim to reduce system costs and enhance environmental sustainability, contributing to the global effort for clean energy and a low-carbon economy. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Eilis Lanclus delivers a seminar on their research - Trail sports – hiking, running, off-road cycling – are gaining increasingly in popularity in Western contemporary societies. These sports are often celebrated as ways to immerse oneself in “wild(er)” landscapes and to measure personal endurance against nature. But the climate crisis has begun to unsettle this relationship. On trails, climate change is felt not as data but as sensory disruptions: the crackle of dead undergrowth, flood-strewn trails, or snowless winters where snow once marked the season. How can these sensory and lived experiences on trails invite a shift from trail sports as acts of personal conquest or consumption of landscapes to practices grounded in care, attention, and ecological responsibility? This seminar presents my postdoctoral research project which examines the duality between the growing desire of trail sport participants to engage with “wild(er)” landscapes and the ecological pressures these activities put on those landscapes. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Cristina Perdomo Delgado delivers a seminar on their research - This talk will present recent advances in the use of social robots as supportive tools in interventions aimed at older adults. I will examine how these devices can enhance emotional wellbeing, autonomy, and social participation, as well as their potential to complement the work of healthcare and care professionals. I will also discuss the ethical, technical, and methodological challenges that remain, including user acceptance. In particular, I will highlight how the technological characteristics of robots —such as their interactive capabilities, adaptability, intuitive design, and simulated emotional responsiveness— are essential for fostering acceptance and ensuring their effectiveness during therapeutic processes. Finally, I will discuss results from recent studies and outline opportunities for interdisciplinary approaches that support the safe, meaningful integration of social robots into care environments. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Mario Panico delivers a seminar on their research -  This seminar will present the first results of my research project on the use of artificial intelligence-generated imagery in contemporary conflict contexts. Through examples drawing from contemporary wars, I will address two questions: (i) how these visual texts activate specific emotional rhetorics, iconographic patterns and memorial references. In this part, I will focus on the notion of the “archive of the present” and how AI images draw on pre-existing visual heritage to appear authentic and culturally credible, redefining what is perceived as “memorable”; ii) how the future is “prescribed”: looking at how temporalities are reconstructed through the representation of future scenarios, between coping, predictions and collective avoidance. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Royal Society Wolfson Fellow Professor José Ferreira Alves delivers a seminar on their research - Fractals and chaotic dynamics reveal how complex structures emerge from simple rules, often exhibiting self-similarity across multiple scales. This talk offers an accessible overview of the mathematical foundations of fractals—self-similarity, scaling laws, and fractal dimension—illustrated with classical examples such as the Sierpiński gasket, the Koch snowflake, and the Mandelbrot and Julia sets. Beyond mathematics, we examine how fractal geometry appears in natural landscapes, artistic practice, and cultural expression. Case studies include the fractal analysis of Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings, hierarchical organisation in Bach’s music, and multi-scale patterns in the poetry of Wallace Stevens and Borges. These examples show how fractal principles provide a coherent framework for interpreting complexity, perception, and creative structure across disciplines. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Gemma Sou delivers a seminar on their research - Small island developing states (SIDS) are disproportionately affected by climate change yet have been marginalized within the global climate regime. Often overlooked are their purposeful collective efforts to reform global climate governance to increase self-determination over their climate futures. Drawing on interviews with civil servants in Antigua and Barbuda, this talk argues that we can reframe SIDS transnational actions as contemporary worldmaking—a resistance-driven process of reimagining and reshaping global systems to foster greater self-determination. The capacity of SIDS to act as world makers reveals how ideas of self-determination and resistance endure, even under profoundly disadvantageous structural conditions, offering critical insights into the possibilities for a more just and inclusive global climate regime. This emphasis also moves beyond the local and regional to centre imaginaries of climate governance at the global scale, showing how such imaginaries are also informed by the emotional and historical terrain of SIDS.  For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

With thanks to the generosity of the Biddle Family Scholarship, the IAS is hosting The Simon Marshall Lecture - Sport is full of challenges and is constantly changing. One of the biggest challenges facing sport is coming from climate change. Whilst news stories have rightfully focused on the ecological damage and the impact on sport facilities, the impact on those participating in sport is often overlooked. Despite this, many athletes have pushed for sport to do more. This event is a talk by two former Olympians, Etienne Stott and Laura Baldwin, to explain what motivated them to start advocating for climate action and what they are doing to raise awareness. Etienne and Laura are hosted as IAS Fellows by Dr Mark Doidge. Following their lecture, there will be a panel with Etienne and Laura, and a member of a national governing body (Denise Ludlam). The Biddle family is delighted to support the work of Loughborough University through the Biddle Family Scholarship. Eight members of the family have had an association with the university as either staff or student, or both. This includes James Biddle as a Physical Education in the early 1950s, to James’ son, Grant, also a PE student in the 1970s, to Greg (post-doc) and Jack (MSc in Sport & Exercise Nutrition) from 2015. James’ other son, Stuart has been a student (1970s) and staff member, including being Head of the-then School of Sport & Exercise Sciences, 2001-2007. An important part of the Scholarship donation is to support the Simon Marshall Lecture. Simon Marshall sadly passed away in 2024 aged 53. He grew up local to Loughborough and attended Quorn Rawlins school. After degrees from Liverpool John Moores and San Diego State Universities, he graduated from Loughborough with a PhD in Sport & Exercise Sciences in 2001 under the supervision of Professor Stuart Biddle. He was an outstanding PhD student and Loughborough post-doc prior to returning to San Diego to pursue an equally successful academic career. Later he became an entrepreneur, sport consultant, and sport psychologist, working closely with his wife, Lesley Paterson, a world champion triathlete. He was an outstanding speaker and writer, including contributing to award-winning screen plays. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

Emerita Professor Marsha Meskimmon, Former Director of the IAS, delivers our Inaugural IAS Festive Lecture, fully titled "From the Star of Bethlehem to a Cool Yule: Christmas Really Does Come But Once a Year" Having rashly agreed to deliver the first IAS Festive Lecture in the heady months of the summer, I found myself at the start of November wondering where the time had gone. More to the point, I found myself wondering what Christmas has to do with time... In this talk, I will share some of my ruminations on the origins and traditional celebrations associated with this annual festival to ask what it might teach us about time and tide, light and darkness, joy and renewal. Oh, and for those who know me, why having hundreds of lights on a tree in your house is an eminently sensible thing to do, but once a year. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Christopher Todd Minson delivers a seminar on their research - We are now in the “urban century” in which humans are more disconnected from the natural world than previously in human existence. This is having a profound negative impact on our physical and mental health. How do we counter the demands and distractions of a plugged-in life with our mental and physical health? The answer may be to get outside our comfort zone through exposure to the world we evolved in: to be surrounded by nature, to be hot, to be cold, to be out of breath. There is a growing interest in how environmental exposures can improve health and well-being, with many people seeking out ways to get back to our core experiences. Research is now demonstrating that these exposures can create a more stress-resistant phenotype to counter inflammation and oxidative stress, which underlie physiological changes with aging, chronic disease, and a sedentary lifestyle. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Andrea Pérez Fernández delivers a seminar on their research - This seminar explores three intersections between the normative contributions of 1980s British feminist art historiography and the insights of interwar avant-garde women artists and thinkers in Germany. The focus is on the work of Hannah Höch and Lu Märten. The first intersection concerns the critique of the genius, while the second addresses how the distinction between art and crafts can result in the precariousness (both metaphysical and economic) of creative activities more commonly undertaken by women. The third intersection concerns the social function of the arts and how art can expand the political imagination. This approach is based on Rosa Luxemburg's reflections on culture and considers how the emancipatory potential of the arts is defined more by their status as a social practice than by the creator’s intention. Drawing on recently recovered or untranslated primary sources, the seminar will facilitate discussion on the relevance of these insights in the context of contemporary debates in feminist theory and visual culture. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Sébastien Tutenges delivers a seminar on their research - For two decades, Sébastien Tutenges has conducted ethnographic research in bars, nightclubs, festivals, drug dens, nightlife resorts, and underground dance parties in a quest to answer a fundamental question: Why do people across cultures gather regularly to intoxicate themselves? In this talk, he argues that the primary aim of group intoxication is the religious experience that Durkheim calls collective effervescence, the essence of which is a sense of connecting with other people and being part of a larger whole. This experience is empowering and emboldening and may lead to crime and deviance, but it is at the same time vital to our humanity because it strengthens social bonds and solidarity. In developing this argument, Sébastien will present a new definition of collective effervescence, propose a typology of its varieties, and discuss the ways commercial forces amplify and capitalize on this universal human drive. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) Fellow Dr Vinícius Teixeira Pinto delivers a seminar on their research, fully titled "Democracy on the pitch: an anthropological approach to the politics and activism of Brazilian football supporters." - Brazilian football has undergone significant shifts in its gameplay and its politics in a few years: from its new stadiums, passing through social and urban change, until the recent laws that allowed the conversion of its football clubs into Public Limited Football Companies. Aside the sporting angle, not least important were the political demonstrations that had football as target or background—such as the 2014 FIFA WC protests, or the wearing of Brazilian National Team shirts by the far-right rallies, or lately the anti-fascist football fans activism against ‘Bolsonarism’. Based on ethnographic fieldwork undertaken in Southern Brazil during the Bolsonaro Government (2019-2023), this seminar revisits some of Brazil’s recent political events, offering an anthropological approach to the modalities of political participation and activism that emerged in sport and that in certain cases resonated beyond it, even inspiring the demand for democracy both on and off the football pitch. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Mrinal Bachute delivers a seminar on their research - Urban mobility systems are at a critical inflection point, driven by rapid urbanization, climate imperatives, and the need for equitable access. This talk explores how advanced Artificial Intelligence—particularly Generative AI, Agentic AI, and Graph Neural Networks—can transform urban transport into intelligent, adaptive, and sustainable ecosystems. Drawing from real-world deployments in global smart cities, the session showcases AI applications in real-time traffic optimization, demand-responsive transit, and active mobility planning. Emphasis is placed on practical AI architectures using digital twins, federated learning, and edge computing to ensure scalability and data privacy. The talk further outlines how autonomous AI agents can make real-time policy-aligned decisions to support net-zero and inclusive mobility outcomes. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

IAS Residential Fellow Dr David Braithwaite delivers a seminar on their research - Mathematical reasoning often involves general statements, such as “The sum of any two even numbers is even.” Psychological theory implies that such reasoning should depend critically on knowledge of examples. This hypothesis was tested in a series of studies with university students (not specialized in maths). Students spontaneously referred to examples when engaged in logical reasoning about maths (Study 1), knowledge of relevant examples predicted accuracy in logical reasoning (Study 2), and a manipulation designed to increase knowledge of examples led to more accurate logical reasoning (Study 3). Ongoing work explores how examples affect individuals’ evaluations of general mathematical statements. Initial findings (Study 4) indicate that apparently confirming examples increase belief in true statements without affecting belief in false statements. I will discuss implications of this work for psychological theories and educational practice in maths. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Changsheng Wu delivers a seminar on their research - The rapid aging of populations and COVID-19 pandemic have exposed critical healthcare shortcomings. Traditional healthcare remains offline and reactive, with intermittent clinical monitoring. Recent advancements in smart materials, wearables, AI, and IoT enable continuous, personalized digital health solutions. However, challenges persist in achieving advanced monitoring modalities and accessibility. This talk presents our progress in developing cost-effective, accessible sensing technologies for ambulatory monitoring of deep-tissue signals. I will introduce wireless, flexible near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) devices for measuring local hemodynamics and tissue oxygenation, mechano-acoustic sensors to decode tissue mechanics, and radio-frequency metamaterial sensors for non-contact vital sign detection. These accessible devices, powered by advanced signal processing, enable unique capabilities including ambulatory monitoring of hemodynamics and tissue stiffness alongside non-contact physiological assessment, offering promising directions toward pervasive healthcare. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Bibiana Oliveira Serpa delivers a seminar on their research - This seminar explores how feminist movements mobilize visual storytelling to advance reproductive justice and build transnational solidarities. Drawing on grassroots activism in Latin America and visual archives from the UK and beyond, the session examines how everyday objects, like pañuelos, protest signs, and hangers, become tools of memory, resistance, and feminist pedagogy. Rather than focusing on representation, we approach visual culture as a site of situated knowledge, rooted in bodies, territories, and collective struggle. Through this lens, we will reflect on how visual narratives challenge stigma, sustain political imaginaries, and foster cross-border connections. By centering feminist creativity and material practices often overlooked in academic discourse, the talk invites a dialogue on how design and visual culture can be reimagined toward an embodied practice of knowledge. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

IAS visiting Fellow Professor Oleksandr Dluhopolskyi delivers a seminar on their research - In today’s world, grounded in the principles of inclusion, sustainability, and democracy, increasing attention is being paid to the issue of young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEETs). This social group is particularly vulnerable to social isolation, poverty, and marginalisation, posing significant challenges to sustainable societal development, economic growth, and long-term prosperity. The seminar will examine how the rising proportion of NEETs across various countries reveals deeper systemic problems within education systems, labour markets, and social protection frameworks. Drawing on international examples such as the UK government’s “Back to Work Plan”, the seminar highlights how flexible, regionally attuned public measures can promote inclusion and opportunity for marginalised youth. This paper investigates the structural and policy-based factors contributing to the NEETs challenge and proposes strategies for regional and national governments to support meaningful integration. The goal is to imagine, prepare, and plan for a more inclusive socio-economic future – one where no young person is left behind. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

A roundtable discussion as part of the IAS Spotlight 'Women in Sport' - Discussants: Dr Verity Postlethwaite, Dr Rebecca Grant, Dr Samantha Rowland, Dr Hannah Dugdale This closing session brings together the insights, provocations, and priorities emerging from the IAS Spotlight series to co-create a shared vision and actionable next steps. Drawing on themes of governance, leadership, innovation, and interdisciplinary research, this session will guide participants through a collaborative process to shape an actionable innovation roadmap. Framed by the expertise of contributors across the IAS Spotlight activities, including views from those working on breast health, return to movement, and cross-sport collaboration—this session will explore how to build a thriving, inclusive ecosystem for innovation around women’s sport and health research and practice. Participants will: Reflect on key insights from the roundtables on governance, events, and innovation in women’s sport. Engage with a draft Innovation Road Map structured around research, design, policy, and practice. Identify shared priorities, gaps, and opportunities for collaboration. Contribute to the co-creation of next steps, including research partnerships, funding pathways, and future convenings. This session will close with a collective commitment to action and an invitation to shape the next phase of activities, focusing on the 2026 Women in Sport, Exercise and Academic Network conference which will be hosted by Loughborough in July 2026.

A roundtable discussion as part of the IAS Spotlight 'Women in Sport' - Key Speaker: IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Deidre McGhee Discussants: Dr Rebecca Grant, Dr Aimee Mears, Dr Kelsie Johnson This session explores the critical intersection of breast health, sports bras, and protective innovation, highlighting how medicine and engineering are coming together to support women and girls in sport. From biomechanical research and clinical insights to cutting-edge design and material science, the conversation will delve into how tailored support solutions are being developed to enhance performance, reduce injury risk, and empower women of all ages. Special attention will be given to pregnancy and postpartum populations, addressing the unique physiological changes and support needs during these life stages, and how thoughtful design and evidence-based approaches can facilitate a safe and confident return to sport and physical activity. By bridging disciplines and centring female physiology, this work is redefining what it means to be truly supported in movement. Discussion Areas Will Include: How biomechanical and clinical research is informing the next generation of breast support technologies. How sports bra design can be reimagined through user-centred, evidence-based, and inclusive approaches. How pregnancy and postpartum transitions challenge conventional support paradigms—and what innovation looks like in response. How interdisciplinary collaboration can accelerate the translation of research into real-world products, policies, and practices. This session will highlight the importance of centring female physiology in sport science and design, and will explore how thoughtful, adaptive solutions can empower women to move with confidence, comfort, and safety—at every stage of life.

A roundtable discussion as part of the IAS Spotlight 'Women in Sport', fully titled "The Collaborative Ecosystem of Women’s Sport: A Roundtable Discussion on the Conceptualization, Research and Innovation Agenda" - Key Speakers: IAS Visiting Fellows - Dr Becca Leopkey, Dr Dana Lee Ellis, Dr Lucy Piggott Discussants: Dr Verity Postlethwaite  As women’s sport continues to grow in scale, visibility, and influence, there is a timely opportunity to explore how governance, leadership, and major events can shape its future. This academic roundtable brings together scholars, practitioners, and policy leaders to examine the evolving ecosystem of women’s sport and to co-develop a forward-looking research and innovation agenda. Building on the work of scholars such as Dr. Rebecca Leopkey (sport event governance and legacy), Dr. Dana Lee Ellis (strategic alliances and sport development), and Dr. Lucy Piggott (gender equity in sport leadership), this session will critically engage with the systems, structures, and power relations that underpin the development of women’s sport across disciplines and contexts. Discussion Areas Will Include: How governance and leadership models can evolve to reflect the values, needs, and ambitions of women’s sport. How major events can be leveraged not only for performance and commercial success, but also for cultural and structural transformation. How interdisciplinary research can support the sustainable growth of women’s sport, from grassroots to elite levels. How collaboration across sports, sectors, and institutions can accelerate innovation and amplify collective impact. This roundtable aims to spark dialogue, identify shared priorities, and lay the groundwork for a collaborative research ecosystem that supports the continued evolution of women’s sport in the UK and beyond.

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Sara Shaker delivers a seminar on their research - This seminar examines the role of comic journalism in archiving the Arab Revolutions/Uprisings, with a particular focus on the graphic narratives of Arabic artists like Deena Mohammed, Yazan Al Saadi, Hamid Suleiman, and Rawand Issa. By focusing on the visual artworks of What Factors Make You Insecure?, Lebanon is Burning, An Uprising in Sudan, Freedom Hospital, and Aasiya (The Insubordinate)—the seminar explores how these visual narratives operate as counter-archives that contest the official accounts disseminated/circulated Arab state regimes. These artists act as ethical witnesses who challenge prevailing dominant political narratives and uncover state-sanctioned violence and trauma by adopting the tools of comic journalism. The seminar showcases how Arab comic artists deploy the visual-verbal power of comics to document atrocity, foreground marginalized voices, and present unfiltered testimonies. It argues that the comic platform provides an unmediated form of history witnessing-one that combines activism, resistance, and documentation. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Eefje Hendriks delivers a seminar on their research - Curious about when, where, and how assistance can truly strengthen disaster resilience in the Global South? Eefje Hendriks’ research addresses the urgent need for evidence on reconstruction decisions by vulnerable groups and the wider impact of reconstruction assistance. Reconstruction is often challenged by factors such as limited resources and technical knowledge. Eefje explores both generic and individual decision-making systems, measuring the impact of various types of assistance across diverse contexts. Her goal is to guide more effective, personalized humanitarian and governmental aid. Through case studies in Nepal and the Philippines, she reveals the complex choices disaster-affected households face. Her transdisciplinary approach bridges technical and social dimensions of post-disaster recovery. By using mixed methods and diverse analysis techniques, her work enhances understanding and ensures more people receive targeted, impactful support. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Joining Loughborough in 1998, Marsha has been a driving force behind many of the University’s initiatives, including the incredible Institute of Advanced Studies, which she became the Director for in 2018.   The Institute sits at the heart of our research, innovation, and internationalisation strategies, and its evolution and impact are direct reflections of Marsha’s leadership, creativity, and unrelenting commitment to excellence. In less than a decade, the facility has welcomed more than 420 Fellows from over 45 countries.    Last year, Masha’s dedication was honoured when she was awarded the title of Emeritus Professor. This University Medal adds to her list of prestigious accolades by honouring her visionary leadership and lasting impact on the University.   For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Vickie Shim delivers a seminar on their research, fully titled "When is the Brain Most at Risk? Predicting Vulnerability After Head Impacts Using Multimodal MRI and Mouthguard Sensors" - How long does the brain remain vulnerable after a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)? This critical question remains largely unanswered. The current 23-day stand-down period for clinically diagnosed concussions is under scrutiny, as it's unclear if this duration is truly sufficient for recovery. Furthermore, individuals experiencing repetitive subconcussive head impacts, such as contact sport players, face risks of long-term neurological damage, yet clear guidelines for their rest and recovery are lacking. mTBI is a widespread issue, affecting millions annually, especially in sports and military settings, with recovery complicated by varied symptoms and potential underreporting. Our four-year longitudinal study with high school rugby players aims to shed light on this. By measuring brain changes with advanced MRI and monitoring head impacts via instrumented mouthguards, we've developed a novel AI-based pipeline to detect microstructural brain alterations. In this seminar, I will present our findings, which contribute to developing a clinical tool for the early diagnosis and prognosis of mTBI, ultimately helping to determine appropriate recovery timelines. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias 

IAS Residential Fellow Associate Professor Cecilia González Tokman delivers a seminar on their research - Random and non-autonomous dynamical systems are flexible mathematical models for the study of complicated systems whose evolution is affected by external factors, such as seasonal influences and random effects. Multiplicative ergodic theory provides fundamental information for the study of transport phenomena in such systems, including long-term behaviour, mixing rates and coherent structures. In this talk, we will take a journey into random dynamical systems and multiplicative ergodic theory, guided in part by questions arising from the investigation of oceanic and atmospheric flows. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Jens Martin Turowski delivers a seminar on their research - The width of channel belts and fluvial valleys and its temporal evolution is important for the hydraulics, hydrology, and ecology of landscapes, and for human activities such as farming, protecting infrastructure, and natural hazard mitigation. The width of a fluvial valley is set by the river undercutting valley walls and evacuating the resulting sediment. We have recently developed a model for the temporal evolution and steady-state valley width on the assumption of a non-standard one-dimensional random walk of channel migration. The model connects valley evolution to reach-scale hydraulic parameters. Here, I introduce the model and summarize some key results and compare model predictions to observations of natural and experimental rivers. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Bruno Charbonneau delivers a seminar on their research - Discussions about the consequences of climate change for security have so far emphasized how the climate crisis multiplies security threats or how it might lead to instability and war. They do not consider how war and military operations themselves might change or must change, given the socio-technological transformations that also come with climate change. The strengthening of net-zero emissions targets and the energy transition to renewables in response to the deepening climate crisis is forcing militaries to find answers to the question of how to wield force effectively within the constraints of a future low-carbon world. The prospect is one of significant changes to how militaries operate in the years ahead as the global energy transition unfolds. In other words, the consequences of climate change on security is not only about the geo- and biophysical impacts on human affairs and geopolitics—to which the military must adapt and prepare for. Planning the future of warfare must also consider how societies and the international system transform in response to climate change—and what the consequences of such transformations are for the future of the military and warfare. It is these socio-technological transformations that we aim and propose to study, in order to imagine, prepare, and plan for the future of war. This paper will do so by emphasizing the transformation of time; i.e. the specificity of the temporal politics under climate change conditions. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

IAS Visiting Fellow Ms Ananya Bhattacharya (UNESCO Global Network of Facilitators) delivers a seminar on their research - Traditional knowledge systems, shaped by generations of ecological coexistence, offer critical insights into sustainability, ethical living, and sustainable resource management. Transmitted through oral traditions, rituals, crafts, and performances, these systems embody values and practices essential for ecological resilience. As global discourse delves into the post-2030 development agenda, integrating living heritage into sustainability frameworks is increasingly urgent. Storytelling, both live and digital, emerges as a vital tool in this process—preserving cultural memory, fostering intergenerational learning, and enabling communities, especially youth, to reinterpret heritage on their own terms. Digital storytelling enhances reach, democratises narrative authority, and connects local wisdom to global audiences. Cultural tourism, when shaped by community-led interpretation, becomes a platform of mutual learning and sustainability education. Drawing on case studies from India, this presentation highlights storytelling’s transformative potential for community empowerment, sustainability education, and inclusive, culturally rooted development pathways. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

IAS Visiting Fellow Dr Carmen Pérez González (UNESCO Chair in Educational Linkage Through International Sports) delivers a seminar on their research -  Traditionally, the international community has not fully recognized the capacity of sports as an enforcement tool within the realm of international law. Despite sporadic instances of sports-related boycotts and sanctions, its complete potential remains largely unrealized. However, the traditional notion of sports as apolitical has been challenged by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In response, sports organizations and public authorities have adopted a variety of coercive measures whose legal basis is complex and contested. Ultimately, this reaction illustrates that sports can serve as an effective instrument not only for diplomacy, peace, and the safeguarding of human rights, but also for compelling adherence to international obligations. This study scrutinizes various normative and institutional examples from both public and sporting authorities, with the ultimate objective of contributing to the debate on the possible redefinition of the concept of political neutrality in sport and, with it, the relationship between the sports movement and international law. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

Returning IAS Alumni Fellow from the 2023-24 academic year, Dr Yolandi Burger, organises a panel discussion featuring esteemed colleagues Professor Mike Wilson, Dr Robert Harland, Dr Taimaz Larimian, and Melinda Swift. This panel examines the intricate relationship between urban places and the narratives through which they are experienced, remembered, and reimagined. It explores how cities are not only physical environments but also repositories of collective memory, identity, and meaning. Discussion will focus on the ways in which spatial structures, visual communication, storytelling practices, and data representation contribute to shaping the narratives of urban life. Attention will be given to the intersection of heritage, sustainability, community engagement, and urban morphology, considering how narratives can both reveal and obscure the complexities of metropolitan regions. The panel interrogates how participatory approaches and graphic representations can democratise urban storytelling, fostering more inclusive and dynamic understandings of place. Through critical reflection, it aims to highlight new pathways for connecting urban design, research, and community voices, ultimately rethinking the role of narrative in sustaining and transforming contemporary urban environments. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Peng Zhang delivers a seminar on their research -  Droplet-droplet collision is a fundamental process in both natural phenomena and industrial applications, serving as a microcosm of multi-scale fluid dynamics. This talk unravels the intricate physics governing collision outcomes—coalescence, bouncing, and separation—beginning with the canonical case of identical droplets. We highlight the interplay between macroscopic droplet kinematics, internal flow dynamics, and microscale interfacial interactions (e.g., rarefied gas films and van der Waals forces), which collectively define the system’s multi-physics behaviour. Expanding beyond symmetric collisions, we explore complex scenarios involving unequal-sized droplets, non-Newtonian fluids, and dissimilar droplets, alongside analogous jet-jet collisions. By synthesizing these insights, we bridge fundamental fluid dynamics with predictive spray combustion modeling, emphasizing how microscale collision physics can constrain macroscale combustion efficiency and emissions—particularly for low-carbon fuels. This work provides a framework to improve the accuracy of spray combustion simulations, supporting the development of cleaner combustion technologies. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias  

IAS Residential Fellow Dr Andrey V. Ivanov delivers a seminar on their research - What is an empire? Prior to 1721, the Latin title of “imperator” belonged exclusively to the  Western, Eastern or Holy Roman political entities  This monopoly ended with the Petrine proclamation of the world’s first non-Roman imperium, and later, with similar proclamations by Napoleonic France, Iturbide’s Mexico, Braganza Brazil, and Wilhelmine Germany. “Empire” lost its narrow legal connotation, acquiring broader multivalent meanings. But it was Ukrainian archbishop Feofan Prokopovych (1677-1736), who initiated the concepts that got us to this point. An erudite polymath, Feofan served as the chief ideologist of first, Ukrainian Hetman Ivan Mazepa, and then, Peter I. As the seminar will demonstrate, forging the new empire was a direct product of the archbishop’s versatile scholarly breadth. Prokopovych godfathered the empire’s birth through an interdisciplinary endeavor that engaged with the political theories of the early European Enlightenment, Boylean physics, Holy Roman imperial  jurisprudence, and Lutheran theology. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias