Annual Review 2009-10
Research impact
Research at Essex is making a difference in how we
understand the world, approach the key challenges facing society and live our
lives from day to day.
The four Global Challenges established by the
University are continuing to encourage multidisciplinary research and
international collaboration to tackle issues of worldwide significance.
Meanwhile, a whole range of research projects have had
an impact across a number of fields. These include:
How we really live our lives
Understanding Society is the largest study of its kind
in the world and is being supported by a £23.9 million grant from the Economic
and Social Research Council. A total of 100,000 individuals in 40,000 British
households are being surveyed as part of the project led by the Institute for
Social and Economic Research. Data was released to researchers across the
country in December and initial findings were announced in January 2011.
Take a dose of nature
A study by Professor Jules Pretty and Dr Jo Barton
from the Interdisciplinary Centre for Environment and Society found just a small
dose of nature each day benefits people's mood, self-esteem and mental health.
Worldwide media coverage was generated by the research which found just five
minutes of green exercise produced a significant positive effect.
Helping peacekeepers succeed
The United Nations Peacekeeping Law Reform Project is
led by Scott Sheeran from the School of Law and is looking at the legal and
human rights issues surrounding this type of mission. A clearer legal framework
for peacekeeping forces and better guidance on the human rights obligations for
different missions are among the key aims of the two major studies being
produced by the project.
An only child is a happy child
Academics at the Institute for Social and Economic
Research and the University of Warwick found that children with fewer siblings
are happier and that children from single-child families are the most
contented. Bullying may be part of the problem, with 31 per cent of children
saying they are hit, kicked or pushed by a brother or sister "quite a lot" or "a
lot".
Gene control breakthrough
A research team led by Dr Elena Klenova from the
Department of Biological Sciences has furthered our understanding of how
proteins work as teams to control genes in our cells. The research could help
unravel the mechanisms of disease such as cancer and was undertaken in
partnership with the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute and the
Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
Rise in spending on drugs revealed
A marked rise in expenditure on prescription drugs and
the number of prescribed medicines being dispensed was discovered by Professor
Joan Busfield from the Department of Sociology. A 60 per cent increase in
expenditure on drugs by the NHS in England over a 10 year period was reported,
while the number of prescribed medicines increased from an average of eight per
person in 1989 to 16.4 in 2009.
Breakfast key to better child health
A review of 4,000 children found those who missed
breakfast were more likely to be unfit compared with those who always managed to
eat something in the morning. Dr Gavin Sandercock from the Department of
Biological Sciences, who led the research, said: "It appears that children who
regularly eat breakfast are thinner, more active and even fitter than those who
don't."