Event Series

Professorial Inaugural Lectures

A year of new insights thanks to our Professorial Inaugural Lectures

A year of new insights thanks to our Professorial Inaugural Lectures

Our Professorial Inaugural Lecture series gives you the chance to hear from our newly appointed Professors.  

Each year we invite our newly appointed Professors to take part in this prestigious lecture series and we welcome members of the public, our students and staff, alumni and invited guests to come along to discover our internationally significant research, to exchange ideas and be inspired.  

It's a chance for you to hear about our research from our leading thinkers and you'll get a global perspective on issues across the social sciences, science and health and the arts and humanities. 

When the University was founded in 1964 it committed to excellence in both education and research. In the 60 years since then our academics have produced work which has inspired entire generations and helped establish Essex’s reputation for research in the UK, particularly in the social sciences. This research ranges from pioneering work on poverty and inequality by Professor Peter Townsend, to the development of the world’s first publicly available computer language by Professor Tony Brooker. We continue to push the boundaries – from promoting human rights around the world to pioneering the use of big data in developing countries.  

After the lectures, we’d love you join us at a drinks reception where you will have the opportunity to network with members of our University community as we celebrate our new Professors.  

 

Lectures in 2023-2024

Tuesday 14 November 2023, 6.15pm in the Lakeside Theatre

Professorial Inaugural Lectures - Essex Business School

Professor Pawan Adhikari, Essex Business School: 'Governance, Accountability and Public Sector Accounting'.

Professor Silvia Gaia, Essex Business School: 'Accounting for Sustainability: Where we are and where we are heading'.

Photos from the Professorial Inaugural Lecture on our University of Essex Flickr page

Watch the Professorial Inaugural Lectures on  our University of Essex YouTube channel

 

Tuesday 28 November 2023, 6.15pm in the Lakeside Theatre

Faculty of Science and Health Professorial Inaugural Lectures

Professor Gavin Sandercock, School of  Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences: 'Fit for life: predictors and outcomes of physical fitness across the lifespan'.

Professor Leanne Hepburn, School of Life Sciences: 'Diversify, collaborate, protect: education and marine conservation for our future'.

Professor Jonathan Worrall, School of Life Sciences: 'Living with Oxygen'.

Photos from the Professorial Inaugural Lecture on our University of Essex Flickr page

Watch the Professorial Inaugural Lectures on our University of Essex YouTube channel

 

Tuesday 27 February 2024, 6.30pm in the Lakeside Theatre

Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies Professorial Inaugural Lectures

Professor Susan Kegerreis: 'Small is Beautiful? The effects of larger cohort size in psychodynamic training'.

Professor Raluca Soreanu: 'The Psychic Life of Fragments'.

Photos from the Professorial Inaugural Lectures on our University of Essex Flickr page

Watch the Professorial Inaugural Lectures on our University of Essex YouTube channel

Tuesday 7 May 2024, 7.00pm at Firstsite, Colchester

Faculty of Arts and Humanities Professorial Inaugural Lectures

Professor Fatima El Issawi, Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies: 'Journalism as a Field of Belonging in a Precarious World: A View from the South'. 

Professor Audrey Guinchard, Essex Law School'Is Assange’s extradition the canary in the coal mine? The use of cybercrime legislations in newsgathering contexts'. 

Photos from the Professorial Inaugural Lectures on our University of Essex Flickr page

Watch the Professorial Inaugural Lectures on our University of Essex YouTube channel

Tuesday 21 May 2024, 7.00pm at Firstsite, Colchester

Professorial Inaugural Lectures, at Firstsite, Colchester, from 7pm

Professor Holly Maples, East 15 Acting School: 'Decolonising Heritage Sites through Immersive Heritage Performance'.

Professor Elizabeth Kuti, Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies: 'Being Someone Else: Playwriting, Politics, and the idea of a University'.

With a reading from Elizabeth's current project by actor Shelley King.

Photos from the Professorial Inaugural Lectures on our University of Essex Flickr page

Watch the Professorial Inaugural Lectures on our University of Essex YouTube channel

 

Previous Lectures

2022-2023

Monday 6 February 2023, 6.15pm, in the Essex Business School

Professorial Inaugural Lectures - Department of Government

Professor Reed Wood, Department of Government: 'Gender Stereotypes, Female Fighters, and Audience Attitudes toward Violent Armed Groups'.

Professor Paul Bou-Habib, Department of Government: 'Celebrating Evil'.

Professor Gina Yannitell Reinhardt, Department of Government: 'Social Science, Data, and You: How do we use social science and data analysis to create policy and public services?' 

 

Wednesday 15 February 2023, 6.15pm, in STEM 3.1

Professorial Inaugural Lectures – Department of Sociology

Professor Renee Luthra, Department of Sociology: 'From Origins to Destinations: Understanding the Lives of Immigrants and their Children'.

Professor Sandya Hewamanne, Department of Sociology: 'Transnationalism, Neoliberalism and Fluid Identities'. 

 


Wednesday 22 February 2023, 6.15pm, in the Essex Business School

Professorial Inaugural Lectures – Institute for Social and Economic Research and Department of Sociology

Professor Birgitta Rabe, Institute for Social and Economic Research: 'Childhood inequality'.

Professor Róisín Ryan-Flood, Department of Sociology: 'Intimate Citizenship in the Twenty First Century'.

Professor Anna Sergi, Department of Sociology: 'Chasing the mafia: how to research a myth'.

 

Wednesday 15 March 2023, 6.30pm, in the Essex Business School

Professorial Inaugural Lectures - School of Life Sciences

Professor Terry McGenity, School of Life Sciences: 'Limits to Microbial Life: Slow, Salty, Subterranean Survival'.

Professor Vassiliy Bavro, School of Life Sciences: 'Using structural studies of the bacterial cell envelope to overcome antibiotic resistance and make better vaccines'.

 

Wednesday 26 April 2023, 6.15pm in the Essex Business School

Professorial Inaugural Lectures - Essex Law School

Professor Onyeka Osuji: Law, Business and Governance: The Conundrum of the 'Rules of the Game'.  

Professor Matthew Stone: Why are we obligated towards each other? Law, power, and the modern juridical conscience.

 

Wednesday 10 May 2023, 6.15pm, in the Essex Business School

Professorial Inaugural Lectures - Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Professor Ilaria Boncori, Essex Pathways: 'A journey towards researching and writing differently'.

Professor Diana Bullen Presciutti, School of Philosophy and Art History: 'Picturing Social Problems in Renaissance Italy'.

 


Wednesday 17 May 2023, 6.15pm, in the Essex Business School

Professorial Inaugural Lectures - Faculty of Science and Health

Professor Martin ReedSchool of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering: 'Zoom, Zoom, Zoom: talking over the Internet, how well does it work and is it secure?'

Professor Spyridon Vrontos,  Department of Mathematical Sciences: 'Artificial Intelligence in the Insurance and Finance Industries'.

 

 

2019-2020

Reading the Environment, Then and Now

Professor Susan Oliver, Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, gave her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 2 March 2020

Existential Flourishing

Professor Irene McMullin, School of Philosophy and Art History, gave her Professional Inaugural Lecture on Monday 17 February 2020

The Ethics of Competition

Professor Timo Jütten, School of Philosophy and Art History, gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 10 February 2020

Mothers, #MeToo, and Memory: Women's Reflections on the Past, Present and Future

Professor Tracey Loughran, Department of History, gave her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 20 January 2020

Unemployment and Inequality

Professor Carlos Carrillo-Tudela, Department of Economics, gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 18 November 2019

2018-2019

The EUropean rule of law and its limits

Professor Theodore Konstadinides, School of Law, gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 3 June 2019

How can creativity flourish under constraints?

Professor Shohini Chaudhuri, Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies, gave her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Tuesday 28 May 2019

2017-2018

What's wrong with public opinion?

Professor John Bartle, Department of Government gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 11 June 2018.

Of brains and pulses: conversations with the nervous system

Professor Francisco Sepulveda, School of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Tuesday 29 May 2018. 

Populism, Dictatorship and Trump

Professor Natasha Ezrow, Department of Government gave her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 14 May 2018. 

The future of reparations for victims of mass atrocities

Professor Clara Sandoval-Villalba, School of Law gave her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 30 April 2018. 

Linguistic Diversity: What does sub-Saharan Africa have to contribute?

Professor Nancy Kula, Department of Language and Linguistics gave her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 12 February 2018.

‘Last chance to see’: The evolution of the mental health ‘nurse’?

Professor Peter Martin, School of Health and Social Care gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 22 January 2018.

Imitation in Economic Decisions: A good idea?

Professor Simon Weidenholzer from the Department of Economics gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 4 December 2017.

Security on our shores: A closer look at the migration crisis

Professor Tobias Böhmelt from the Department of Government gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 4 December 2017.

2016-2017

Hunting ‘witches’ in early modern Europe

Professor Alison Rowlands, Department of History gave her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 22 May.

Is there more to search than web search?

Professor Udo Kruschwitz, School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 24 April.

Are some children better protected than others?

Professor Jackie Turton of the Department of Sociology gave her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 24 April.

Passion in Education, Passion in Research

Professor Anthony Vickers from the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 20 March.

How speedy stomata aid plant performance

Professor Tracy Lawson from the School of Biological Sciences gave her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 6 March.

Good oral health for all, for life. Is this possible?

Professor Phillip Cannell from the School of Health and Human Sciences gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Thursday 2 March.

A Tale of Two Referendums

Professor Rob Johns from the Department of Government gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on Monday 27 February.

It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it!

Professor Silke Paulmann from the Department of Psychology gave her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on 6 February.

Opinion dynamics in social networks

Professor Friederike Mengel, Department of Economics gave her Professorial Inaugural Lecture on 23 January.

Evaluating predictive policing in the fight against crime

Professor Giovanni Mastrobuoni, Department of Economics gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on 5 December.

The Limits of Human Performance: Sensation, Perception and Athletic Decision-Making

Professor Dominic Micklewright, Centre for Sports and Exercise Science (School of Biological Sciences).

2015-2016

Closing gaps to justice for victims of torture and other crimes under international law

This lecture, held on 16 May was presented by Professor Lorna McGregor from our School of Law.

Social pathology

This lecture, held on 16 May was presented by Fabian Freyenhagen from our School of Philosophy and Art History.

Kodachrome Travels: how colour changed the way we see the world

This lecture, held on 7 March was presented by Professor Jeffrey Geiger from our Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies.

Inequality and mortality

Professor David Pevalin from the School of Health and Human Sciences gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on 29 February.

How your brain creates your reality

Professor Paul Hibbard from the Department of Psychology gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on 29 February.

Should the UK leave the EU?

Professor Gianluigi Vernasca from the Department of Economics gave his Professorial Inaugural Lecture on 1 February.

2014-2015

 

 

2013-2014

 

 

A year of new insights thanks to our Professorial Inaugural Lectures

A year of new insights thanks to our Professorial Inaugural Lectures

Our Professorial Inaugural Lecture series gives you the chance to hear from our newly appointed Professors.  

Each year we invite our newly appointed Professors to take part in this prestigious lecture series and we welcome members of the public, our students and staff, alumni and invited guests to come along to discover our internationally significant research, to exchange ideas and be inspired.  

It's a chance for you to hear about our research from our leading thinkers and you'll get a global perspective on issues across the social sciences, science and health and the arts and humanities. 

When the University was founded in 1964 it committed to excellence in both education and research. In the 60 years since then our academics have produced work which has inspired entire generations and helped establish Essex’s reputation for research in the UK, particularly in the social sciences. This research ranges from pioneering work on poverty and inequality by Professor Peter Townsend, to the development of the world’s first publicly available computer language by Professor Tony Brooker. We continue to push the boundaries – from promoting human rights around the world to pioneering the use of big data in developing countries.  

After the lectures, we’d love you join us at a drinks reception where you will have the opportunity to network with members of our University community as we celebrate our new Professors.