Basecamp

Title: Victimisation and Justice in the Digital Society: A Cyber Clinic Prototype

Lead Proposer: Dr Sara Correia (Lecturer in Cyber Threats, School of Law, Swansea University) 

Co-Proposer/s:

• Dr Leigh Clark (Lecturer in Human Computer Interaction, Computer Science, Swansea University)
• Dr Martin Porcheron (Lecturer in Computer Science, Swansea University)
• Dr Nnenna Ifeanyi-Ajufo (Senior Lecturer of Law and Technology, School of Law, Swansea University)
• Mr Stuart Nicholson (Lecturer in Human Computer Interaction, Computer Science, Swansea Universty)

Project Aim: Digital technology is embedded into daily life and cannot be meaningfully separated from ‘real’ world experiences, including those of crime victims (Powell et al. 2018). ONS (2020) estimates that volumes of fraud and computer misuse (e.g. hacking) approximate all other crime combined. These crimes lead to financial losses and impacts on health and wellbeing (Button & Cross 2017). Additionally, tech now plays a role in gender-based violence (Harris & Vitis 2020) and hate crime (Perry & Olsson 2009, Williams et al. 2020). As such, crimes are increasingly ‘hybrid’, both on and offline. However, the victim response to online harms has been shown to be inconsistent, particularly with respect to identifying vulnerable victims (Skidmore et al. 2020) and addressing repeat victimisation (Correia 2020). In parallel, victim support services vary widely across geographical areas and the extent to which they are equipped to respond to the role of digital tech is ill understood.

We will create innovative solutions to these challenges, through co-design and a radically interdisciplinary approach. We aim to (1) explore the extent to which victim services are adequate in a ‘Digital Society’, and (2) develop a ‘Cyber Clinic’ prototype, offering a blend of face-to-face and digital support, to both increase and research individuals’ resilience to victimisation. By funding this project, MASI will contribute to critical understandings of the landscape of crime and harms in a digital world and, with it, help redefine notions of justice. Drawing on previous work and restorative justice principles (Braithwaite 2004; Karagiannopoulos et al. 2019, Zehr 2015), we will ask what online harms are suffered, by whom, how to repair them and who has the obligation/ability to do so

Title: Swansea-Sorbonne Postgraduate Migration Network

Lead Proposer: Mila Sanchez

Co-Proposer/s:

• Stephanie Barille (PhD Student, Swansea University)

Project Aim: Swansea-Sorbonne Postgraduate Migration Network is a transnational and interdisciplinary initiative designed for postgraduate students and early career researchers (ECRs) aiming to (1) facilitate discussion and knowledge exchange between researchers working on migration and (2) set up a research network to seek strategic funding and collaborative support for international migration research. The initiative builds on the existing joint work between Swansea University and Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (joint PhD) to maximise collaboration between the established migration centres: Centre for Migration Policy Research (CMPR, Wales) and the Cluster of Excellence in Territorial and Spatial Dynamics (LabEx DynamiTe, France). The Swansea-Sorbonne network contributes to the development of Migration Research Wales, a new research network on migration within the Wales Institute of Social & Economic Research, Data & Methods, supported by the Welsh Government.

This initiative will develop research capacity, starting with the monthly Migration Reading Group and followed by a conference and a workshop on innovative migration methodologies for PhD students and ECRs. Academic reading groups are not well-established in France and the network will offer PhD students and ECRs stimulating and inclusive opportunities to learn from and compare research strategies employed in the leading centres of migration research. A series of online sessions will be held to critically engage with the key migration issues affecting our world. This will be followed by a two-day postgraduate conference and knowledge exchange workshop, ‘Migration: Issues, Solutions and Policies’, to share experiences and prepare a publication of an edited Special Issue. The network will facilitate joint funding applications (Agence Nationale de Recherche and in the framework of the European Collaborative Research Projects) to support further development of methods, approaches and migration-focused research seminars.

Open Conference 24th & 25th May

Titled: Swansea-Sorbonne Migration Network: Postgraduate and Early Career Researcher Conference- Migration, Mobilities and Emerging Political Spaces

Please register here

Title: Quantum Imaging for Neurological Trauma (QUINT) - Non-invasive magnetic imaging for the diagnosis of current and historical brain trauma, enabled by novel molecular quantum sensors

Lead Proposer: John Hudson (PhD Student, Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering)

Co Proposer/s: 

• Freja Petrie (PhD Student, Sport Science, Faculty of Science and Engineering)
• Karol Szuba-Jablonski (PhD Student, Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering)
• Eleanor Bryant (PhD Student, Psychology, Human and Health Sciences)
• Benjamin Cooze (PhD Student, Medical School)
• Anthony Brennan (PhD Student, Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering)

Project Aim: In 2014, World Rugby introduced head impact protocols in response to a rising number of player concussions[1]. However, neurological damage from collisions may be asymptomatic, leaving players with subtle deficits in brain function. In the short term, this can affect skills such as balance, increasing the risk of additional injury. In the long term, this may lead to acquired neurodegeneration, greatly reducing athletes’ mental, physical and social health and thus their quality of life[2].

Whilst MRI technology can detect markers of severe brain trauma such as bleeding[3], it is unable to resolve subtle variations in brain physiology resulting from concussive injury and is limited in pitchside applications due to its cost and size. This delays rapid diagnosis and treatment, creating an urgent need to develop objective, pitch-side diagnostic tools to protect players from further harm.

QUINT will leverage research from the ReD Group into the control of magnetic states in radical molecules, applying it to produce quantum sensors for pitchside biomedical imaging – a topic far outside of the expertise of the group or department. QUINT will foster a network of postgraduate researchers with an interdisciplinary knowledge base to realise quantum imaging via an application focused and human-centered design process.

The subtle differences in the magnetic properties of various brain tissues will be detected with quantum sensors, capable of measuring femtotesla variations in magnetic field[4]. These magnetic variations will allow for imaging with greater precision and lower cost than MRI, providing an objective tool for game removal decisions and further treatment in both symptomatic and asymptomatic brain injury. The greater capability of quantum imaging will have multiple applications outside of sport, from the earlier detection of neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis, to diagnosing the subtle physiological changes resulting from historical brain trauma.

Title: A pilot study to explore how women in prison remained connected to family and significant others during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lead Proposer: Dr Laura Broome (Research Officer, Psychology, Swansea University)

Co Proposer/s: 

• Dr Iduna Shah-Beckley (NEXUS Personaltiy Disorder Treatment Services, HMP Eastwood Park)

Project Aim: Engagement with MASI is an opportunity for responsive and applied research to consider how women in prison, who already face significant challenges in maintaining a full, connected and joyful life, can remain connected to family/significant others. Family ties and connectedness through visits, phone calls and letters are associated with reduced reoffending, improved wellbeing and reduced intergenerational criminal behaviours. However, the lockdown restrictions and physical distancing practices necessary to slow the spread of Covid-19, have led to further difficulties maintaining social connections. For example, at the height of the pandemic prisoners were on lockdown for up to 23 hours a day and face-to-face visitation was replaced with video-conferencing approaches. There is a need to understand the potential impacts, consequences and benefits of this on both prisoners and their family/significant others.

This is not only relevant in the context of Covid-19, but also in terms of supporting prisoners to remain connected in the long-term. Custodial sentences are often served out of area i.e., Welsh women are sent to England at all levels of custody including prison and their transition back into the community. There are no female prisons or Approved Premises in Wales, significantly impacting their ability to remain connected to family/significant others. The cost and time of travel for visits out of area is a substantial barrier to remaining connected, which is the most predominant criminogenic need for women. The proposed pilot will consider what we can learn from the lockdown response to prepare for future outbreak waves, facilitate recovery, promote resilience and foster connections. The joint MoJ and Welsh Government Female Offending Blueprint sets out an ambition to accelerate the transformation of services for women in Wales. Engagement with MASI can contribute to this transformation both locally and nationally.