2. 2 1
At the University of Westminster, we are
proud to host a thriving community of talented
and ambitious doctoral researchers. From
the arts to the sciences, from business studies
to the humanities, and from architecture to
the social sciences, our doctoral researchers
are engaged in a rich variety of original,
high-quality research. Some of our doctoral
researchers pursue a traditional, theory-based
MPhil/PhD programme, while others are
engaged in practice-based projects; again,
others study for a Professional Doctorate,
or complete a PhD by published work.
Altogether, our doctoral researchers make
an all-important contribution to our vibrant
research culture here at Westminster; beyond
the University, many can be seen informing
and influencing the world of academia,
business and public life.
This booklet gives a flavour of the kinds
of innovative doctoral research projects
recently undertaken across our five academic
faculties. It features 16 projects from final-
year students, which were presented at a
public event in spring 2015. In recognition of
public engagement as an important element
of (doctoral) research, this event provided an
opportunity to present research to a wider, non-
specialist audience, requiring the ‘translation’
of what is inherently complex knowledge into
accessible language. The doctoral researchers
worked closely with a professional team of
editors and designers. Their combined effort
has resulted in an impressive collection of
research profiles; and we invite the reader to
join us in celebrating the achievements of our
next generation researchers.
Professor Simon Joss
Graduate School Director
March 2015
FOREWORD
FOREWORD.........................................................1
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL.......................................2
THE DOCTORAL RESEARCHER DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMME......................................................3
RESEARCHERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
1. FAYE BOWKER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2. ROBERT COWLEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3. DR NADYA M GABRIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4. DIANA GARRISI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5. DR MARIA GRANADOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
6. GEORGE GYAMFI-BROBBEY . . . . . . . . . . 14
7. ALETHA M. HOLBOROUGH . . . . . . . . . . . 16
8. THOMAS MILLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
9. SARAH MILNE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
10. DR ISIS PAOLA NUNEZ FERRERA . . . . . . 22
11. ANDREIA ALVES DE OLIVEIRA . . . . . . . . 24
12. MANISHA RATHI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
13. SANAZ SHOBEIRI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
14. STACY SINCLAIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
15. DR GAMZE TOYLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
16. KATE TURNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
CONTENTS
1 2
3
5 6
11
12 13
4
87 10
1514 16
9
3. 2 3
Our tailor-made doctoral development
programme is student centred, inclusive
and flexible, providing opportunities
for engagement at all levels and across
disciplines, working with the individual’s
supervision process and in specialist skills
sessions and workshops. We offer a range of
developmental activities designed to support
a doctoral researcher throughout their study
with us, from initial enrolment, considering
the groundwork and tools required to make
a confident start, right through to preparation
for the viva voce examination, and to career
planning beyond the doctorate.
Using the national Researcher Development
Framework (RDF) as a foundation for our
programme ensures that participants have
the opportunity to explore topics and
issues identified nationally by practising
researchers, approaching them from a
discipline-specific perspective and also
considering research activity in a wider
context. University and faculty workshops
bring together cohorts from each academic
year to encourage peer support and
facilitate interdisciplinary discussion and
activity. These workshops and specialist
skills sessions are delivered by an inspiring
mix of academic staff, university specialists
and external facilitators, and explore a
diverse range of topics including project
management; research ethics and integrity;
public engagement; and personal resilience.
The programme complements the contribution
to knowledge made by each individual’s
project by equipping our doctoral
researchers with the skills and expertise
necessary for them to succeed in their chosen
career and with the wider dissemination of
their research.
THE DOCTORAL RESEARCHER
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
The Graduate School was established in
2012 to provide institution-wide support for
doctoral and postdoctoral research. One aim
of our activities is to enhance the University’s
research environment and culture. Each
year we offer a varied calendar of events
catering for doctoral researchers, supervisors
and academic staff. Workshop topics are
wide ranging, often reflecting current issues
or developments in higher education and
research. Recent themes include inspiring
researchers and what motivates them,
internationalising research and opportunities
for collaboration, and how researchers can
influence policy and public debate.
Our events facilitate cross-faculty and
interdisciplinary collaboration and seek to
support the professional development of our
early career researchers. In addition, we host
regular supervisory briefing sessions and
strategic development seminars; these offer
a space for academic colleagues to discuss
relevant issues around supervisory good
practice, and explore current topics and
ideas for research programme innovations
and developments.
The Graduate School Board also oversees
the strategic direction and day-to-day
business of our doctoral and postdoctoral
programmes, and regularly engages in
external collaborations with both university
and non-academic partners, locally and
internationally. The Board benefits from the
support and expertise of an External Advisory
Group representing a variety of disciplinary
and professional interests.
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
4. 4 5
Veterinary medicines can enter freshwater
environments in a number of ways. This
includes direct exposure through spillage
and disposal, or indirect entry by leaching
from manure and runoff. Many compounds
used in animal treatments have properties
that may cause a long-term and unintended
effect on non-target organisms. To reduce
the impact of potentially harmful chemicals
in the environment, ecotoxicology tests
are performed on emerging compounds.
Traditional ecotoxicology tests often focus on
lethal effects of organisms that are frequently
unrepresentative of the exposed population.
In this project, computational methods
were employed as a way of predicting the
long-term impact of a number of veterinary
medicines on a variety of freshwater species.
3D models of proteins and drug molecules
were built, which can then be ‘docked’
together. Estimates of the likelihood of
interaction are given, inhibition of a protein
by a drug can be predicted, and therefore
the effect a drug may have on that protein
is measured.
It is proposed that this approach can be
a useful early-stage indicator for the
long-term impacts veterinary medicines may
have on non-target organisms.
FAYE BOWKER
Department of Human and Health Sciences,
Faculty of Science and Technology
After graduating from Manchester
Metropolitan University with a BSc in
Ecology and Conservation and an MSc
in Environmental and Climate Change, I
developed a keen interest in ecotoxicology.
From my MSc I went on to work as an
ecotoxicology technician at CEMAS, a
chemical analytical company, where I decided
I was more interested in developing alternative
methods to conduct ecotoxicology tests.
This led me to pursue my PhD at the University
of Westminster, where I was awarded a
scholarship to study the environmental
impacts of veterinary medicines. My PhD has
led me to present at international conferences
in Krakow, Beijing and Vancouver, which has
allowed me to interact and publicise my work
with people within my field and beyond.
INVESTIGATING
VETERINARY
MEDICINES AS
XENOESTROGENS
USING IN SILICO
TECHNIQUES
6. 8 9
There is a growing trend within architecture
to redefine how buildings are designed, built
and operated in ways which take a more
responsible approach to the environment.
Residential building has contributed critically
to this matter by emphasising the need to
study a house’s thermal performance and its
impact on environment. The reduction of the
energy demand for heating and cooling is the
key factor in low-energy houses, minimising
environmental damage caused by the
emissions of carbon dioxide.
Traditional vernacular houses in Libya have
been used as a vehicle for this research.
The case studies selected from three cities
– Tripoli, Ghadames and Gheryan – are
conceptually shelters that fulfilled people’s
socio-cultural needs and responded
positively to the climatic factors. Examples
were selected, analysed and assessed for
their socio-cultural role, and to derive the
guidelines for low-energy buildings that meet
people’s contemporary needs.
The research used computer monitoring, field
surveys and computer energy simulation
to measure the thermal performance of the
three vernacular houses. Passive heating and
cooling strategies have been drawn from
each of the thermal comfort field surveys.
There are two main findings from the surveys;
firstly, they identify the value of thermal
insulation of traditional Libyan clothing, and
secondly, they identify the thermal comfort
temperature in three climatic zones in Libya.
Low-energy house models have been
proposed and tested with positive results in
the three cities. The research confirms that
an acceptable indoor comfort environment
can be created using available local building
materials and traditional environmental
solutions. The findings of the study fill a
gap in the thermal comfort standards for
residential properties in Libya, and prove that
it is possible to reduce the energy use in the
country’s homes of the future by nearly 80
per cent in winter and 60 per cent in summer.
It also provides guidelines for use in Libyan
building standards.
DR NADYA M GABRIL
Department of Architecture,
Faculty of Architecture and the
Built Environment
I am a Libyan architect, and I completed my
BSc in Architecture and Urban Planning at the
University of Tripoli in 1987, before obtaining
my Masters degree in Architecture from the
Mackintosh School of Architecture at the
University of Glasgow in 1995. I am currently
in the final stage of my PhD at the Faculty of
Architecture and the Built Environment. My
interest in this research subject is derived from
my previous work and study in Libya, and my
investigations into the key design elements of
Libya’s vernacular housing.
The lessons to be learnt from the long-term
success of the vernacular architecture in
relation to environmental considerations has
been a driving factor in my research. It is
imperative to address the fact that vernacular
solutions are suitable for the modern
requirements of contemporary society, and
through my research I aim to investigate what
we can learn from this architecture, and how
that can be applied to the design of
modern houses.
THERMAL COMFORT
AND BUILDING
DESIGN STRATEGIES
FOR LOW-ENERGY
HOUSES IN LIBYA:
LESSONS FROM
THE VERNACULAR
ARCHITECTURE
7. 1110
“The skin, it’s a lucky subject”, pointed
out the Eclectic Magazine in 1846, with
reference to the then newly published
book of dermatology by English surgeon
Erasmus Wilson, Healthy Skin; “For all we
have skin and our health greatly depends
upon its health.” In the 19th century in
Europe new printing technologies enhanced
the development of two phenomena:
dermatology and journalism. In my research
I put together medicine and media, arguing
that Victorian newspapers used the skin to
foster three main Victorian social campaigns:
the sanitation movement, which aimed
at improving health and disseminating
awareness about the importance of personal
hygiene and cleanliness; the anti-Poor Law
campaign, which created opposition to
the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, in
particular to the establishment of deterrent
workhouses; and the campaign to abolish
flogging in the military, a movement started
earlier in the century which was to see its
greatest achievement in 1881 with the official
suppression of the practice after a long series
of legal reforms.
Regular news coverage of stories related to
the human skin fulfilled two more purposes,
the epistemological and the commercial.
It enhanced the popular understanding of
dermatology and attracted revenue in the
form of advertisements from the booming
skin products market. Although Victorian
skin products advertisements appealed to
the fact that a face is considered the place
par excellence where the skin resides, my
work demonstrates that the skin on the
back constituted the main script for the
newspapers. The flogged back of a soldier,
the neglected back of workhouse inmates
covered with bed-sores, and the bruised, bent
back of a miner provided the main script for
Victorian newspapers’ skin tales.
DIANA GARRISI
Department of Journalism
and Mass Communication,
Faculty of Media, Arts and Design
In September 2009, as I was having
breakfast reading the South Wales Echo in
Cardiff, my attention was struck by the image
of a bare back of a pensioner whose skin
had peeled off as a result of a toxic substance
released from a sofa he was sitting on. I did
wonder then whether there might have been
any purpose, other than sensationalism,
in showing and talking about our largest
human organ, the skin, in the daily press.
Just a fleeting thought then. I was attending
an MA in International Journalism at Cardiff
University, having landed in the UK after
a degree in Romance Philology from the
University of Milano and had professional
experience in radio and print journalism.
I kept wondering: what does the news
portrayal of skin-related issues tell us about
the British history of newspapers? What
does it tell about British people? Does it
also say something about me? In order to
find out, I went back to the1800s, thanks to
newspapers’ digital archives, to see how two
areas both connected to the enhanced 19th-
century printing technologies, journalism and
dermatology, intersected, leaving traces still
visible in today’s news stories.
“I’m not sick,” I said. “I’m wounded.”
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
SKIN IN PRINT:
VICTORIAN
NEWSPAPERS’
COVERAGE
OF THE WOUNDED
BODY IN 1840s UK
8. 1312
Social enterprises (SEs) are normally micro
and small businesses that trade to tackle
social problems, and to improve communities,
people’s life chances and the environment.
Thus, their importance to society and
economies is increasing. However, there
is still a need for more understanding of
how these organisations operate, perform,
innovate and scale up. This knowledge
is crucial to design and provide accurate
strategies to enhance the sector and increase
its impact and coverage.
Obtaining this understanding is the main
driver of my research, which follows
the theoretical lens of the knowledge-
based view (KBV) theory to develop and
assess empirically a novel model for the
development of knowledge management
capabilities (KMCs) that improves
performance of SEs. The empirical assessment
consisted of mixed-methods research with
432 owners and senior members of SEs
in the UK, underpinned by 21 interviews.
The findings demonstrate how particular
organisational characteristics of SEs, the
external conditions in which they operate,
and informal knowledge management
activities, have created overall improvements
in their performance of up to 20 per cent,
based on a year-to-year comparison,
including innovation and creation of social
and environmental value. These findings
elucidate new perspectives that can contribute
not only to SEs and SE supporters, but also to
other firms.
DR MARIA GRANADOS
Department of Business Information
Management and Operations,
Westminster Business School
I have more than ten years’ experience as
a researcher and knowledge manager in
the private, social economy and academic
sectors. My experience in the private sector
includes five years in human resources
management and knowledge management,
specifically in developing and training
management in my home country of
Colombia. My experience in the social
economy sector includes three years in
organisational development for non-profit
institutions in Colombia, and youth and civic
programmes with the European Commission
URB-AL. My academic experience also
includes five years as a research associate
and Lecturer on knowledge management,
socio-technology and social enterprises at the
University of Westminster. I finished my PhD
studies last year, and I am now a Lecturer in
information management at the University;
I am the Module Leader on knowledge
innovation management, and I also teach
knowledge management, information
management, business innovation, research
methods and business process management.
My research interests include knowledge
management, innovation and socio-technical
studies in SMEs and social enterprises.
KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT
CAPABILITIES IN
SOCIAL ENTERPRISES
9. 1514
Diabetic foot ulcers are a major complication
of uncontrolled diabetes that develops in
about 15-25 per cent of diabetic patients.
In Ghana, diabetic foot ulcers contribute to
most hospital admissions (53 per cent) among
diabetics with high rates of amputation (33.3
per cent) and death (8.8 per cent). Diabetic
foot ulcers are prone to infection from
bacteria in the environment which normally
colonise these wounds either as single species
or multi-species communities called biofilms.
Biofilm formation is a common trait by which
bacteria and fungi adhere to solid surfaces
and form structurally complex communities
enclosed in a self-produced matrix called
extracellular polymeric substance.
Biofilms have increased resistance to
anti-microbial agents primarily due to the
presence of an extracellular matrix that
inhibits or prevents the entry of antimicrobial
agents into the bacterial community. A
subpopulation of bacteria in biofilms, called
persister cells, have also been found to
demonstrate anti-microbial tolerance. This
study investigates the mechanisms underlying
biofilm formation in diabetic foot infections
using different laboratory biofilm models
and the effects of anti-microbial combination
therapy such as antibiotics, anti-biofilm
inhibitors and other antimicrobial agents in
the treatment of wound biofilms.
Clinical samples for this study were
collected from diabetic foot ulcer patients
who attended the Komfo Anokye Teaching
Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana. All clinical isolates
formed biofilms under all tested conditions
and showed resistance to antibiotics tested.
Ceftazidime and levofloxacin were the
most effective antibiotics and eradicated
more than 70 per cent of biofilms at high
concentrations. The results from the anti-
microbial combination assays indicate that
the synergy between antibiotics, anti-biofilm
inhibitors and cell membrane permeabilising
agents may provide alternate strategies
towards biofilm eradication.
GEORGE GYAMFI-BROBBEY
Department of Human and Health Sciences,
Faculty of Science and Technology
I have always been enthusiastic about
the science behind disease and disease
processes, and aspired to pursue further
studies after my Bachelor’s degree in
Ghana. My dreams and aspirations saw
the light of day when the University of
Westminster offered me a place to pursue a
Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences and
subsequently awarded me the prestigious
Cavendish Research Scholarship for my PhD.
My research journey has been tremendously
rewarding as I have gained invaluable
academic and professional skills through the
University’s training and events. I have also
enjoyed a wonderful relationship with my
supervisory team and made good friends
across departments and faculties. Through
the University of Westminster my dream
of becoming a molecular microbiologist is
nearly achieved. On this premise I believe
that I shall be an ambassador for the
University who will champion research in
the area of diabetes microbiology which is
currently a global health crisis.
THE MICROBIOLOGY
OF DIABETIC FOOT
ULCERS: A
GHANAIAN
PERSPECTIVE
10. 1716
The purpose of this research is to explain why
and how the construction industry remains
such a ‘white male dominated’ industry
where those from a Black, Asian and Minority
Ethnic (BAME) background are so severely
underrepresented. The research focuses
on the ‘school-to-work’ transition process,
examining electrical trainees’ experiences
in their previous schooling, college and
apprenticeships to understand how inequality
permeates the process.
This study looked at two groups of electrical
trainees – apprentices and non-apprentices –
in London, between January 2011 and July
2013, to understand why some succeeded
in securing an apprenticeship while others
did not; 321 trainees completed short
questionnaires, and 37 were then interviewed
in depth. Interviews were also conducted with
40 organisations within the construction and
electrical contracting industries.
The findings identify the multiple barriers
faced by BAMEs during the ‘school-to-work’
transition process. An important original
contribution is the conceptual framework
of the thesis, based upon Amartya Sen’s
capability approach (Sen, 2009) and used to
explore different dimensions of inequality. The
capability approach has not previously been
used to explore a staged process over time,
the ‘school-to-work’ transition, nor to study the
construction industry.
The research has yielded an equality
framework and also identifies the two
main transition routes for electrical trainees
suggesting possible intervention points. Both
can be used in future academic research and
as a practical tool in the construction industry
to inform policy approaches to enhancing
diversity in both vocational education and
training, and employment.
ALETHA M HOLBOROUGH
Department of Human
Resource Management,
Westminster Business School
I am coming to the end of my PhD journey,
which has been a fascinating one for a
number of reasons. The research area was
of immense interest due to the context, which
was the construction industry, the electrical
trade and the London 2012 Olympic site,
focusing on inequality. The driving force
behind the research was not only to look at a
problem but also to provide a framework to
create a possible solution.
The interest in my research subject is a result
of my background. Firstly, my role as a
magistrate working with young people in the
criminal justice system provides an insight
into how life choices can affect employment
outcomes. Second, as a Human Resources
(HR) professional, operating in generalist,
specialist and international roles and having
lectured on HR related modules, where
equality has been at the forefront. I have
seen, working in these roles, how different
ethnic groups have varying experiences in
education and employment. The plan for the
future is to combine my research interests
with my experience in HR.
ETHNICITY,
EDUCATION AND
TRANSITION
TO THE
CONSTRUCTION
LABOUR MARKET:
DEVELOPING
AN EQUALITY
FRAMEWORK
USING A CAPABILITY
APPROACH
11. 1918
The present research develops and applies an
evaluative methodology to the governance of
the health service, with a focus on diabetes.
Theoretical perspectives in political economy
form the bedrock of the research. The
challenge of governance is conceptualised
as one of securing co-ordination – a key
concept of the Austrian economist, Friedrich
Hayek. To secure co-ordination, policymakers
confront the challenge of establishing the
right balance between economic, political
and social objectives, while selecting the
appropriate policy strategies and tools to
achieve them. As Hayekian thought implies,
there are limits to what centralised forms of
decision-making can achieve. Yet neoclassical
conceptions of market failures and ‘old’
institutionalist critiques of commodification,
in which markets encroach into non-market
spheres of life with questionable consequences
for welfare, suggest that marketisation also has
its limits. What the balance should be between
centralisation and decentralisation, as well as
the precise role for markets and the private
sector, remains unclear, in health policy as in
other policy sectors.
The case study research explores these
normative questions of political economy in
diabetes through in-depth interviews with a
diverse range of stakeholders. The research
revealed very different understandings of
the nature of the policy problem and how
it might be solved, which are mapped
out across a diagram of the main NHS
organisations. A multi-perspective approach,
including policymaker, professional and
patient perspectives, elucidates the values,
contestation and causal pathways which link
policies and issues together, providing a more
comprehensive view of the policy problem.
This should enhance understanding and
ultimately aid policymakers in their efforts to
secure co-ordination.
NHS
CCGs are widely regarded
as an improvement on PCTs
because GPs have a central
role in commissioning and
smaller units should equate to
more responsive services.
Some CCGs perform poorly
across core performance
indicators and it is unclear
what can be done to improve
their performance.
Newly proposed freedoms for
CCGS to set local agendas may
mean that poor performance
goes unmonitored.
Increasing role for co-
payments and insurance
eases cost pressures.
But at the expense
of equity….
The government’s
long-term conditions
and cardiovascular
agenda appears a
suitable response to
current challenges (see
bottom left).
The decision to
dissolve NHS Diabetes
has been criticised by
many stakeholders. The
organisation played a key
role in raising the profile of
diabetes at a local level.
The new cardiovascular
networks risk excluding
the non-cardio elements of
diabetes, such as diabetes
retinopathy.
Private
providers
“We’re concerned that
there’s this dilution at the
highest level“
The private sector does not
have much presence in diabetes
but there is some agreement
the sector can contribute to
the NHS. Some innovative
organisations have emerged
which bridge the secondary/
primary care divide.
Marketisation increases overall
costs of administration and
private providers often lack the
skill sets to provide high
quality care.
“The problem with privatisation is that
things go unmonitored. Just because
a problem is not recorded does not
mean it’s not there”
Local Authorities
Stakeholders
overwhelmingly agree
that more investment
is required in public
health.
The government’s
decision to ring-fence
public health budgets
is thus welcome
and the transfer of
responsibility to local
authorities could
improve coordination
across local services.
PUBLIC HEALTH PRIMARY CARE SECONDARY CARE
Financial pressures on
local authorities means
that in reality public
health services is being
cut: the sell-off of school
playing fields was
widely criticised.
Some stakeholders
argue that screening
through the NHS
Health Check
individualises the
problem of diabetes
and does little to tackle
its causes.
The precise definition
of a ‘healthy meal’ is
disputed. Critics argue
the government’s focus
on calorie intake and
fat is simplistic and
more should be done
to curb the consumption
of sugar and carbs.
+
”The high carb, low
fat diet is
adisaster”
GP practices
+ –
”Each time I go to my GP I
can see the dollar bills roll
in their eyes”
”GPs do not know what
they don’t know”
NHS Foundation
Trusts
Critics argue that the speed
of the reforms, combined
with financial pressures, are
destabilising NHS hospitals,
resulting in suboptimal decisions.
Specialist posts are being cut or
downgraded despite evidence
they improve the quality of
care and save money in the
long-term.
Some
specialists are
concerned that GPs do not
have the requisite knowledge
to make sound commissioning
decisions at a CCG level or
sound referral decisions at
a practice level.
Moving diabetes services
into primary care will only
improve quality of care
and efficiency if sufficient
investment is made in
primary care. Failure to
do so can result in an
increase in diabetes-related
complications.
–
Changing diagnostic
thresholds, screening and
efforts to control ’pre-diabetes’
potentially expose people
to unnecessary medical
interventions.
Whether performance
management has improved
outcomes is disputed. Targets
for blood glucose control were
revised when it became clear
that intensified control can harm
patients. Some argue that targets
should be decided between
professionals and patients.
“Market bureaucracy is
killing the NHS. For all the
talk of efficiency the cost is
bewildering“
–
Rising
demand:
unhealthy
lifestyles, aging
population and an
increase in long-term
conditions.
Financial
pressures:
Monitor,
PFI, Payment-by-
Results
Some GPs are worried they
do not have the resources
to take on more services
and their new role rationing
care - combined with
declining NHS services - is
compromising the doctor-
patient relationship.
–+
+
CCGs
+
–+
–
+ The use of financial
incentives in primary care
should make GPs more cost
conscious and thus improve
efficiency.
Performance
management in
primary care appears
to have improved the
process of care.
GPs and specialists
alike agree that primary
care can take on more
diabetes services.
CO-ORDINATION
AND COMPLEXITY:
ISSUES ACROSS THE
DIABETES PATHWAY
THOMAS MILLS
Department of Politics
and International Relations,
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
When I started my PhD, NHS reform was
in the news on a daily basis. I have always
been interested in political economy and while
working as a researcher for various think-tanks
I had become increasingly interested in what is
called ‘evidence-based policy’. In the case of
the NHS these interests coalesced: on the one
hand, the government was implementing one of
the biggest reorganisations of the service that
would construct it along market lines, claiming
its reforms to be evidence based; on the other
hand, unprecedented professional and public
protests greeted the proposals, claiming they
were anything but evidenced based. I wanted
to explore this apparent mismatch.
My reading led me to public sector reform
more broadly: recent years have witnessed
the adoption of novel forms of governance
in the public sector, including performance
management, marketisation and partnership
working. Yet there is a paucity of literature
on the evaluation of governance in political
science and I found quantitative approaches in
economics to be simplistic. Evaluations of the
NHS, for example, typically explore the effects
of one policy tool on one or two aspects of
performance, when the NHS is an incredibly
complex organisation with a complex set of
objectives. I realised that part of the problem
is the methods informing policy and wanted to
develop a form of evaluation that provides a
more comprehensive view of policy problems
and which contributes to, rather than detracts
from, democratic decision-making.
13. 2322
Most people associate scarcity with ‘not
having enough’ of something, usually of
a material nature. In contrast, my thesis is
based on the premise that scarcity in the built
environment is a constructed condition, a
product of how resources are managed and
allocated, and therefore expands beyond
the material to social, economic and political
aspects. Using this premise, the research tries
to understand how scarcity functions in the
production of housing, neighbourhoods and
cities, with the objective of understanding
how a spatial or environmental issue is
produced, and what is the best way to
approach it.
Grounded in the exploration of scarcity in
informal settlements, I spent 11 months in
Quito, Ecuador and Nairobi, Kenya, using
participatory ethnography and visual methods
to analyse how residents experience scarcity
of resources in the transformation of their
houses and communities. At the same time, I
mapped the different tactics that emerge under
these limitations, analysing their potential to be
creative, and most importantly, transformative.
Furthermore, it was the aim of this research
to illustrate this complex analysis across
different scales, including housing,
neighbourhood, city and national levels. To
achieve this, I created a series of diagrams
that allow a better understanding of, firstly,
the construction of scarcity in the built
environment from the realm of everyday
life all the way to policies and national
programmes, and secondly, the way that
emerging tactics improve existing conditions
of scarcity, reinforce the status quo, or
contribute to the worsening of the original
condition.
This thesis offers lessons and a new
diagrammatical method of analysis with both
practical and theoretical considerations for built
environment practitioners. It gives an insight into
the complexity of social, political and spatial
aspects of scarcity in informal settlements, while
also informing new ways of intervening that
are more transformative and make better use of
social and material resources.
* This PhD thesis is part of the collaborative
research project Scarcity and Creativity
in the Built Environment (SCIBE).
DR ISIS PAOLA NUNEZ FERRERA
Department of Architecture,
Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment
I am a Honduran architect specialising in
urban planning, design and international
development. I gained my MSc in Urban
Design for Development from University
College London, and recently finished my PhD
at the University of Westminster as part of the
international HERA-funded project on Scarcity
and Creativity in the Built Environment
(SCIBE), led by Westminster.
I have more than eight years of practice,
research and fieldwork experience in urban
design and community-led development
in Brazil, India, Turkey, Kenya, Honduras,
Ecuador, Colombia and the UK. Since 2010
I have been an Associate of Architecture
Sans Frontieres – UK, working with the
team co-ordinating and developing the
Change-by-Design and Resilience-by-Design
programmes.
Working across different sectors has
encouraged me to experiment with innovative
research and planning methods that engage
with everyday realities and facilitate good
governance and collaboration. I’m currently
focusing on how to better understand
and illustrate complex and interconnected
spatial and environmental issues in the built
environment, and how to use this data to
inform transformative policies and planning
and design interventions. My work utilises
participatory methodologies for planning and
design, systems thinking, visual anthropology
and diagrammatic analysis.
TERRITORIES OF
SCARCITY AND
CREATIVITY:
A CRITICAL VIEW
ON INFORMAL
SETTLEMENTS
AND EMERGING
TACTICS UNDER
CONDITIONS
OF SCARCITY IN
NAIROBI, KENYA
AND QUITO,
ECUADOR*
14. 2524
My research is practice based, which means
that I investigate issues in photography not
only through theory but also through practice,
the two being interdependent in that process.
My aim with this research was to examine
work in service-based society, by addressing
its dominant form: office work. My hypothesis
was that, in spite of the fact that the office
is a defining space of industrialised and
service-based society, and notwithstanding
its wide representation in films, tv series,
comics and pornography, the space itself
of the office had been neglected in critical
visual representation. However, spatial
arrangements such as open plans, breakout
areas, or the new hot-desking offices have a
great impact on how people work and feel.
On the other hand, office towers dominate
the urban landscape and are symbols of
power themselves; it is in their interiors that
events that have a devastating effect on the
whole of society take place, namely the latest
financial and ensuing social crises.
Underpinned by a multidisciplinary study
comprising the history of the modern
office, management theory, organisational
psychology, and architecture and office
design, I developed a visual enquiry for which
hundreds of offices based in London’s main
office areas – the City and Canary Wharf –
were contacted with a request to photograph
their interiors. During a period of two years,
I obtained access to nearly 50 financial,
corporate and legal institutions including law
firms, insurance companies, hedge funds,
investment banks, and advertising agencies.
The photographs that compose The Politics of
the Office give visibility to these spaces and
to the power relations they embed, allowing
the spectator to witness images of offices that
are largely inaccessible to the general public.
ANDREIA ALVES DE OLIVEIRA
Centre for Research and Education
in Arts and Media (CREAM),
Faculty of Media, Arts and Design
After having obtained my Masters in
Photographic Studies at the University of
Westminster, I was very interested in pursuing
the subjects I had been dealing with: work
and working conditions in contemporary,
service-based society, and its investigation
and representation through photography. I
applied to several doctoral programmes in
the UK and was very happy to be selected
by the University of Westminster’s Centre for
Research and Education in Arts and Media
(CREAM), a leading centre for research in
art and design (ranked top in the UK’s 2014
Research Excellence Framework). Not only
was I awarded a CREAM Studentship, I was
also able to work with the dedicated staff
who I had met during the MA, as part of my
supervisory team.
The PhD programme allowed me to acquire
the skills necessary to pursue my career as
an artist and practice-based researcher,
including the ability to publicly present my
work. I also had the opportunity to teach and
to acquire teaching skills and qualifications.
My studies were completed with a solo
exhibition of my work, which I was
generously given the opportunity to present at
the University’s London Gallery West venue.
THE POLITICS OF THE
OFFICE:
SPACE, POWER
AND PHOTOGRAPHY
15. 2726
Uncertainty in the decision-making for
patients’ re-admission arises from the non-
uniformity and lack of knowledge in health
system variables. Knowledge of the impact
of risk factors will provide clinicians with the
opportunity for better decision-making, and
reduce the number of patients admitted to the
hospital.
Traditional approaches cannot deal with the
vague nature of risk of hospital re-admissions.
More problems will arise due to the large
amount of vague and imprecise information.
Patients can be at high, medium or low risk
of re-admission, which all have ill-defined
boundaries. We believe that our model,
which adapts the fuzzy regression method,
will provide a novel approach to handle
uncertain data and the uncertain relationships
between health system variables and the
risk of re-admission, using the possibility
approach with revisited methodology.
Because of the nature and ill-defined
boundaries of risk bands, this approach does
allow the user some ability to compensate
for the number of patients at high risk of
re-admission. In developing this algorithm,
we aimed to help potential users to assess
patients for various risk score thresholds and
for different assumptions about the impact of
interventions. A model for predicting patients
at high risk of re-admission will enable
interventions to be targeted before costs have
been incurred, and before their health status
has deteriorated. A risk score cut-off level
would flag patients and result in net savings
for almost all assumptions about re-admission
rates where intervention costs are much higher
per patient. Preventing hospital re-admissions
is important for patients, and the recent
algorithm developed may also have a positive
impact on hospital income.
MANISHA RATHI
Department of Electronics
and Computer Science,
Faculty of Science and Technology
I am originally from Roorkee in India, which
was part of the territories of the British East
India Company in the 18th century. The city
is the home of the first engineering college
developed by the British, which has always
motivated me to study at an advanced level
in the UK. I received my BTech (IT) and MTech
(Software Engineering) from India, and I have
been a PhD candidate with the University
of Westminster’s Health and Social Care
Modelling Group since 2011.
I began my academic journey in 2006 as
a Lecturer in software engineering and data
mining at the Jaypee Institute of Information
Technology, in Noida, India. During my
teaching career I developed my research
interests in data mining and machine learning
in health care resource utilisation and
business intelligence. This led me to publish
research papers on these topics. I have also
completed projects on predictive analysis
of customer relationship management, and
predictive analysis for cancer recurrence
using gene selection and the Naïve Bayesian
classifier. My aim was to expand more widely
on my research activities, and the University
of Westminster has provided me with the
nurturing ground to do this. At present, my
research concentrates on the design and
development of a novel fuzzy framework for
predicting patients at high risk of re-admission.
A NOVEL
APPROACH FOR
PREDICTING
PATIENTS AT RISK
OF RE-ADMISSION
16. 2928
This research investigates the relationship
between humans and nature in an urban
context through enhancing and improving the
existing natural structures of the city. Although
in the past, the city was mostly recognised as
a place of ‘non-nature’, now the landscape
is acknowledged to be the context from
which the city has developed. In this research
study, Tehran, its natural structures of seven
river-valleys and Tehranian residents have
been selected as the case study in order to
study the human-nature relationship in an
urban context. This design-based research
investigates a process of realising sustainable
large-scale strategies in the design and
planning of the river-valleys in Tehran. The
applied methodology in this process includes
a combination of the review of related
literature, direct appraisal, interviews and
design practice.
The design and planning strategies bring
about a new way of looking at river-valleys as
urban natural structures that contribute to the
identity of the city and citizens. The research
has an interdisciplinary approach integrating
the environmental and socio-cultural aspects
of sustainability. To this end, sustainable
design large-scale strategies were devised to
be responsive to the present and future needs
of Tehranian residents and to the natural
structures of Tehran’s river-valleys.
It was critical to define the strategies in a way
that is compatible with the characteristics
and potentials of both the river-valleys and
Tehranian citizens. Furthermore the influences
that established the relationship between
human beings and nature in the Iranian-
Tehranian context and background were
found to be highly significant.
The strategies are therefore based on the
effective aspects of the influences in order
to achieve the socio-cultural aspects of
sustainability. The term socio-culture in this
research refers to three features; the daily
life of Tehranian residents, cultural customs
and traditions associated with specific days,
and to a ‘disappearing’ history in the Persian
culture and context.
SANAZ SHOBEIRI
Department of Planning and Transport,
Faculty of Architecture and the
Built Environment
I have been working in the fields of
architecture and landscape urbanism.
For the duration of and following my MA
in Architecture I worked on residential,
educational and cultural architectural projects.
In 2010 I started to work on urban projects
on an urban scale. I have been investigating
how to use existing natural features of cities
through the medium of landscape urbanism.
My PhD research is about large-scale design
and planning strategies with regard to the
natural structures of the river-valleys of Tehran.
Tehran, the city that I was born and brought up
in, has seven main river-valleys. A river-valley
can provide a picturesque urban landscape
throughout its linear continuity in the urban
context. However, currently in Tehran these
river-valleys have been strongly polluted and
neglected in most parts of the urban context.
I am now investigating how to redefine the
relationship between Tehranian residents and
their river-valleys in a way that provides socio-
cultural and environmental sustainability.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMANS
AND NATURE IN AN URBAN CONTEXT:
TEHRAN AND THE NATURAL STRUCTURES
OF SEVEN RIVER-VALLEYS – A DESIGN AND
PLANNING CASE STUDY
17. 3130
The UK construction industry is notorious
for the sheer amount of disputes which
are likely to arise on each building and
engineering project. Despite numerous
creative attempts at ‘dispute avoidance’
and ‘dispute resolution’, the industry is still
plagued with these costly disputes. In order to
understand and ultimately assist in resolving
these inherent disputes, this research explores
the question of what influences the outcome
of a construction dispute, and to what extent
construction lawyers control or direct
this outcome?
In doing so, it aims to break down the
office door of the law firm, a significant
barrier which traditionally has inhibited the
exploration of what happens ‘behind the
scenes’. The research provides a textual,
narrative account of construction disputes
from the viewpoint of the lawyer – a
perspective which is rarely documented.
To achieve this, the research approach is
ethnographic and the fieldwork took place at
a leading construction law firm in London.
The research found that the role of
construction lawyers is to identify or name (or
rename) the dispute in the best possible light
for their client in order to achieve the desired
outcome – the development of which is akin
to the design process. The transformation of a
dispute is not linear, but rather, iterative and
spatial as it requires alliances, dependencies
and contingencies to assemble and take the
shape it does.
This thesis concludes that construction
disputes are rarely ever completely ‘resolved’.
Some construction disputes dissipate while
others reach a state of hibernation for a
period of time, only to pick up momentum
and energy some years later. Accordingly,
this research suggests that the concept of
‘dispute resolution’ does not exist in the
UK construction industry. The ultimate goal
should be ‘dispute dissolution’ and the
focus of the lawyer must now shift from the
design and assemblage of the dispute to the
‘disassembling’ of the dispute.
Image: 2015 Eames Office, LLC (eamesoffice.com)
STACY SINCLAIR
Westminster Law School,
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
I have undergraduate degrees in both
Architecture and Engineering from the
University of Michigan, and I practised as
an architect in the US and the UK for nearly
ten years before qualifying as a lawyer
in the UK. In 2008 I obtained my MSc in
Construction Law from King’s College London.
While practising as a construction lawyer in
London, I developed a keen interest in the
composition and resolution of disputes, and
the role of the lawyer therein. It is this area
that I am exploring in my PhD research on
disputes in the construction industry. I also
have a keen interest in the convergence of
law and architecture, and the many forms in
which this exists.
In addition to my research work, I also lecture
on the Law module for the Postgraduate
Diploma in Professional Practice in Architecture
(RIBA/ARB Part 3), within the Faculty of
Architecture and the Built Environment.
I am also a co-editor of the Dictionary
of Construction Terms (Informa), which
provides explanations of the most commonly
encountered legal and technical terms used
throughout the construction industry.
DESIGNING AND
(DIS)ASSEMBLING
DISPUTES:
AN ETHNOGRAPHY
OF DISPUTES AND
LAWYERS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION
INDUSTRY
18. 32 33
Television production’s ‘hidden labour’
lies concealed behind what we see on our
screens. This research project investigates
the creation of The League of Gentlemen – a
show that is considered a ‘special moment in
television’ – by unpacking the end product
and mapping the critical elements within the
show’s creation process, to make this ‘hidden
labour’ visible. It examines The League’s
production ecology to understand how
this cultural breakthrough came to be, and
contributes to broader discussions about the
BBC’s broadcasting environment and comedy
production in the 1990s.
This project is the first study of The League
to combine a detailed textual analysis with
production studies, media history and media
anthropology. Its multi-method approach
yields new insights into the programme’s
creation process. Through a very detailed
analysis, this case study illuminates how
the initial idea and the key textual devices
(location, character and narrative) developed
through various media and creation stages,
revealing who and what shaped this process.
Through original interviews it gives a voice
to various contributors, including the costume
designer and the producers, who are often
overlooked because of the strong authorial
signature of the writers/performers.
Therefore, the study sheds light onto some
of the ‘hidden professions of television’,
updating our understanding of the creation
process and the final product in the light of
these new insights.
The research illustrates that each production
is unique and faces different challenges.
It reveals that despite major structural and
cultural changes at the BBC in the 1990s,
which some considered a crisis inimical to
creativity, innovation and craftsmanship, there
was still room for innovation and creative
freedom. As this study shows, while comedy
production is clearly constrained by larger
organisational structures and strategies, it
also depends crucially on the individuals
involved in making comedy, and how they
work together.
DR GAMZE TOYLAN
Communication and Media Research Institute
(CAMRI),
Faculty of Media Arts and Design
I hold a BA in Communication and Design,
an MA in Film and Television: Theory, Culture
and Industry, and a PhD in Journalism
and Mass Communications. My research
interests are film, television and radio; TV
production; British comedy; media history;
BBC history and organisational structure;
culture production; creative industries; media
organisations; and creativity, design and
oral history.
I’m now working as a Postdoctoral Research
Fellow at Central Saint Martins Design
School, within the University of the Arts,
London. I am currently developing an oral
history collection in collaboration with the
British Library, titled An Oral History of
Costume and Set Design in British Film,
Television Theatre.
READING THE
LEAGUE OF
GENTLEMEN:
STUDY OF THE
CREATION PROCESS
OF A COMEDY /
HORROR SERIES
