Aston University researchers recognised with fellowships to Academy of Social Sciences

Two researchers from Aston University are to be awarded fellowships into the Academy of Social Sciences.

Professor Helen Higson OBE, Professor of Higher Education Learning and Management in the College of Business and Social Sciences and Professor Claire Farrow, Professor of Children’s Eating Behaviour in the College of Health and Life Sciences, have been named in a list of 56 leading social scientists announced by the Academy of Social Sciences.

Fellows are considered highly accomplished individuals recognised for excellence in their fields and their wider contributions to the social sciences for public benefit.

The Academy’s Fellowship is made up of distinguished individuals from academic, public, private and third sectors, across the full spectrum of the social sciences. Through leadership, scholarship, applied research, policymaking and practice, they have helped to deepen the understanding of, and address, some of the toughest challenges facing our society and the world.

Professor Higson said: “It is exciting to be awarded this Fellowship, and such an honour to have worked with so many inspiring collaborators over the years to make this accolade possible.”

Professor Claire Farrow said: “I feel very honoured to have been elected as Fellow of the Academy which is a leading independent voice for the social sciences.

“Social sciences are central to understanding the complexity of many contemporary challenges, including those related to my own work on children’s eating behaviour and understanding the complex inter-relationships that shape children’s food intake. I am very much looking forward to working with the Academy in the future”.

Will Hutton FAcSS, President of the Academy of Social Sciences said: “The Academy of Social Sciences is delighted to welcome an excellent range of highly distinguished social scientists from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, England, and beyond. As the work of social science becomes ever more important, we look forward to engaging with them in 2023.”

All Academy Fellows are conferred following independent and robust peer review by the Academy’s Nominations Committee.