Aude Le Guennec Lecturer and Researcher in Design Anthropology, School of Textiles and Design, Heriot-Watt University For many families in the Global North, the 2020s have marked a radical shift in interactions within the household, with an enhanced focus on children’s wellbeing and an unprecedented…

YAS members at the University of St Andrews launched an initiative to present short online video stories focusing on the diversity of St Andrews staff experiences during the Covid-19 lockdown. “St Andrews Lockdown Tales” allowed colleagues from across the University community to explore, in their…

We at the Young Academy of Scotland write in solidarity with the citizens of Afghanistan, who in the past week have lived a rapidly changing situation, which has seen the displacement of millions of Afghan citizens following Taliban seizure of the Afghan capital, Kabul. As…

Curious times call for curious minds. Our senior academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) launches its third summer events programme, Curious, a month-long series of online activity bringing together some of Scotland’s leading thinkers and practitioners, curated to make audiences question the world around…

Dr Fiona Hutchison Social Prescribing is a term used for connecting people to non-medical sources of support or resources to improve their health and well being, often through a link worker. The Social Prescribing Network operating in England explains its appeal: ‘it is an innovative…

Delma Childers Lecturer in Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen TL;DR: Early year PhD students have had significant research disruptions due to COVID-19, but face uncertainty about future funding to make up for lost time. As the current system struggles to deliver the skills and support…

Ourania Varsou Lecturer in Anatomy, University of Glasgow TL;DR: Medical or health-related humanities can lead to contextually rich and thought-provoking discussions. They can provide learners and the wider audience with a fresh perspective into human suffering and crises like the current pandemic. Medical humanities outputs…

Alice Konig Senior Lecturer in Latin and Classical Studies, University of St Andrews TL;DR: Covid-19 has disrupted Higher Education models and practices, exacerbating the challenges which the sector already faced. We should take advantage of this to re-think systems and structures and strengthen the relationship…

Peter McColl Futures and Innovation Consultant This is the second of a three-part blog outlining what participatory approaches are, how they can be applied and the particular significance in the emerging data societyTL;DR: COVID-19 is a clear signal that the challenges of the 21st century…