Former SHES PhD students secure role in CALIN project

Congratulations to Sophie Harrison and Matt Boulter who after completing PhD’s in the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences (SHES) have both been recruited to return to the University to work as Research and Innovation Development Officers on the exciting international CALIN project, which focuses on life sciences. Sophie started work in April 2021 with SHES from the 2nd June Matt will be working alongside Dr Caroline Bowman in the prestigious Psychology department on her CALIN project.  The purpose of the CALIN project is help develop research-informed products, services, and practices with a business-related focus. In particular, the project will look at developing ways to promote healthy lifestyles which include, but are not limited to, mental health interventions and communication skills training. 
 
When asked about the project Sophie said "Following on from my PhD in SHES, I am excited to use the skills I have developed to conduct research with businesses in Wales and Ireland in my new role as Research and Development Innovation Officer on the CALIN project" while Matt commented “I hope to make a positive impact on the project with my expertise around personality, leadership, and group dynamics that I have developed at the School of Sport, Health, and Exercises Sciences during the course of my PhD." This is a great example of how the transferable skills developed throughout a University degree course can be applied in multiple disciplines and also highlights the close links between research areas in the Schools of Psychology and Sport, Health & Exercise Sciences. 
 
Celtic Advanced Life Science Innovation Network (CALIN), is an Ireland-Wales INTERREG operation, led by Swansea University, which was set up to support research and development in life science small-medium enterprises in West Wales and East and South Ireland. The cross-border initiative teams a Welsh and Irish university with an SME to deliver developments in the life sciences. Bangor is leading on the newly established health and wellbeing theme for phase II of the project. The principal investigators at the University are John Parkinson, Dean of the College of Human Sciences; Lynne Williams, Head of the School of Health Sciences; Jamie Macdonald, Head of the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, and Caroline Bowman, Head of the School of Psychology. They will be working with SMEs on projects such as organisational wellbeing, health promotion and service design and innovation.

Publication date: 11 May 2021